TALHASSEE, Fla. (WFLA) – For many years, lawmakers have speculated that state universities and universities run leaders have been given these positions based on political loyalty to the governor.
The new State Capitol bill aims to repeal current laws and make these agencies’ paths more transparent to the president. But Gov. Ron DeSantis is very clear that he does not support the law.
Lawmakers plan to make the process of choosing a Florida university president less publicly secret, but Gov. DeSantis argues that the move will only undo all the progress the state has made in higher education.
In 2022, Senate Bill 520 was aiming to protect university presidential candidates who could compete for work, but three years later, lawmakers are now trying to reverse the bill.
“As soon as we passed that bill, the bureaucrats changed their policies. They put the entire process in the shade and created a huge level of mistrust among Floridians across the state,” said Michelle Zambai (R-Escambia County).
Salzman, sponsor of this year’s bill, said her efforts will be made public to Floridians’ hands. House Bill 1321 allows the public to know and begin to end, selected to lead state universities and universities, but Governor Desantis appears to be on board.
“What the bill does is castrate the ability to line up universities,” DeSantis said.
However, Salzman argued, saying the governor would still be working on the issue.
“This is about showing voters what we are doing. It’s about government transparency. We’re not removing the power of the governor from anything. There’s no removal of power. He appoints people who make these choices.
House Republicans aren’t the only ones moving forward with the bill, but Democrats have also signed it.
“It’s taxpayer money to pay to the university, and the tuition fees to the university are worth sitting at the table and making decisions about who will lead these historic and impactful institutions.”
State lawmakers shared that while the bill was passed in the House, it has not yet moved much in the Senate. And even so, the governor will likely reject the bill.
Lawmakers were able to override the governor’s veto. This is likely at this point by lawmakers.
