New - 2012 Studies and Task Forces

As a result of legislative and other governmental activity over the past few months, several task forces and study groups have been formed. We will be following the actions of each group over the coming months. We have created a page that will list each group and provide links to important information about their activity, including membership, meeting agendas, and any specific actions taken. Please click the link below to find out more about current studies and task forces:

>> 2012 Studies and Task Forces

2012 Legislative Issues Archive


The 2012 Florida Legislative Session concluded on Friday, March 9, 2012. As usual, many bills were passed in the final hours and many of these have just reached the Governor for action. The Governor's office has established a Bill Action page which lists all of the bills that have been passed and sent to the Governor's Office for passage or veto. You can see the current status of each bill on this page.

As the Governor's decisions become final, we will provide you with the impacts of applicable bills that become law. On April 17th, Governor Scott provided his budget transmittal letter which includes items vetoed from the budget. If you would like to view the entire document (27 pages), click on the following link:

2012-13 Governor's Budget Transmittal Letter - New

If you would like to view the Governor's Bill Action Page, please click the following link:

2012 Governor's Bill Action Page - New

If you would like to see our list of SUS High Priority Bills (complete with the information on what action has been taken on each), click on the link below.

2012 SUS High Priority Bill List (4/15/12)

Bill Tracking

If you are interested in tracking particular bills, you can do this on both the Florida House of Representatives and the Florida Senate Web sites. Here are the links:

Florida House of Representatives Bill Tracking

Florida Senate Bill Tracking

* Both sites require the creation of an account.

Key Legislative Issues

Below you will find a list of the key issues we'll be monitoring during the session. If you click on an issue, you will be taken to a page of information and links related to that topic.

>> Higher Education Governance (UPDATED 2/29/12) Visit the page to see the latest bills affecting the governance of higher education institutions. Three bills are currently posted. >> Employee Benefits (UPDATED 3/22/12) Information on employer contribution to retirement plans has been updated. >> Redistricting >> Budget (UPDATED 4/18/12) The Governor received the budget bill from the Legislature earlier this month. On April 17th, he provided his transmittal letter which outlines items vetoed from the budget. Vetoed items included one appropriation affecting the University of West Florida for a Degree Completion Pilot Project. A portion of the $2.5 million appropriation would have gone to the University. Visit the budget page to find links to important bills and documents.

For more information, contact:

Janice P. Gilley
Director of Governmental Relations and Special Assistant to the President
Phone: (850) 474-2218
Fax: (850) 474-3131
E-mail: jgilley@uwf.edu

2011 Legislative Issues Archive

If you would like to view issue information from the 2011 Legislative Session, we have archived all of the issue pages as well as supporting documents in PDF format. Please visit the 2011 Legislative Issues Archive Page for more information.

Mission:

It is the mission of the Governmental Relations Office to manage communications with governmental stakeholders at the local, state and federal level including agencies and elected officials. The director works with administrators, faculty, staff and students to identify issues for legislative action and works directly with legislators to effectuate outcomes beneficial to the university.