In a surprise move during final budget negotiations Friday evening, Florida House Budget Committee Chair Lawrence McClure (R-Hillsborough County) inserted language into the proposed 2025-26 state budget that would permit the FAMU Board of Trustees to tap reserve funds to cover the salary of President-select Marva Johnson, whose hiring has sparked intense campus backlash.
The provision, added during a seven-minute meeting of legislative appropriations chairs that began at 7:05 p.m., allows FAMU to use “carryforward money from previous years’ operating and programmatic budgets, or other available reserves” for Johnson’s compensation. State Sen. Ed Hooper (R-Pasco/Pinellas Counties), who chaired the Senate’s negotiating team, accepted the language to closeout the $115.1 billion spending bill.
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| Text of FAMU proviso language |
The one-year waiver, set to expire June 30, 2026, hinges on the budget’s final passage. It marks the latest twist in the contentious leadership transition at FAMU, the state's only historically Black university. Johnson, whose five-year, multimillion-dollar compensation package has drawn fierce opposition from alumni, faculty, and students, was selected in April amid protests over transparency and her ties to Governor Ron DeSantis’ administration.
The legislative maneuver clears the way for Trustees to pay Johnson's salary this year, and buys them additional time to force the Foundation to reallocate resources to pay Johnson's salary in the remaining four years of her contract.
Critics argue the legislature’s high-stakes intervention underscores the state's GOP dogged determination to install one of their own at the helm of one of the nation's ''flagship HBCUs" and undermines the fiscal autonomy of the university. “This sets a dangerous precedent,” said one FAMU alum. “Instead of addressing systemic underfunding, they’re forcing the university to raid its own savings for a controversial hire.”
There is widespread speculation over the role that FAMU Board of Trustees member TaShaunda "Nicole" Washington, who works as a 'consultant to Florida House Speaker Daniel Perez might have played to in orchestrating this last minute move. After all, it was Washington who negotiated Johnson's contract on behalf of the Trustees.
The budget awaits full legislative approval, with votes expected this coming week. If passed, FAMU’s board could access reserves immediately after the bill is signed into law, though the move may deepen divisions on a campus already grappling with Johnson’s polarizing appointment.