House, Senate millions apart on some USF funding

The House and Senate are largely aligned on proposed spending for the University of South Florida, but in some areas the chambers are millions of dollars apart.

The biggest gap comes in the area of cybersecurity, with the House proposing about $35 million more for two major line items benefitting the Tampa Bay area’s largest institute of higher education.

The chambers are $25 million apart on funding for USF’s Florida Center for Cybersecurity. The House has proposed $35 million, while the Senate came in at just $10 million.

And there’s a $10 million gap in proposed funding for USF’s College of AI, Cybersecurity and Computing facility, with $25 million proposed in the House compared to just $15 million in the Senate.

The chambers also disagree on proposed funding for USF’s Florida Medical Center, which would enjoy $97 million under the House plan compared to just $86 million in the Senate.

The Senate came in at a higher number for USF’s Florida Center for Nursing, at $7 million compared to the House’s $5 million pitch.

The Senate didn’t include any proposed funding for the school’s Institute for Parkinson’s Disease, while the House slotted $6 million.

And the Senate does not contemplate a funds transfer between USF’s Sarasota/Manatee campus and New College of Florida. Under the House spending plan, $19.2 million would be transferred from the General Revenue Fund and $3.3 million would be sent from the Educational Enhancement Trust Fund from USF to New College of Florida if proposed legislation (PCB HEB 26-01) transferring the campus to New College of Florida passes. The Senate is so far showing no appetite for the shift.

The House and Senate proposed budgets also differ in funds regarding the state’s Educational Enhancement Trust Fund from tuition and fees, with the Senate coming in at a higher $436.6 million figure, compared to $425.7 million in the House.

Other smaller areas of budget disagreement include $350,000 proposed in the Senate for national and critical infrastructure security initiatives at USF that is not currently contemplated in the House. Meanwhile, the Senate is proposing more than the House — $297,000 compared to $223,000 — for USF specialty contracts related to HIV and AIDS. The Senate has also proposed $45,000 in funding for USF specialty contracts for perinatal intensive care, while the House does not include funding.

Overall, the Senate proposed budget includes about $135.5 million in funding for USF, not including funding related to tuition and fees or the USF Sarasota/Manatee transfer, while the House has proposed about $186 million.

Despite differences, there are areas of alignment between the two chambers on USF-related funding.

Those include $6.2 million for funds meant to advance nursing education; $5.5 million for the Florida Flood Hub for Applied Research and Innovation; $1.7 million for the Florida Mental Health Institute; $1.45 million for multidisciplinary educational services; $801,000 for student financial assistance; $393,000 for the Tampa referral center; $250,000 for an occupational safety grant match; $225,000 for specialty contracts related to the Children’s Kidney Failure Center; $153,000 for specialty contracts related to behavioral health; and $152,000 for specialty contracts related to disease management.

With both chambers having now released their initial budget proposals, the process of reconciliation can now begin before sending a finalized budget to Gov. Ron DeSantis for his review.