Proposed House budget tackles nursing shortage with investments in education

Testing over Thanksgiving is leading to concerns for the Christmas holiday. Image via AP.

The proposed House budget calls to spend millions of dollars on education to help fight the state’s nursing shortage.

The spending plan calls would allot $40 million through the Incentives for Nursing Education (PIPELINE) Fund at Florida’s two-year state colleges and another $40 million for nursing programs offered at Florida’s public universities.

In addition, the House’s budget proposes $30 million to “incentivize collaboration between nursing education programs and healthcare partners.”

The budget would also spend $20 million for nursing education programs at school districts’ postsecondary technical career centers.

Out of the 10 Florida public universities receiving part of the $40 million pot, the University of Central Florida, which graduates the most nursing students in the system, could receive the most money, at about $7.4 million. That would be followed by the University of South Florida at $6.3 million and the University of Florida at $4.3 million.

Other smaller schools also could stand to receive funding from additional funding streams to grow their nursing programs.

The funding is a piece of the House’s overall $112.95 billion spending plan released by House Speaker Danny Perez.

“This year, we’re flipping the script by giving the people of Florida their own money back to them. This budget reflects our chamber’s values of conservative fiscal stewardship and accountability,” Perez said in a statement.

Other key educational funding provisions in the proposed House budget include $637 million for Florida’s Bright Futures Scholarship for the 2025-26 fiscal year.

Several universities and two-year state colleges were also budgeted to receive funding for capital projects.

State universities would get $263 million for fixed capital outlay projects, including $53 million for Florida International University’s medical school clinical facility, $40 million for a Florida A&M University engineering building, and $21 million for Florida Gulf Coast University’s Babcock Ranch Learning, Research and Outreach Facility.

Other proposed projects include $17 million for Florida State University’s Academic Support Building and $10 million at University of South Florida’s cybersecurity facility.

State colleges were budgeted $101 million for fixed capital outlay, including $12.5 million for Miami Dade College’s STEM Center for Excellence.