I have recently learned of Florida House Bill 1279, sponsored by Rep. Jennifer Kincart Jonsson of Lakeland, aimed at reducing the current cap on out-of-state students who are admitted to Florida’s public universities from 10% to 5%.
There is a lot of discussion about the financial deficit that this reduction will cause.
Why not instead simply increase out-of-state tuition by 30% at state universities and make the 10% cap applicable for each school instead of for the total pool, as it is now?
In addition, Florida should remove the so-called “grandparent waiver,” which grants residency to a limited number of applicants whose grandparents live in Florida. Our out-of-state tuition is already the fourth-lowest in the nation, behind only Wyoming and the Dakotas. We have by far the lowest out-of-state tuition in the nation for highly ranked universities (in the top 25).
Even a 30% increase would still keep our out-of-state tuition well below the national average, reduce the number of out-of-state applicants and put our rates in line with states such as Texas and North Carolina.
It is great to have highly qualified out of state applicants, but those applying should be doing so for reasons other than it being among the cheapest highly ranked schools in the country.
Loren Valentine, Parkland
Rose-colored glasses
Regarding the letter writer who suggested that the entire editorial board be fired, I would like a pair of the rose-colored glasses that the writer was wearing while singing the praises of Gov. Ron DeSantis — one of the worst governors Florida has ever had.
Evidently, this is just another Kool-Aid-drinking citizen who only hears and believes what he wants to hear.
George Winters, Delray Beach
Stopping a takeover
Shane Strum, president and CEO of Broward Health and interim president and CEO of Memorial Healthcare System, speaks during the Broward Workshop meeting in Fort Lauderdale on Wednesday, Feb. 5, 2025. (Joe Cavaretta/South Florida Sun Sentinel)
Here we go again. Once again, Florida legislators attempted to assist Shane Strum in taking over the public hospital districts in Broward County.
The claim is that this would not be a merger, only an attempt to improve collaboration.
It’s interesting, though, that it’s only Republican lawmakers who want to do so, and that the idea is not popular in Broward County — where it would take place.
Also interesting is that Strum worked for the governor (he was a chief of staff to Gov. Ron DeSantis) and that the commissioners who serve on both hospital boards are appointed by the same governor.
The board of the South Broward Hospital District (Memorial Healthcare System) abdicated its leadership role and allowed Strum to take over as Memorial’s interim CEO.
This whole proposal for collaboration might hold some water if there were two CEOs, both looking out for their responsibilities and agreeing to work together.
Until that day comes, this proposal should be shot down for the scam that it is.
Steve Sampier, Davie
A winter to remember
As a South Florida snowbird from upstate New York, I have reflected on how this winter has proved to be a perfect metaphor for the Trump administration 2.0: Disastrous, cold-hearted, cruel, uncaring, brutal, unrelenting, forcing its whiteness on the landscape, paralyzing, nasty, lack of compassion for the suffering, mind-numbing and head spinning.
When will this “crazy weather” ever end? When will normalcy ever return?
Eric T. Baker, Lima, N.Y.
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