TALLAHASSEE -- Florida's community colleges have learned they are on the chopping block, and could see at least $21 million in budget cuts.
In response, some lawmakers want to loosen the rules over the amount of money community colleges are required to have in the bank.
Community colleges currently must stash away 5 percent of their total budgets, but some lawmakers argue that money could prevent layoffs and equipment shortages.
The lawmakers said that law was passed for a reason -- to have security in the midst of uncertainty -- but Rep. Will Weatherford, the state House's point man on community college funding, noted the 5 percent holdback does not do much good if it cannot be accessed.
"This whole act, I think, is healthy," Weatherford said. "It's not fun cutting budgets. It's not fun going through this process, but it forces us to look at how we do state government, and what kind of mandates do we put on local government, and can we do better?"
Under Gov. Charlie Crist's budget-cutting proposal, there is also another $43 million, mostly in new building construction, that community colleges could lose.
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