Florida senators aren't ready to overhaul university spending in wake of UCF scandal
Two Republican senators who play a major role in determining the education budget said Thursday they don’t see a need to overhaul higher-education rules, exposing a rift between the Senate and the House, which has prioritized the issue.
“I don’t think we have rampant abuses in the way our universities have been spending,” Senate Education Appropriations Chairwoman Kelli Stargel, R-Lakeland, told The News Service of Florida. “
The House, with the backing of Speaker Jose Oliva, R-Miami Lakes, is threatening to overhaul the higher-education budget in the wake of a financial scandal at the University of Central Florida, which misused tens of millions of dollars for the construction of a building. The University of South Florida and the University of Florida are also under scrutiny for potential misuse of taxpayer money for construction projects.
“What happened at UCF is not as if they were using these funds to send (officials) to Tahiti or something,” Stargel said. “At this point, I haven’t seen anything that has risen to the level of having some rampant overhaul or incredible changes to the system.”
Read more: https://www.orlandoweekly.com/Blogs/archives/2019/03/08/florida-senators-arent-ready-to-overhaul-university-spending-in-wake-of-ucf-scandal
