Florida's Board of Governors will continue to preside over the state's 11 public universities in its current structure despite a surge of support for a plan aiming to establish a new system with a limited board.
After soaring through the state Senate in March, support for a bill that would have reduced the number of members on the board, the State University System's highest governing body, from 17 to eight died in the House of Representatives.
If passed, the bill would have also made the state education commissioner an elected position.
Bill Edmonds, the board's spokesman, said the board is thankful that the House took its time in weighing out the issue. "We're hopeful that the Legislature will continue in the spirit that it ended," he said.
Rep. Joe Pickens, R-Palatka, and the bill's co-sponsor, said despite failure this time around, he believes a version of the bill should appear in the next Legislative session that clarifies the roles the board and the Legislature play in higher-education governance.
Term limits, however, prevent him from creating the legislation himself.
"That will be for other folks to decide," he said.
