Florida House speaker probe now involves trustees, Miami Herald

January 28, 2009
By Alex Leary

TALLAHASSEE -- The college trustees who hired House Speaker Ray Sansom have become part of a criminal investigation into his dealings with the school over whether they violated the state's Sunshine Law, officials said Tuesday.

State Attorney Willie Meggs is investigating whether the Northwest Florida State College trustees violated state laws on public meetings for a gathering they held in Tallahassee last March.

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State Farm Insurance withdrawing from Florida property market, Florida Trend

January 28, 2009

The state’s largest private insurer will drop 1.2 million policies over the next two years, likely pushing many into the already bloated state-run insurer of last resort, Citizens Property Insurance Corp. More than 800 State Farm agents can expect to see their income slashed by an average of 37%. State Farm Florida president Jim Thompson said the Florida operation has been losing $20 million a month.

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Crist vetoes legislature's cuts to education, Jacksonville News

March 14, 2009
By Brandon Larrabee

TALLAHASSEE — Gov. Charlie Crist signed a spending measure Tuesday aimed at balancing the state’s budget but vetoed some of lawmakers’ proposed cuts to education, public safety, land conservation and tourism promotion.

The revisions to the budget, meant to fill an expected shortfall of at least $2.4 billion in the formerly $66 billion spending plan, passed during a special legislative session that finished Jan. 13.

With his veto pen, Crist restored full funding for a program to provided bonuses to teachers certified by the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards; struck a provision that would have led to the dismissal of 118 probation officers; and retains state backing for Visit Florida, the state’s tourism arm.

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In Florida State athletic department, budget cuts coming, Orlando Sentinel

January 27, 2009
By Andrew Carter

I’m playing catch-up here, and I apologize for the absence yesterday, but wanted to touch on this story from the Tallahassee Democrat. Florida State athletic director Randy Spetman told the newspaper that a 10 percent athletic department budget cut is possible in the 2009-10 academic year.

Working in the newspaper business, I’m familiar with that kind of talk. And it’s not good.
Spetman told the Democrat, “What we are doing right now is looking at a 10-percent reduction in our budget for next year, 2009-10, which is a huge (measure). We have not finished that study to see how we get there because we have a lot of hard costs.”

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Grand jury to investigate Florida House Speaker Ray Sansom, Miami Herald

January 27, 2009
By Alex Leary

-- A grand jury decided Monday to launch a formal investigation into Florida House Speaker Ray Sansom and whether his six-figure job at a Panhandle college was payback for helping the school get millions of dollars in construction money over the past two years.

The 21-member panel concluded that Sansom's relationship with the school warranted a criminal probe after reviewing the facts outlined in a series of articles by the Herald/Times Tallahassee Bureau.

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Scholarship strengthens poor students, The Ledger (Lakeland)

January 26, 2009
By Doug Tuthill


Within the education policies that have come to be viewed as the legacy of Jeb Bush is a strategic imperative that transcends any one governor or political party. It is the light that now shines on students from impoverished homes and our collective obligation to do better by them.AC = -->

In that sense, Bush's A+ Plan in 1999 was the successor to Lawton Chiles' Blueprint 2000 in 1991. Both Bush, a Republican, and Chiles, a Democrat, were committed to using standards, assessments and accountability to improve student learning - especially the achievement of students from low-income families. One result is that Florida is making great progress in closing the achievement gap, including with Hispanic students who now outperform all students in 15 different states.

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Despite cuts to Fla.'s state universities, private school tuition aid may rise, The Ledger (Lakeland)

January 25, 2009
By Joe Follick


TALLAHASSEE Even with Florida’s 11 public universities laying off staff and limiting enrollment, the state will spend more than $90 million this year to help residents attend private colleges.

The Florida Resident Access Grant program, better known as “FRAG,” was created in 1979. The goal was to keep Floridians who were considering out-of-state private schools and help provide options beyond public universities.

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State university officials take aim at slashing book prices, Palm Beach Post

January 25, 2009
By Kimberly Miller


Florida Atlantic University student Ed Fulton figures the bookstore let him off easy this semester - his largest single purchase was an $80 tome on environmental chemistry.

He still spent about $450 on books for his spring classes, and in the fall, he plunked down a titanic $150 for a volume on biology.

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Legislature must weigh the benefits of smaller classes against the costs, Herald Tribune

January 25, 2009


The Florida Legislature met in emergency, special session earlier this month to fill a big, $2.3 billion hole in the state budget.

The Legislature's strategy for eliminating the short-term operating deficit -- cutting deeply into funding for social programs, including health care and education, and conducting more raids on trust funds -- demonstrated how desperate the state has become.

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Fla.cuts, fed plan not in sunc, critics say, The Ledger (Lakeland)

January 24, 2009
By Lloyd Dunkelberger


TALLAHASSEE The federal government is preparing a historic economic recovery program that will pour billions of dollars into Florida to help revive the economy.

But at the same time, Florida lawmakers have cut more than $8 billion from state spending over the last two years, with more cuts likely when they meet in March to write a new state budget.

Some critics say the efforts are at cross-purposes, with the state cuts worsening Florida's recession.

