By MICHAEL C. BENDER and DARA KAM

Here are some notes from an interview today with Senate President Jeff Atwater, R-North Palm Beach:

FIRST DAY OF SESSION: With bipartisan support to delay unemployment tax payments, the plan is waive the rules and pass it to Gov. Charlie Crist before the end of the first day. The Senate will also name a Jacksonville roadway for the late Sen. Jim King, R-Jacksonville and debate reforms to the Public Service Commission.

Atwater choked up when speaking of the road designation for King, a former Senate President who passed away last summer.

“Though that may seem as ceremonial, for those of us who had the honor of serving with him, it’s far more than that. It’s really,” Atwater said haltingly, on the verge of tears. “It’s important.”

Also on the first day, the Senate will take up changes to the Public Service Commission that will put into effect suggestions from a grand jury report left on the shelf since 1992 to improve the integrity of the maligned regulatory agency.

LAST DAY OF SESSION: What Atwater doesn’t want to happen is another breakdown in budget negotiations and be forced to extend session past April 30. With that in mind, Atwater is planning on planning to encourage more transparency, which would require more time for the budget process

“I’d like to test some things this session and recommend them to the next administration of the legislature,” Atwater said. “Last year we did our very best. So now, we’re going to try to see if we can lay that down in writing.”

Atwater didn’t say if he planned to specifically include the allocation process (when the two chambers decide how much money to spend on broad areas, like education, health care and transportation), but it sounded like he would:

“I would want every bit of the process to be discussed in public and the conversation completed in public.”

BUDGET PRIORITIES: There will be winners and losers. Atwater said he’s not interested in across-the-board cuts and anything that can be considered a job generator will be more likely to get money.

“We will have to go deeper in some places to create any initiative for job creation: incentives, venture capital funding, all of that,” Atwater said. “I don’t know where those places will be or the depth of those reductions.”

The economic incentives could include lowering the bar for some programs already in existence or loan programs for small businesses.

Atwater’s “seed” programs won’t include the $10 million economic gardening loan incentive hurriedly pushed through by Gov. Charlie Crist more than a year ago that still hasn’t gotten off the ground.

“I can’t tell you that we would measure any level of success there,” he admitted. “We may try again a loan program. We may try some more in the area of venture capital. But that’s fair criticism. We’ve got to get them out on the street and get them working.”

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Legislative leaders-in-waiting Sen. Don Gaetz and Rep. Will Weatherford are heading up a GOP initiative to water down constitutional class size limits approved by voters.

Gaetz, R-Destin, and Weatherford, R-Wesley Chapel, sponsored a constitutional amendment lawmakers are expected to put on the ballot this year that would undo some of the class size restrictions voters approved in 2002.

Floridians have already spent $16 billion to shrink class sizes but plummeting property tax collections - which pay for public schools - have sent lawmakers scrambling to foot the $22 billion-a-year tab for education.

Gaetz and Weatherford, who are expected to lead their chambers in 2012, will reveal details of their proposal at a press conference tomorrow morning.

Gov. Charlie Crist, who is running for U.S. Senate, recently said that he supports undoing the class size restrictions, which have been been introduced gradually and which school officials say costs too much and doesn’t benefit student achievement.

U.S. Rep. Kendrick Meek, a Democrat is also running for the U.S. Senate seat Crist seeks, was the force behind the class size amendment in 2002 while he was in the state Senate.

He isn’t backing down from the limits, which are set to go into full effect by the end of this year.

“Eight years later, Tallahassee officials have not relented in trying to water down hard-fought class size limits while refusing to tackle the special interest bidding that is alive and well in the state capital, ” said Kendrick Meek, who served as Chairman of Florida’s Coalition to Reduce Class Size in 2002.

“Florida families cannot be shortchanged. They simply ask that their children not be packed into overcrowded classrooms. Instead of focusing on misguided priorities, Florida needs a long-term perspective to secure a better future for our children. Implementing the class size limits without delay is critical so our teachers can teach in classrooms where our students can learn. Moreover, it is important to note that our state needs to invest now in its human capital in order to reverse the tide of joblessness for tomorrow’s workers,” Meek said in press release.

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Gov. Charlie Crist’s proposed $500 million boost to education spending based on an unlikely gambling agreement is unrealistic, Senate President Jeff Atwater said this morning.

“The numbers that I would see at this moment that were included in that release did seem to be a bit optimistic,” Atwater, R-North Palm Beach, said at a meeting of reporters and editors.

