Senate blocks – Senate and House negotiators remain split over whether to move $22.47 million from the University of South Florida Sarasota-Manatee to New College of Florida as part of Gov. Ron DeSantis’ plan to transfer Sarasota-Manatee campus facilities.
The budget fight over Gov. Ron DeSantis’ plan to move the University of South Florida Sarasota-Manatee campus to New College of Florida is still stuck in the same place: the money.
As House and Senate negotiators trade second offers during the Special Session. the House continues to insist on transferring $22.47 million from USF Sarasota-Manatee to New College.. The Senate’s second offer. by contrast. leaves those transfer lines blank. preserving its long-held position against shifting USF funding as the campus transfer advances.
The dispute has become one of the most closely watched fights in Florida’s higher education budget. and it remains unresolved as conference talks continue through Friday.. Leaders have already shown they can agree on the facilities transfer itself. but the funding question—tied directly to the broader campus deal—has kept both chambers apart.
DeSantis pitched the Sarasota-Manatee transfer in December, assigning the campus buildings and facilities to New College. The governor’s plan, though, did not initially include the funding transfer from USF to New College.
When DeSantis laid out the framework last year. he said the deal would require New College to assume full legal and financial liability for outstanding debt at the existing USF Sarasota-Manatee campus by Oct.. 30, 2026.. Under that arrangement, New College would make $166,617 monthly payments to USF to cover debt service until it was paid off.. The property transfer would occur by July 1, with existing students allowed to finish degrees for up to four more years.
House and Senate leaders had entered into a behind-the-scenes agreement earlier this year to support the campus transfer. But the funding shift has been a sticking point since the House proposed moving $22.47 million from USF to New College as part of the bargain.
Former USF Board of Trustees Chair Will Weatherford. speaking after the Senate pushed back. argued that losing the funds threatens priorities connected to keeping current students on track and keeping staff paid.. “We have been clear that the loss of any funds threatens our priority to protect our people. as they are necessary to pay for a teach-out so current USF Sarasota-Manatee students can finish their degrees on their home campus and for USF Sarasota-Manatee employees’ salaries on another USF campus. ” Weatherford said.
At the time, sources told Florida Politics that lawmakers were confident they would ultimately align with the Senate’s position.. Now. the House’s second offer retaining the $22.47 million transfer at the originally proposed levels suggests that alignment may be harder than expected—even as negotiators still have time to narrow differences before budget chiefs step in.
Conference committees are set to meet through Friday.. If the dispute remains unresolved, it will move to budget chiefs—Sen.. Ed Hooper and Rep.. Lawrence McClure—before lawmakers return to Tallahassee to vote on a final budget after Memorial Day, which is May 25.. The Special Session is slated to end May 29.
Florida’s timeline is unforgiving.. Legislators must pass a budget—their only constitutional obligation—by July 1. or the state would go into a partial government shutdown. an outcome that hasn’t ever happened.. The USF Sarasota-Manatee transfer and proposed related funding transfer are included in the initial higher education budget spreadsheets released Tuesday afternoon.
USF Sarasota-Manatee New College of Florida Ron DeSantis budget conference Ed Hooper Lawrence McClure Will Weatherford Florida Special Session higher education budget