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More for classes, less for offices, St. Pete Times

January 25, 2009

There's growing bipartisan support for the notion that Florida's mechanism for funding public schools isn't sufficient. In Seminole County, the longtime Republican stronghold north of Orlando, there is talk about raising property taxes for schools. The state Board of Education has suggested it would appeal to the Legislature to improve schools' fiscal future. That's why it's all the more pressing that Pinellas County School superintendent Julie Janssen reduce the district's administrative costs, long among the highest in the state.

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Ray Sansom: The full interview (with video), NWF Daily News

January 24, 2009
By Tom McLaughlin

Almost since the day he was sworn in as speaker of the Florida House, state representative and Destin resident Ray Sansom has been on the defensive.

It started, he said, the day after Thanksgiving, when a report was published stating he'd taken a $110,000 part-time job with Northwest Florida State College, a school he'd helped get $31 million in appropriations during the 2007 legislative session.

The controversy grew when it was learned that Sansom had attended a quiet little public meeting with college President Bob Richburg and seven members of its board of trustees on March 24, 2008.

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UF dean warns of more layoffs, Gainesville Sun

January 24, 2009
By Nathan Crabbe


Just as faculty are fighting layoffs from 2008, a University of Florida dean has warned there will "almost certainly" be more layoffs if expected budget cuts occur.

College of Liberal Arts and Sciences Dean Paul D'Anieri sent a letter to college faculty last week girding them for more layoffs.

"There will almost certainly be layoffs, and if the cut is more than a few percent, there will be layoffs of tenure-track and possibly tenured faculty," he wrote.

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Crist will veto some budget cuts, Wakulla.com

January 23, 2009
By David Royse

Crist Will Veto Some Budget Cuts
by David RoyseThe News Service of Florida
In his most forcefully worded warning yet, Gov. Charlie Crist on Thursday said he will veto some parts of the revised budget lawmakers passed earlier this month as they tried to balance the state's spending plan against falling tax collections.

Crist said he is looking closely at education spending, a cut to the Department of Corrections that resulted in more than 60 probation officers getting laid off, and possibly some environmental cuts, particularly a one-year break on the Florida Forever land buying program.
Crist noted he has hinted about vetoes, but said Thursday that he is acknowledging that next week he will veto some line items in those areas.

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Economic stimulus plan could mean $2-billion for Florida schools, St. Pete Times

January 23, 2009
By Ron Matus

The economic stimulus plan rolling through Congress could pump $2-billion into Florida schools, easing the pain from yet another round of state budget cuts on tap for this spring.

The $825-billion package, backed by President Obama, sets aside at least $100-billion for K-12 education and $21.5-billion for colleges and universities.

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UNF board plans for bad times, Times-Union (Jacksonville)

January 23, 2009
By Adam Aasen

With the anticipated next round of budget cuts weighing on their minds, University of North Florida administrators are trying to figure out how bad things might get. UNF’s Board of Trustees was presented several scenarios on Thursday. One was optimistic: It’s possible, although unlikely, the school could see about $3 million more than its preliminary budget, which could mean more professors being hired. And one wasn’t: A worst case would see a shortfall of at least $5 million that could lead to academic programs being eliminated. It depends on how much Legislature cuts in higher education and how by much tuition is increased. This month, legislators met in a special session and cut about 4 percent of the state university system’s current fiscal year budget. Many lawmakers are now worried that next year’s higher education budget might be up to 14 percent less than the current budget.

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Impact fees waived near University of South Florida, Tampa Bay Business Journal

January 23, 2009

The Hillsborough County Commission on Thursday approved a two-year no-fee zone ordinance for the University of South Florida area.

Intended to encourage investment in the USF area, the ordinance waives transportation impact fees for developers of new improvements for roughly 3,800 acres bounded by Sinclair Hills Road and Bearss Avenue to the north, Florida Avenue to the west, 46th Street to the east and Fowler Avenue to the south.

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Dallas irm to handle search for new chancellor of Florida universities, St. Pete Times

January 23, 2009
By Donna Winchester

TAMPA — The group that oversees Florida's 11 public universities voted unanimously Thursday to hire a Dallas search firm to aid in hiring a new chancellor for the state university system.

The 14-member committee selected the firm of R. William Funk & Associates to find a replacement for chancellor Mark Rosenberg, who announced his resignation in September.

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Florida at the ready for a Medicaid boost, Herald Tribune

January 23, 2009
By Lloyd Dunkelberger

TALLAHASSEE - The federal government is preparing a $4.3 billion boost that could help some of Florida's sickest and most vulnerable citizens while extending health care to the state's growing legions of the unemployed.

"This is a very significant shot in the arm for Florida," said U.S. Rep. Kathy Castor, a Tampa Democrat and member of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, which reviewed a portion of the $825 billion federal economic recovery package on Thursday.

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Financial considerations prompt Florida State Seminoles to agree to face South Florida Bulldogs, St. Pete Times

January 23, 2009
By Brian Landman

Florida State coach Bobby Bowden didn't sound particularly optimistic, or even particularly enthusiastic, about scheduling ever-improving USF as recently as last summer.

"You usually try to find somebody that you've got a chance to win (against) instead of getting your nose bloodied," he said in July.

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