Crist’s $22.7 billion public education budget, released Monday, relies on about $433 million from the Seminole Tribe of Florida now sitting in the bank as part of a deal with the state allowing certain types of gambling at the tribe’s casinos.

But the legislature has refused to sign off on a deal inked by Crist and the tribe and early indications show that an agreement this year remains in doubt.

“We worked hard on a gaming compact and we’re not done but to just plug in the numbers that I saw was rather optimistic,” Atwater, who is running for chief financial officer said.

Gov. Charlie Crist, apparently recovered from the man-hug he shared with President Barack Obama last year, is trying to meet with the president tomorrow in Tampa.

Obama will be in Florida to announce the winners of about $8 billion in federal grants for high speed rail projects, and it is almost certain that at least part of the state’s $2.5 billion ask will be granted.

Crist, who is scheduled to be in Tampa tomorrow, said his staff is working on a get-together with the president.

“I would like to see him, yes. It looks like it’s possible, yes,” Crist said after a speech to editors and reporters at the Capitol this morning.

Crist said he has three things to discuss with Obama, including some advice on reaching out across the aisle, a practice that has landed Crist in hot water with his fellow Republicans.

“I hope that what he announceas in Tampa brings a lot of jobs to Florida in the form of high speed rail. Number two, I’d like to talk to him about a more bipartisan approach which means, you know, it’s a two-way street, you know, reaching out more to Republicans and have them involved in the important issues of the day.
And then finally, encourage him on Race to the Top and lobby him a little,” Crist said. Race to the Top is a federal education grant program that could bring about $1 billion to Florida.

GOP critics lambasted Crist, a Republican running for U.S. Senate, for cheerleading for Obama’s $800 billion stimulus package last year. Crist appeared with Obama in Florida last year and a photo of the two embracing was used by critics to embarrass Crist in his GOP primary campaign against former House Speaker Marco Rubio.

Crist later denied he supported the stimulus, saying he did not have the opportunity to vote for it in Congress.

Crist repeated his “let’s-all-get-along” emphasis when asked what he expected from the president’s state of the union address tonight.

“A common sense approach, more bipartisanship, and I hope he delivers,” he said.

First Lady Michelle Obama will give out awards at the Florida Campus Compact annual gala in Miami next week.

The fundraiser and awards ceremony takes place Oct. 15 at the Landmark Freedom Tower in Miami.

Florida Campus Compact is a coalition of 50 colleges and universities, including Florida Atlantic University, that gets students involved in community service.

“It’s a huge deal for us,” said Florida Campus Compact executive director DeeDee Rasmussen, a former aide to U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson.

It may be a huge deal for the coalition of 50 colleges and universities throughout the state but one that apparently is top-secret.

There’s no mention of the First Lady’s presence at the annual gala and luncheon on the Florida Campus Compact home page on its website.

But a little persistence and clicking on the “speakers”
tab on the gala’s page reveals that Mrs. Obama will be joined by Palm Beach County home town celebrity: Frank Brogan.

In July, the state Board of Governors Brogan to be the chancellor of the state university system. Prior to that the former Martin County schoolteacher served as president of Florida Atlantic University.

Michelle Obama was involved in similar campus efforts at the University of Chicago, where she developed the university’s first student community service program.

“I couldn’t think of a better person to come and give kudos and congratulations to the people who are in the trenches every day. She used to work in this field in Chicago and I know it’s something near and dear to her heart,” Rasmussen said.

Gov. Charlie Crist will join in a world-wide literacy event starring “The Very Hungry Caterpillar,” the classic children’s book published 40 years ago, this morning in Orlando.

Freedom Shores Elementary schoolchildren having caterpillar fun

The Pearson Foundation, the charitable organization of the publishing giant, donated the books and is trying to beat last year’s “Read for the Record” world record of 700,000 readers.

“Unbelievably, one in three Pre-K innocents have never had a book read to them and too many lack basic literacy skills that are a must for a chance at achieving early literacy which is the base for their entire education experience,” said Victoria Zepp, a Tallahassee lobbyist and consultant whose clients include Pearson.

Zepp is joining Crist at Vista Lakes Elementary in Orlando where the governor is scheduled to read Eric Carle’s classic children’s tale.

