Dollars for Florida universities, colleges emerge as battleground between House, Senate - John Kennedy, Jacksonville

With spending problems at Florida universities drawing scrutiny — and the resignation of the University of Central Florida’s president — higher education dollars are emerging as a battleground for state House and Senate budget writers. Dueling state spending blueprints set for votes this week in the House and Senate take vastly different approaches to financing Florida’s universities and colleges. The Senate spends $285.3 million more in a higher education budget topping $6 billion. “We clearly have a lot of work to do to get the two sides together,” said Sen. Kelli Stargell, R-Lakeland, chairwoman of the Senate Education budget panel. https://www.jacksonville.com/news/20190329/dollars-for-universities-colleges-emerge-as-battleground-between-house-senate