Janelle Irwin Taylor
The University of South Florida has secured $31.5 million in the proposed state budget, as lawmakers continue to hash out details, according to the latest Education Capital Outlay projects funded list.
The funding includes $10 million for a College of AI, Cybersecurity, and Computing facility, a number that matches the House’s original budget proposal. The Senate hadn’t included any funding for the project, but has met the House’s position.
Sen. Danny Burgess and Rep. Daniel Alvarez each requested $20 million in their respective appropriations requests (SF 3009 and HF 2531). The funding is for the first college in the state focused “on the rapidly evolving fields of artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, and computing,” according to the House request.
The facility will be located on USF’s Tampa campus, and it will be used for undergraduate, graduate and certificate programs preparing students “for high-demand careers and innovative research that leads to technological advancements in national and economic security.”
USF announced its intent to establish the new college last year.
The secured funding will help cover the costs of architecture, design, planning, construction, and engineering for the new facility, as well as the necessary equipment and installations required for teaching and conducting research in the relevant fields.
At USF St. Pete, the House and Senate have agreed to $5 million for an environmental and oceanographic sciences (EOS) research and training facility. The Senate had included $10 million in its budget, while the House had included $5 million. The Senate came down to the House level in the latest funding agreement.
Funds will be used to renovate an existing facility on the USF St. Pete campus, which was substantially impacted by back-to-back hurricanes last year, according to the Senate request. Renovations will “ensure its long-term useful life and to construct a new storm-hardened EOS research and teaching facility in an updated location further inland to safeguard the state’s investment.”
The Senate request notes that USF St. Pete “is an ideal location for this facility due to the proximity to a hub of marine and environmental science partners, including federal and state agencies, municipalities, and private enterprise.”
Sen. Nick DiCeglie and Rep. Linda Chaney filed appropriations requests (SF 3051 and HF 2297) in their respective chambers.
Another $8 million is slotted for phase one of the design and construction of a new USF Health Translational Research Institute facility. That’s the amount requested by Sen. Ed Hooper and Rep. James Buchanan in their respective appropriations requests (SF 3282 and HF 3528). But it’s less than the more than $13 million the Senate had included in its original budget proposal. The House, meanwhile, had originally slated nothing for the project.
The facility is in response to the invitation USF accepted in 2023 to become a member of the prestigious Association of American Universities. The House proposal notes that the planned facility will “be a transformational health research facility” that will “allow USF to grow its research portfolio.”
Finally, the House and the Senate have agreed on $8.5 million in funding for a new USF Veterans, Military Families & First Responders Complex on the school’s Tampa campus, including accessibility additions. The planned project is also expected to provide space for the USF Police Department and serve as the campus Emergency Operations Center, according to the House funding request.
Neither the House nor the Senate had originally included funding for the project in their budgets. The $8.5 million now agreed upon is less than half what was requested.
Sen. Jay Collins and Rep. Michael Owen each filed requests for $20 million (SF 2014 and HF 2403), noting that USF is already a national leader in veteran student success and that “additional services provided will help military-connected students to graduate on time and seek meaningful employment in high-demand areas.”
Elsewhere in the budget, negotiations continue in Tallahassee, with offers going back and forth between the chambers as they iron out the remaining differences. Senate President Ben Albritton and House Speaker Daniel Perez expect to finalize a budget and send it to Gov. Ron DeSantis by June 16, which would require them to reach consensus on all necessary items by June 13 to accommodate the required 72-hour cooling-off period.