Crist is one of a number of celebrities participating in the event kicked off by NBC Today show host Matt Lauer this morning.
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Gov. Charlie Crist and wife Carole at Dr. Mary McLeod Bethune Elementary School in Riviera Beach. LANNIS WATERS/Staff photographer

Crist and his wife, Carole Crist, visited Mary McLeod Bethune Elementary School this morning, greeting cafeteria workers, administrators and safety patrols and stopping in on three classes.

Crist is also slated to meet with restaurateurs in Palm Beach County today and to attend a fund-raiser in Manalapan tonight for his U.S. Senate bid.

“I can’t tell you how impressed I am with your school and your accomplishments here and what you’ve been able to do in a short period of time,” Crist said after being shown around by principal Glenda Sheffield.

Bethune Elementary got an F grade in 2002 based on its Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test scores and was a D school in 2006. After Sheffield became principal, the school got C grades in 2007 and 2008 and an A this year.

“You’re an A school. And it wasn’t that long ago that Bethune Elementary wasn’t an A school. That kind of gain and that kind of accomplishment is exactly what Florida students deserve and what they should have,” Crist said.

Asked about the controversy in Palm Beach County over its use of tests roughly every three weeks to measure whether students are on track, Crist gave a vote of confidence to Superintendent Art Johnson.

“I think we’re getting better every day,” Crist said. “I think that’s the message we want to convey to people that may have concerns. Florida’s on the rise and Palm Beach County clearly is on the rise. The leadership that Art has provided here is exceptional.”

Vice President Joe Biden will visit an Orlando middle school on Wednesday to tout Florida’s $3.5 billion share of the economic stimulus package for education.

Biden will be joined by U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan. They’re scheduled to appear at Jackson Middle School in Orlando at 10 a.m.

Not all of the money is being spent in schools or on teachers, however.

Florida’s three-year education stimulus cash includes money for school lunch equipment, homeless education, independent living programs and services for older blind individuals.

Perhaps the White House duo will receive a warmer welcome than Congressional members touting the president’s health care package at raucous town hall meetings throughout the country.

Forty years after moving onto the Florida State University campus as a freshman, T.K. Wetherell took up residence at the president’s mansion.

After six years at the helm, Wetherell, the first FSU graduate to return as president, is stepping down, leaving behind a university wracked by budgetary woes, impending mass firings and a cheating scandal that could cost Bobby Bowden a chance to be the all-time winningest major college football coach.

Wetherell announced his resignation Wednesday at a Board of Trustees meeting, two years before his contract runs out.

“It would really be nice to win the national championship, go out on top and hire 1,000 new faculty. There’s no easy time in that regard,” Wetherell said when asked if he had remorse over leaving the university with so many problems.

“I wish we weren’t here. I wish we didn’t lose $82 million and I wish there were 650 people that were back on the payroll at Florida State doing whatever it is they do. I couldn’t control that. I tried. I did the best I could do with it, probably burned up more political capital than I should have in many people’s minds.”

Wetherell said he was willing to stay until a replacement is chosen.

When he took over as president in 2003, he and his wife, Virginia, said they would donate their 1,000-acre farm near Tallahassee - valued at more than $7 million - to the university after they die.

A soft-spoken Southerner with a folksy demeanor that belies a sharp wit, Wetherell often addresses even casual acquaintances as “buddy,” men and women alike. He’s easily accessible to the media and is often seen on campus.

Wetherell’s candor has landed him in hot water. At a March news conference, he slipped in an obscenity directed at Samford University, Bowden’s alma mater. He quickly apologized.

Wetherell earned his bachelor’s and master’s degrees and a doctorate in education administration from FSU and is a stalwart Seminoles fan.

Once a wide receiver and kick returner for the Seminoles, he has seen the football team slip in the rankings the past five years after winning national championships in 1993 and 1999.

He’s contesting NCAA sanctions over a 2007 cheating scandal that involved 22 football players, as well as athletes from other sports, and a lawsuit filed by media outlets seeking records related to the sanctions. The NCAA ordered that those records be kept secret.

He has battled the legislature, which has slashed $82 million from his budget over the past two years.

And he’s giving pink slips to nearly 200 employees, including 25 tenured faculty members.

Wetherell spent more than a decade in the Florida House and left after serving as speaker from 1990-92. His Capitol connections were a huge asset during his tenure.

Wetherell, who was treated for prostate cancer shortly after he took over as president, said he had considered retiring for about a year but did not want to leave until the three-year budget plan, approved by the trustees Wednesday, was finalized. He said he wants to teach, travel, spend time at his Montana ranch and “just be a real person, not in blogs and editorials every day.”

