A late effort to save FAMU’s John A. Mulrennan, Sr. Public Health Entomology Research and Education Center (PHEREC) in Panama City has fallen victim to Gov. Rick Scott’s veto pen. The center will now close unless the Florida Legislature calls a special session and overrides the governor’s decision.State Rep. Marti Coley and other members of the Northwest Florida legislative delegation netted $500,000 for the lab despite FAMU’s decision to close it as part of its budget reduction plan. Scott line item vetoed the money on May 26, 2011.
FAMU cut 50 percent of staff positions at the lab back in summer 2009. The university later announced at the June 1, 2010 Board of Trustees meeting that it intended to close the center entirely. The remaining salary lines in the lab were transferred onto the temporary stimulus dollars that will expire on June 30, 2011.
The closure announcement from FAMU angered the lab’s employees. PHEREC Director John P. Smith and 17 of his 20 co-workers signed resolutions asking Florida State University-Panama City to assume ownership of the lab. FSU-PC and the University of Florida both expressed interest in running the center.
But once the $500,000 PHEREC bill got moving through the legislature, FAMU wisely stated that it intended to retain control of the center if it was funded again.
According to the “Save P.H.E.R.E.C.” page on Facebook, the “FSU administration will not pursue receiving PHEREC if FAMU does not approve. FSU-PC is the preferred affiliation, but if this cannot be, FAMU would be a better alternative than UF because it retains the facilities in Panama City.”
The $500,000 appropriation is only one-third of PHEREC’s original appropriation but still enough to keep the lab alive. Now that the governor has slashed the money, the only hope for saving the center is a legislative override Scott’s veto. Senate President Mike Haridopolos has expressed interest in scheduling a special session but House Speaker Dean Cannon has not.