Seventy-eight percent of UF students said they wanted it in a spring 2007 referendum and now it's inching closer toward reality.
A bill in the state Legislature that would allow universities to charge a renewable energy fee, or "green" fee, unanimously passed two committees, one in the House and one in the Senate, last week.
The bill would allow all 11 state universities to charge a fee of up to $5 per credit hour in the first year for environmentally friendly projects.
There is no limit on the fee after the first year. The Student Body of each university seeking to establish the fee would have to approve it with a student referendum detailing exactly how much the fee would be and what it would be spent on.
Even though UF students already voted in favor of a 50 cents-per-credit-hour fee in 2007, they would have to pass another referendum in order to make it official, according to an aide in the office of Sen. Lee Constantine, R-Altamonte Springs, a sponsor of the bill.
The bill would also require universities that establish a fee to create a renewable energy fee committee to determine how the money is spent. Half the members would be appointed by the university's president or his or her designee and the other half by the Student Body president. They could only approve measures that establish or improve "the use of renewable energy technologies or energy efficiencies that directly lower the university's greenhouse gas emissions, waste, or energy costs," according to the bill.
After five years with the fee, the students would have to vote on another referendum to decide if they want to keep it in place.
Sara Hutton, president of Gators for a Sustainable Campus, which put the last referendum on the Student Government elections ballot, said the group will try to hold another referendum for the fee in SG elections this fall. She said the group will probably not be looking to increase the fee over the already-approved 50 cents.
"We just don't wanna make it too expensive for the student," she said.
She said she's glad the bill could be passed soon because budget cuts are threatening UF's ability to fund environmental projects.
Students at Florida State University, the University of Central Florida and the University of South Florida have also voted in favor of a "green" fee.