“Sure, you’d rather go out on a different note. But I think we went out as positive as we could,” he said.

This year’s graduates, he said, represent his greatest accomplishment at FSU: 30 percent were the first in their families to receive a college degree, as was Wetherell.

Gov. Charlie Crist, also a FSU alumnus, said he was disappointed by Wetherell’s resignation.

“I love T.K.,” Crist said.

Under the current economic climate, the political clout Wetherell often wielded may not have been as effective in raising money, said Jim Smith, chairman of the university’s Board of Trustees.

Smith wants the university to hire someone from outside Florida with “very, very, very good academic credentials” who will “eagerly anticipate getting up every day and wanting to figure out how they can raise $1 billion for Florida State.”

Fund-raising will be a major part of the next president’s job, Smith said.

“I just don’t see the willingness of the legislature to continue to put money in the system,” he said.

Gov. Charlie Crist weighed in on a variety of topics this morning after signing several law enforcement-related bills at the Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles this morning.

Sheltered from the blazing heat by tents, slews of department employees dressed in bright red shirts turned out to hear Crist speak and pose for pictures with the governor, who is also running to replace retiring U.S. Sen. Mel Martinez.

Among the bills Crist signed today was one that will expand the state’s DNA database. Law enforcement officials, now limited to taking DNA samples from those convicted of crimes, will now be able to take DNA from anyone who is arrested.

But Crist defended the bill (SB 2276) which civil liberties advocates argue is too far-reaching and have threatened to challenge in court.

“I think it’ll be alright or I wouldn’t have signed the bill. I think that we need to protect first and make sure that our people are safe. I think that this legislation will help us to do that even better,” he said.

Read what else Crist told reporters at a gaggle after the bill-signing after the jump. (more…)

Gov. Charlie Crist on Monday signed legislation setting the outlines for a proposed gambling deal with the Seminoles that could reap the state billions of dollars for education.

Lawmakers gave Crist until Aug. 31 to finish negotiations and sign a pact with the tribe — a step that still remains to be completed. The legislature must approve the contract once one is inked.

Under the 15-year agreement that lawmakers have outlined, the Seminoles could continue to have Las Vegas-style slot machines and blackjack, chemin de fer and baccarat at their two Broward County casinos and one in Hillsborough County.

The tribe would be limited to slots only at its remaining Florida locales, including Immokalee, which it had planned on expanding.

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The Senate sponsor of a bill expressed dismay that Gov. Charlie Crist vetoed it yesterday and called into question the self-described “People’s Governor’s” motives.

Sen. Steve Oelrich said he was asked to file the bill that would have raised community college transportation fees by the students themselves.

The bill (SB 739) would have allowed community colleges to hike transportation fees by up to $6 per credit hour. Students requested the fees so they could have public transportation access on campus “just like university students do,” Oelrich, R-Cross Creek, said in a press release.

Because of the dismal economy, community college enrollments are increasing and access to public transportation and on-campus parking is limited, he said.

The bill passed in the House with a 108-4 vote and in the Senate by 37-1.

“Governor Crist’s veto of this bill confounds me,” Oelrich’s release states.

Oelrich took a jab at Crist, who’s dubbed himself “The People’s Governor” and frequently mentions “the people” in speeches.

“The students came to me with this bill. They have been working on it for several years; it was theirs,” Oelrich wrote. “Since the bill came from the People, I thought the Governor would appreciate that…I sincerely hope the veto was not the product of political expediency or retribution.”

Crist signed into law a bill allowing universities to hike tuition up to 15 percent, which all state universities are considering. He also signed into law nearly $1 billion in motor vehicle fee increases and another $1 billion in a buck-a-pack cigarette tax.

Seminoles could have blackjack and other banked card games in Broward and Hillsborough counties but only slot machines at their remaining three facilities and leaves the door open for full-fledged slots in Palm Beach County.

House and Senate gambling negotiators struck a deal late this evening as Gov. Charlie Crist and some tribal members looked on, finishing in time for lawmakers to take a full vote on the gambling package before the Senate is scheduled to end on Friday.

“I couldn’t be happier,” Crist said. “This is a victory for the children of Florida and for education.”

Under the final deal, lawmakers could give permission to voters in any county to approve full-fledged slot machines at pari-mutuels that have held live racing for at least two years, like the Palm Beach Kennel Club. But that would require legislation authorizing the referendum.

