Washington was a member of the Florida Constitution Revision Committee. She introduced a proposed amendment that a committee staff analysis said would mandate “a favorable vote of 9 of the 13 members of a BOT to propose a new fee or fee increase. The fee is also subject to BOG approval, and 12 of the 17 BOG members would have to approve the fee increase in order for it to be imposed.”
Her proposal was merged with another one that would “establish the right of survivors of specified first responders and military members to death benefits.”
“We oppose a supermajority vote to increase fees or taxes,” said a statement by LWVFL. “Family members of the military who die in the line of service are already compensated through the federal government.”
The Tampa Bay Times editorial board is also against Amendment 7. It said that the proposal is part of “a politically motivated scam masquerading as a high-minded effort to ask voters to improve the state’s fundamental document.”
The Florida Legislature does not fund student housing construction and only rarely provides support for new athletics facilities. Public universities mainly fund those projects by getting private bonds that are then repaid with student fees and other monetary sources that come from outside their legislative appropriations.
If just a small number of members of either a Board of Trustees or the Florida Board of Governors can stop a public university from getting fee an increase that's needed for a new student housing or athletics facility, then that might be enough to stop a construction project from happening.
That type of situation could also be bad news for a university’s bond credit rating with agencies like Moody’s Investors Service.
Washington is a member of the FAMU Board of Trustees.