Jacob Ogles
Weeks after passing a bill authorizing an Election Law Center at Florida State University, the Legislature opted against funding it.
It’s an unusual end to legislation that always appeared strange in its goals. The Legislature unanimously passed a bill (SB 892) that would codify the Center into state statute and enable it to receive funding through the legislative process.
Of course, the Center has existed since 2023 and has already provided work. Sen. Corey Simon, a Tallahassee Republican, spoke to the Senate Higher Education Appropriations Committee in April, and explained the change in law’s impact.
“This bill builds on the accomplishments by enabling the Center to remain in existence and be eligible to receive recurring funds to continue its important work,” Simon said at the time.
But passing the bill didn’t guarantee money would come.
While the House Higher Education Budget Subcommittee last week included $950,000, the Senate never budgeted a dollar for the effort. The House has now accepted the Senate position, leaving the Center with no new funding this year.
The Center can continue to do its work, and presuming Gov. Ron DeSantis signs Simon’s bill, the institution will indeed find a place in statute.
This year, the Center hosted an anniversary looking back 25 years at the famous Bush v. Gore legal fight over Florida’s electoral votes in the 2000 Presidential Election.
In committee, Michael Morley, a professor at the Center, stressed that the work of the Center has always avoided taking political sides. “We’re nonpartisan, evidence based, objective,” he said.
Sen. Tracie Davis, a Jacksonville Democrat, at the time questioned if the Center could ever become involved with issues like redistricting. Morley said the Center wasn’t around in the last process but could foreseeably bring in speakers or hold events looking at that process. But the Center has always been a public service, not a tool of the Legislature, he stressed.