In exchange for blackjack at four of their seven casinos, the Seminoles would pay at least $150 million per year plus 12 percent of their earnings up to $2.5 billion. The state share could be as high as 25 percent of the tribe’s net win over $4.5 billion.

“We think it’s important to have these resources to help us get through the next year and couple years,” said Senate budget chief J.D. Alexander, who also led the gambling talks.

House chief negotiator Bill Galvano had said earlier that allowing blackjack in Broward alone would “push the House to the brink” and conceded that the final deal allowing blackjack there and in Tampa Bay “was still a heavy lift.”

Lawmakers will revisit the types of gambling allowed in the state in five years.

Earlier in the day, an agreement seemed unlikely when Galvano accused the Senate of moving backwards with a bid this morning that included a broader proposal for Indian card games than previously proposed.

“Mr. Chairman, I appreciate your offer but I will say that it appears the Senate, with all due respect and notwithstanding your brief explanation, is moving backwards. Backwards from where we want to go in an expansion standpoint. Backwards from where the House is heading. And I’ll look at your offer and we will let you know if it’s necessary to meet further,” Galvano, R-Bradenton, said.

A few hours after the House’s chief negotiator accused the Senate of “moving backwards” on a gambling deal and threatened to call off talks, Senate President Jeff Atwater said he thinks the two chambers are “close” to reaching an agreement before the session ends on Friday.

“I’m frankly just so impressed that we’re down to just a couple of items left that I think if I were looking at odds at the moment my odds would be, now that we’re this close, I think we can come up with something that can work,” Atwater, R-North Palm Beach, said this afternoon.

Rep. Bill Galvano abruptly walked out this morning after Sen. J.D. Alexander presented his latest offer on a compact with the Seminoles that would allow them to hold blackjack, baccarat and chemin de fer at all of their seven casinos. The Senate’s previous offer had limited all of the card games and only permitted blackjack at all of the casinos.

Atwater, accompanied by Senate budget chief J.D. Alexander who is also handling the gambling deal, said he wasn’t surprised by Rep. Bill Galvano’s reaction, saying that it was the “first pushback” after two days of negotiations.

“I don’t think it’s a surprise that in something this significant that we hit a bump. But hopefully they’ll call us shortly and be ready to sit back down soon,” Atwater said.

Atwater met with the Seminoles early this morning and said he believes the two chambers are “finding some common ground” on their disparate plans. The House wants to limit blackjack to the tribe’s three Broward County resorts, which the Seminoles have rejected.

When asked if it was time for Atwater and House Speaker Larry Cretul to take over gambling talks, Atwater said “I don’t think so” before Alexander interrupted.

“Please. Please. Please. Fire me,” Alexander, R-Lake Wales, pleaded in jest.

After three meetings today, House and Senate leaders remain sharply divided over a gambling proposal.

Appearances by Gov. Charlie Crist and Lt. Gov Jeff Kottkamp, who showed up twice, did little or nothing to bring the two sides closer together on whether the Seminoles should be allowed to offer blackjack and slots at their Hard Rock resorts.

The House made few concessions in their third offer at the day’s final meeting, signing off on minor issues but refusing to grant the Seminoles the right to hold tabled card games.

Lawmakers are trying to come up with a replacement compact after the Florida Supreme Court tossed out an agreement between the tribe and Crist allowing blackjack, baccarat and chemin de fer at its casinos.

After the ruling, the tribe continued to operate the games at the Hard Rock near Hollywood and started running them in their Tampa facility.

Rep. Bill Galvano, the House’s chief gambling negotiator, said that granting the tribe permission to have the games was tantamount to “rewarding bad behavior.”

Crist said the House should approve the compact “cuz the kids need the money” for education but bristled when asked about Galvano’s remarks.

“That’s up to them to decide. It’s in their hands,” he said.

Senate budget chief J.D. Alexander, who had been negotiating throughout the day on gambling, tobacco taxes and the budget, left hurriedly after the meeting looking displeased with “House Offer #3.”

Alexander, R-Lake Wales, had counted on up to $500 million from the Seminoles for education spending. Lawmakers may need to return to Tallahassee for a special session on gambling if they do not reach consensus before Friday, the last day of the extended session.

House and Senate leaders opened negotiations on gambling doing little to resolve their differences but meeting at last.

