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The 2009 Regular Session of the Florida Legislature is now officially over. The final action of the Legislature was approval of the state budget for 2009-10. Florida's state fiscal year begins July 1, 2009.
Governor Crist today, May 27th, signed the $66.5 billion 2009-10 budget. For more information about the 2009-10 budget please visit www.flgov.com/budget.
The bright news is that the Legislature agreed to fully fund FIU's College of Medicine. These funds represent the third year of the funding plan approved for preliminary accreditation of the new college. This is excellent news and insures that the college will officially welcome its first students August 3rd as scheduled. This was an especially important funding year for the launch of the College of Medicine and we appreciate the many legislators, and supporters who helped make it happen.
While FIU still faces serious challenges, the Legislature did not cut universities as deep as was initially proposed in the House. The primary budget category for state university support is called General Revenue or GR. The House budget called for a 24 percent GR cut ($44 million for FIU). The Senate budget netted more operational funding. The final budget cuts GR approximately 15 percent. The cut is partially offset with a tuition increase and non-recurring federal stimulus funds. New tuition revenue is essential, but is not sufficient to close the budget gap. Certain previously enrolled students, and students with pre-paid tuition are exempt from the differential tuition increase. Some of the proceeds from the differential tuition increase will be set-aside for student financial aid. The University must also plan for the day when the federal stimulus funds have been exhausted. Furthermore, FIU is just now implementing the second year of our three year budget reduction plan approved last summer. FIU is committed to an open and transparent process as it finalizes the University's 2009-10 operational budget.
Friends of the university are encouraged to thank their legislative representatives for their support.
Watch this space for weekly updates and follow FIUgov on Twitter for headline news on FIU's legislative issues.
Upcoming dates that are key to FIU's budget process include:
- Board of Trustees meeting: June 12th
We welcome the advocacy of the entire university community on behalf of Florida International University, and have included on this website contact information for the Miami-Dade and Broward State Legislative Delegations. If you are not sure who represents you, click Contact Your Legislator and follow the instructions.
Look to these pages for information about FIU governmental relations activities and priorities.
STATE ISSUES The primary obligation of the Legislature is to balance the state budget and provide for the needs of the state, including critical state funding for FIU. Now that the budget for 2009-10 has been finalized, we will start all over to plan for next year's legislative session.
Of particular interest this year is $11 million in new funding for our new College of Medicine which opens with its first class of 40 students in August. We appreciate the Legislature's agreement to fully fund this request and keep this important new program on track. This was an especially important funding year for the launch of the College of Medicine and we appreciate the many legislators, and supports who helped make it happen.
- Click here for more information on our College of Medicine.
- Click here for the president's message
FEDERAL ISSUES Meanwhile, we are actively tracking new funding opportunities contained in the federal economic stimulus package and have launched new requests for FY 2010 funding which Congress will be considering over the course of this year (see federal priorities).
Thank you for your interest and support for Florida International University.
Steve Sauls
Vice President Governmental Relations
govtrel@fiu.edu