Jesse Scheckner
An 11th-hour adjustment to Florida’s next budget will remove Miami Dade College’s (MDC) input on a board that oversees a new, anti-communism program the school operates out of the Freedom Tower in downtown Miami.
In its last bump offer to the upper chamber, the House added an item removing an existing provision requiring MDC to approve the Board of Directors of its Institute for Freedom in the Americas.
Like “sprinkle list” items included at the last minute in the state’s spending plan each year, the change became part of the budget without requiring an OK from the Senate.
Gov. Ron DeSantis could veto the item, but it’s unlikely.
State lawmakers created the Institute and renamed and retooled another existing program at Florida International University last year to serve as conduits through which students could learn about individual freedom, democracy, and free-market economics.
The effective legislation (SB 1264) — sponsored by Tampa Republican Sen. Jay Collins and Republican Reps. Chuck Brannan of Lake City and James Buchanan of Sarasota — also mandated anti-communism programming in K-12 schools and the creation of a museum of communist history, which is also to be located at the Freedom Tower.
These changes emerged from a broader conservative push in Florida to counter leftist influences in Latin America and the Caribbean while tamping down on socialist rhetoric on school campuses.
The Institute launched in October, when it also opened applications for its inaugural 2025 fellowship class. MDC President Madeline Pumariega lauded the new program for “creating an environment where experienced leaders can enhance their impact, collaborate with others, and be inspired by those who have shaped the path toward freedom and democracy.”
DeSantis signed SB 1264 last April on the 63rd anniversary of the Bay of Pigs invasion. As a location for the signing, he fittingly chose a Hialeah museum dedicated to the Cold Era operation, which lawmakers gave $1 million in next year’s budget.
House lawmakers also kicked an extra $5 million to MDC on Friday through a sprinkle allocation for operational support. That’s in addition to roughly $205 million the school gets yearly from the state’s general fund and Educational Enhancement Trust Fund.
MDC is the Florida College System’s biggest institution by enrollment.
Under SB 1264, the Institute for Freedom in the Americas and the Adam Smith Center for Economic Freedom at Florida International University will host conferences, publish research and partner with local non-government organizations and universities.
Supporters argue that increasing civic engagement and leadership training in the Western Hemisphere is crucial to sustaining and promoting American values. Florida, with its large Hispanic communities and deep ties to Latin America, offers a unique platform for these efforts.
Critics, including the 14 Democratic lawmakers who voted “no” on SB 1264, questioned whether political motivations overshadowed academic rigor and warned of an educational double standard, pointing to recent state bans on diversity and sociology instruction.
