The House speaker says he doesn't know how the school was replaced by Florida International in the program.
By ANITA KUMAR
Published May 28, 2003
House Speaker Johnnie Byrd said Tuesday he will make sure the University of South Florida is part of a study on whether Florida's best universities should be funded in a new way.
Byrd telephoned USF leaders Tuesday morning to tell them he didn't know why the school had been dropped from the study and replaced by Florida International University in Miami, a smaller school that ranks below USF in most indicators of academic quality.
"I called to reassure (them) this is no big deal and if they wanted to be included, then fine," Byrd said Tuesday from Tallahassee.
Lobbyists and administrators from several schools had said privately that they heard USF was left out because Byrd was peeved by USF president Judy Genshaft's lukewarm support for one of his top priorities, an Alzheimer's institute on USF's Tampa campus.
"It's not the situation," he said. "I think it's a real stretch. ... I'm just concerned anyone would say that and further a bunch of gossip."
Byrd wasn't able to explain how USF was omitted, only that other legislators and staff wrote the language about the study in the state budget and that he was unaware it was done.
Sen. Lisa Carlton, the Sarasota Republican who heads the Senate Education Appropriations Subcommittee, said FIU was added after South Florida legislators asked for one of their schools to be included.
Other legislative leaders were not available Tuesday because of the final, frenzied day of the special legislative session.
The state budget approved Tuesday was not altered to include USF in the study. But Byrd said he will ask the Council for Education Policy Research and Improvement, which will oversee the study and report to the Legislature, to add USF later if the school wants.
The USF Board of Trustees expects to meet in the next week and talk about the legislative session, and whether they want to be included. Byrd, the Plant City Republican whose district includes USF, said he plans to attend.
Genshaft did not return phone calls Tuesday.
The University of Florida and Florida State University joined forces in April, asking the Legislature to give them a five-year contract that would help them plan better for the future by linking the number of students they accept to the amount of money they receive.
In return for guaranteed funding, the state's oldest schools would promise specific results, including graduating a specific number of students each year.
Several other schools were miffed at being left out, particularly USF, which ranks higher than FSU in some categories.
Lawmakers considered including USF when they agreed to study the proposal a couple of weeks ago. But by the time the budget was printed Saturday, USF was no longer in the study.
The change occurred after a conversation between Genshaft and Senate President Jim King, R-Jacksonville, who adamantly opposed giving Byrd the $45-million he sought from the Legislature this year to operate the new Alzheimer's institute.
Genshaft, who had stayed out of the debate over the institute, told King that the new Alzheimer's institute could survive without the money.
Two days later, the House amended the bill to include only UF and FSU.
Byrd said Tuesday he has a good relationship with USF officials, and continued to blame King and the Senate for creating a controversy over the Alzheimer's money and putting Genshaft in a tight spot.
"The Senate became overly fixated on the Alzheimer's thing," he said. "It was not a big deal. It was not a make it or break it thing.
After meeting with Gov. Jeb Bush last week, Byrd eventually gave up his demand for the $45-million. In exchange, the governor agreed to put money for the institute in his budget proposal next year.
- Times staff writer Lucy Morgan contributed to this report.
