Scott vetoes higher ed bill

Governor says it impedes state colleges

TALLAHASSEE Gov. Rick Scott on Wednesday vetoed a higher education bill he saidwould impede progress at state colleges by boosting Florida’s universities at the expense of community-based schools.

In vetoing the bill (SB 374), Scott axed the key priority of Senate President Joe Negron and killed a permanent boost to the Bright Futures scholarship program.

The top Bright Futures awards will still increase for this year— to cover100 percent of tuition and fees — because the money is embedded in the already approved state budget, Scott said in a letter explaining his veto.

The governor, who started his post-secondary education at a community college, said he hoped that next year state lawmakers would make the Bright Futures boost permanent and passnewlegislation that recognizes “the importance of both our state colleges and universities.”

Scott said the state colleges, as Florida’s 28 community colleges are nowcalled, play a key role in the state’s education pipeline and economic development efforts. The bill unwisely limits their ability to offer bachelor’s degrees and increases “red tape,” he said. Lawmakers also cut the state colleges’ budget by $24.7 million, he added.

The higher education was the centerpiece of legislative session.

Negron released a statement bill Negron’s