Nelson should sponsor a Senate companion bill for Lawson’s $50M HBCU Parity Act

U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson speaking at the FAMU School of the Environment in 2017

U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Florida, was a supporter of the funding boost that historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs) received in the new federal budget. Back on February 22, 2018, he was one of 14 senators who signed a letter “to the Chairman and Ranking Member of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies requesting that the upcoming omnibus bill contain a restoration and increase in federal support to HBCUs.”

That effort helped secure a multi-million dollar increase in Title III money for HBCUs.

But much more work needs to be done. Florida A&M University alumnus and U.S. Rep. Al Lawson recently introduced the HBCU Parity Act. Nelson should introduce a companion bill for that proposed act in the U.S. Senate.

The act calls for $50M to be provided for facility improvements at historically black universities that were established under the Second Morrill Act of 1890 and Tuskegee University.

Nelson is currently in a tough reelection battle against current Gov. Rick Scott, who is challenging him for his Senate seat. Scott just signed an $88.7 billion Florida budget last month that had $32M in construction money for Florida State University but $0 in new facilities money for FAMU. FAMU had asked for $21.47M for its planned Center for Access and Student Success among other facilities funding requests. Scott didn’t make any major effort to help FAMU.

FAMU needs more support from the federal government to deal with the inadequate funding it receives from Florida. The HBCU Parity Act by Lawson is a proposal that would help address this problem and Nelson should work quickly to bring a companion bill into the Senate.