This time, two local legislators voted ‘nay’. The campus’s fate now depends on the Florida Senate.
By Nic Steinig
Original Air Date: May 13, 2026
Host: Yesterday, two Florida House representatives from the area voted against a budget bill that would shift ownership of USF Sarasota-Manatee’s 35-acre campus to New College of Florida. Even so, the House majority—including four other area legislators—voted for the bill. Now the future of the USF Sarasota-Manatee campus depends on the Florida Senate and a conciliation process between those two bills, as Nic Steinig reports.
Nic Steinig: Yesterday, the Florida House of Representatives voted to transfer ownership of the USF Sarasota-Manatee campus to New College of Florida as part of its general appropriations budget. The house bill governing this decision, HB 5061E, passed 80-26. At the same time, the Florida Senate cast its own vote on higher education appropriations, with 32 in favor and 0 opposed.
Yet unlike the House bill, the Senate’s version made no mention of transferring the USF Sarasota-Manatee campus to New College, as serious opposition to the effort mounted in the Senate. Lacking a language agreement between the two versions, the House and Senate must now resolve the discrepancy in a conference committee, where both sides will negotiate.
USF’s Sarasota-Manatee campus
The lead negotiator for the Senate, Sen. Gayle Harrell, told WUSF earlier today that the Senate might not budge, and said “We’re going to be looking at that issue seriously.…[A]t this point, we are with our position.”
The negotiations will also seek to resolve other disputes that arose between the House and the Senate on higher education, including funding for preeminent research institutions and voucher programs.
The dispute over the USF Sarasota-Manatee transfer hinges on whether the transfer would include budget changes that divert $22.5 million in recurring state funding from USF Sarasota-Manatee to New College rather than the transfer itself.
That annual $22.5 million dollars is valuable to both campuses. If New College assumes ownership of the campus, it would also take on USF Sarasota-Manatee’s associated debt—about $53 million borrowed for construction. That extra $22.5 million could help New College meet the expected $1.95 million in annual debt service and cover additional maintenance costs.
However, New College officials have suggested they might be able to make the financial lift without the $22.5 million, since New College already pays $1.65 million per year for 144 beds at USF Sarasota-Manatee.
But for USF Sarasota-Manatee, the loss of those funds threatens dire consequences for faculty, students, and staff. USF Board of Trustees Chair Will Weatherford has stated that those funds are necessary to complete their academic program and ensure that all current students graduate. Since the budget for USF Sarasota-Manatee is managed separately from its Tampa counterpart, the campus could be left stranded.
Rep. Demi Busatta, R-Coral Gables, who is now the lead House negotiator for the higher education portion of the budget, said back in February that the transfer would not dissolve any ongoing academic programs such as nursing and that faculty and students would maintain their USF status. Exactly how that arrangement would work and how long it would continue were not made clear in the bill.
Yet, Busatta also said “the two institutions amongst themselves would figure out how they’re going to implement all the logistics.” With New College owning the buildings, locals concerned about the potential loss of the USF Sarasota-Manatee community presence and workforce pipeline have cast doubt on that claim.
Save USF Sarasota Manatee, a coalition of local business leaders, healthcare providers, students, faculty, and administrators, has lobbied against the transfer since it was first introduced last year.
WSLR spoke with a co-signer of the Save USF Sarasota-Manatee cause, USF Faculty Senate Vice Chair and USF Sarasota-Manatee History Professor Scott Perry. Here’s what he had to say about the upcoming negotiation:
Dr. Jonathan Scott Perry
Scott Perry: From my perspective, the real advantage we have is—I think the incoming Senate president is Jim Boyd, who’s from Bradenton. Gayle Harrell—who also is somebody with Sarasota Connections—she’s the chair of the education committee in the Senate. So I think we’re well-positioned to resist this in the Senate.
NS: Asked what the consequences would be for USF Sarasota-Manatee if the property was transferred and the $22.5 million was diverted to New College, Perry had this response.
SP: If the transfer were to happen, we are separately budgeted. That’s something a lot of people don’t really understand. The money comes from the Sarasota campus. From a faculty perspective, our big worry has been that, if they eliminate our campus, then our budget lines have also disappeared. That’s why that $22.5 million is so important. Picture us like a line. We’re attached to a lifeline as a diver would be, and if that lifeline is cut off, then we’re adrift, floating out to sea.
The bigger catastrophe is what it would mean for our students, many of whom have family responsibilities, work responsibilities. I think it’s a devastating loss for the people in our community.
NS: He then questioned how operational logistics would be handled if the last cohort of USF Sarasota-Manatee students were allowed to finish their degrees in a teach-out, expressing frustration towards the lack of planning—and resistance—from USF leaders.
SP: You say, “Okay, we’re going to teach out the current students.” When will the classes be offered? Who will be teaching them? Who’s going to get paid from this? What days of the week will you offer it? Those are very practical questions. And if New College owns the property, why should they do anything to benefit us? There are all these things that are so vague in the legislation. I don’t think that our leaders in Tampa who drafted it really thought about the practicalities of it. I don’t feel that USF has stepped up to the plate to stand up for what they value.
NS: Perry then elaborated that some USF officials had communicated to him that they softened their response to the state’s directives, fearing overly heavy-handed resistance would instigate political reprisal and worsen USF’s situation.
Two of the six local Florida House representatives voted against HB 5061E: Rep. James Buchanon and Rep. Will Robinson. Representatives Bill Conerly, Fiona McFarland, Danny Nix and Michael Owen voted in favor of the bill.
Reporting for WSLR, Nic Steinig.
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