Gambling talks between the chambers have been on hold since Friday. Their task: craft a plan that addresses games at the Seminole casino resorts and the state’s dog and horse tracks and reaps the biggest rewards for the state.

Still up in the air: which games the Seminoles will be allowed to operate at their casino resorts, a possible expansion of blackjack for dog and horse tracks in Broward and Miami-Dade counties and how much revenue to demand from the tribe.

“There’s a lot of meat left on the bone,” the House’s chief gambling negotiator Rep. Bill Galvano, R-Bradenton, said after the meeting.

Galvano and his Senate counterpart J.D. Alexander did agree to limit a compact with the Seminoles to 15 years instead of the 25 years the tribe had sought and which was included in the original deal signed by Gov. Charlie Crist. The Florida Supreme Court tossed that.
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Lawmakers closed out the $65 billion budget this morning that includes nearly $2 billion in taxes and fees, including a $380 million property tax increase if school boards approve it.

Senate budget chief J.D. Alexander and House counterparts David Rivera and Marcelo Llorente resolved most of their disagreements over the weekend and sealed the deal this morning without sending any unresolved disputes to Senate President Jeff Atwater and House Speaker Larry Cretul.

One of the losers in the deal: Florida Forever, the state’s land-buying program received no new money. But the budget chiefs did agree to issue $250 million in bonding authority from this year. They could not sell the bonds because of a decline in real estate transaction taxes used to pay them back.

The legislature closed a real estate tax loophole during the session that they hope will generate enough money to keep Florida Forever running next year.

A last-minute change this weekend shifted $25 million for Florida Forever to the Everglades clean-up program, bringing the total for that to $50 million.

Also included in the budget are more than $800 million in fees, including a hike in driver’s licenses and vehicle registrations and court filings. And smokers will pay an extra buck-a-pack for cigarettes to raise about another $800 million to be spent on the state’s Medicaid program.

State workers earning more than $45,000 a year will see a 2 percent salary cut but university workers are exempt. That amounts to a $30 million cut from general revenue, far less than the $100 million in state employee pay cuts the House had original proposed.

School boards, meanwhile, got the OK to hike property taxes an additional 25 cents per $1,000 of value with a majority vote. Voters would have to sign off on the tax increase at the general election in 2010. The tax increase would raise $380 million for school districts statewide if implemented by all 67 counties, including nearly $17 million for Palm Beach County.

Bright Futures will no longer cover tuition hikes, including the 8 percent tuition increase included in the budget. Lawmakers also gave universities the ability to raise tuition up to 15 percent.

Lawmakers won’t begin working out a gambling proposal until Monday, Senate budget chief J.D. Alexander said late Saturday evening.

Alexander, looking weary, said he was concentrating first on settling spending differences because of the time constraints that require a 72-hour waiting period before lawmakers can pass the $65 billion budget on Friday.

Alexander has a reason to be tired.

The Lake Wales Republican is the sole budget negotiator for the Senate.

But he’s got three House chiefs to deal with: David Rivera on education and economic development, Marcello Llorente on health and human services and criminal justice, and Bill Galvano on gambling.

Fear not, bookworms.

House budget negotiators raided nearly $13 million from transportation spending to keep money flowing to county and local libraries.

That would bring the total for county and local libraries back to $21 million if the Senate signs off as expected at the next horse-trading session at 8 p.m.

Without it, the libraries would lose about $8 million in matching federal aid.

Palm Beach County would have to fire librarians and scale back on new books and other materials if the cut stays, county officials say.

Money for libraries is one of the budget issues unresolved that House and Senate budget chiefs are negotiating until noon tomorrow.

After that, House Speaker Larry Cretul and Senate President Jeff Atwater take over.
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Senate budget chief J.D. Alexander added $5 million this morning to the state university budget to hire teachers for one of his pet projects, the University of South Florida Polytechnic in Lakeland, located in his Senate District 17.

Alexander included the new item in a counteroffer to House counterpart David Rivera, R-Miami, during budget negotiations this morning.

The $5 million would be a permanent annual boost to the Lakeland school’s budget if the House agrees.

Alexander said he put the money in “so that we can put that effort which has been approved by the Board of Governors and get ready to go.”

The money will be go to “hire the faculty and get the students programs up and running. We can make that a reality just like we’re doing with our med schools and other things,” Alexander said.

The extra money for USF comes as lawmakers are trimming about 4 percent from the state university system budget and are hiking tuition 8 percent.