Weekly political notes from The News Service of Florida
By Jim Turner and Ryan Dailey, The News Service of Florida
TALLAHASSEE — As conference committees continued piecing together parts of the 2023-2024 budget, Senate President Kathleen Passidomo said the game plan is to get the entire spending package done by Friday or Saturday.
That likely would start the clock on a required 72-hour “cooling off” period early next week, with a final vote in time to end the legislative session as scheduled May 5.
“One thing people don’t realize is that then (after the package is done) our staff has to read it all. Make sure there are no typos,” Passidomo told reporters Wednesday. “It’s going to take 24 hours, maybe 30 hours. So, my goal, my hope would be that we get the final document typed, or whatever, printed on the desk by Monday night, Tuesday morning. That gets us to vote Friday (May 5).”
As of Thursday morning, funding for the tourism-marketing agency Visit Florida remained among the large outstanding issues. The Senate wanted to provide $80 million for Visit Florida, while the House hadn’t proposed any money for the agency. Visit Florida received $50 million for the current fiscal year.
Unresolved issues were expected to be “bumped” Thursday from conference committees to Senate Appropriations Chairman Doug Broxson, R-Gulf Breeze, and House Appropriations Chairman Tom Leek, R-Ormond Beach.
“The president (Passidomo) has been very, very helpful, and she has not given us a guideline,” Senate Transportation, Tourism and Economic Development Appropriations Chairman Ed Hooper, R-Clearwater, said when asked about bumping unresolved issues on Wednesday. “We’re trying to self-impose a guideline.”
House Infrastructure & Tourism Appropriations Chairman Alex Andrade, R-Pensacola, said negotiators were close to agreement on most issues.
“We’re doing a great job of working together and getting a lot closer on a lot of these issues,” House State Administration & Technology Appropriations Chairwoman Demi Busatta Cabrera , R-Coral Gables, said.
‘EXTRAORDINARY CIRCUMSTANCES’
The New College of Florida Board of Trustees, reshaped by a slew of Gov. Ron DeSantis appointees this year, is continuing to make waves at the small liberal-arts school.
The trustees Wednesday voted to deny tenure for five professors — decisions that drew chants of “shame on you” from a crowd gathered for the meeting and prompted the resignation of one board member.
But the professors whose applications were denied had applied for tenure early, and interim college President Richard Corcoran said they will have another bite at the apple.
“For early (tenure), there really isn’t a denial, because they can come up the next year,” Corcoran said.
Corcoran pointed to “extraordinary circumstances” and “potential imminent changes” at the school in saying “let’s just defer it one year.”
The tenure denials prompted one board member, New College Associate Professor of Computer Science Matthew Lepinski, to walk out of the meeting and walk away from the board altogether.
“I’m very concerned about the direction that this board is going, and the destabilization of the academic program. And so, I wish you the best of luck, but this is my last board meeting. I’m leaving the college,” said Lepinski, who was not one of the governor’s appointees.
OWLS IN THE CAPITOL
State lawmakers from both sides of the aisle celebrated some court action this week.
Nothing to do with a Mouse, but the Florida Atlantic University Owls.
Legislators on Wednesday welcomed members of the FAU men’s basketball team to the Capitol to celebrate the Owls’ unexpected run to the NCAA Final Four.
Sen. Lori Berman, D-Boca Raton, said the “community has truly rallied around FAU.”
“Last week they did an event in Boca Raton and over 4,000 people came out to celebrate them,” she said. “And we know that when athletes rise, the whole university rises. The national attention and focus that they have had have helped FAU in their academics and all throughout the university.”
Picked to finish fifth in the Conference USA preseason poll, the Boca Raton school finished the season 35-4, first in its conference. It lost in the semifinal game of the Final Four, one step away from playing for the national championship.
TWEET OF THE WEEK: “Hey @Disney, my home state will happily accept your 70,000+ jobs if you want to leave Florida. We’ve got great weather, great people, and it’s always a great day in South Carolina! SC’s not woke, but we’re not sanctimonious about it either.” — Nikki Haley (@NikkiHaley), former South Carolina governor and current Republican presidential candidate.