All the money the University of Central Florida spends on lobbying wasn’t enough to stop Gov. Rick Scott from swinging his budget ax and hacking away several multi-million dollar “special-interest earmarks” the Legislature steered to UCF.
Gone are the following line items impacting UCF:
– $5.2 million for Classroom Building II
– $3.9 million for a physics building
– $3.6 million for an engineering building
– $6.3 million for a research and incubator facility
– $2.3 million for roof repairs and other improvements
The $21.3 million total slashed from UCF represents only a small portion of the $615 million Scott vetoed out of the state’s now $69.1 billion budget.
Even though many of Scott’s budget cuts hit higher education, Scott released a statement insisting he supports education because he directed the Legislature to steer the millions he vetoed to K-12 education.
“Special interests probably aren’t happy with the tough choices I made, but I am confident everyone can agree that funding for our children and students is more important than pleasing Tallahassee’s special interests,” Scott said in a statement.
Powerful lawmakers issued statements expressing frustration with Scott for waiting until the budget was passed to veto items instead of working with them during the legislative session.
UCF President John C. Hitt is already expressing his disappointment with Scott’s decision, seemingly taking a shot at Scott’s platform as the “jobs governor.”
“For a state that really needs new jobs, this is not good news,” Hitt told the Orlando Sentinel.
KnightNews.com will check with UCF to find out where school leaders hoped to build the engineering or physics building to find out if the UCF arboretum was a site being considered.
