Lawmakers look to prohibit state universities from agreements with countries of concern

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (FLV) – Lawmakers considered legislation to prohibit state universities and state colleges from entering into agreements with foreign countries of concern.

A “Foreign country of concern” includes the People’s Republic of China, the Russian Federation, the Islamic Republic of Iran, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, the Republic of Cuba, the Venezuelan regime of Nicolás Maduro, or the Syrian Arab Republic, including any agency of or any other entity under significant control of such foreign country of concern.

Rep. Jennifer Canady, R-Lakeland, introduced the legislation in the House Postsecondary Education & Workforce Subcommittee while Sen. Bryan Avila, R-Hialeah Gardens, introduced the similar bill in the Senate Education Postsecondary committee.

Both pieces of legislation passed their respective committees Tuesday.

Avila said transparency in higher education and research is essential to Florida’s future.

“The prevention of sensitive material and academic findings from falling into the wrong hands is also critical to national security. We must continue to enact policies that will strengthen public trust and integrity in our higher education institutions,” Avila said.

The bill also prohibits a state university, state college, or any employee or representative of such entities, from soliciting or accepting a gift from a foreign country of concern, entity located in or controlled by a foreign country of concern, or associated individuals or employees.

Sen. Shevrin Jones, D-Miami Gardens, asked Avila how this would affect individuals who are in research who are from other countries.

Avila said there would essentially need to be an approval process.

“Certainly the university that has any sort of agreement with a with an entity or a foreign country of concern, they would need to first and foremost disclose that whether to the Board of Governors or to the State Board of Education and at which point, then the BOG or the state board of education would have to give approval on that, on that partnership or on that agreement,” he said.

Sen. Lauren Book, D-Plantation, was among those who opposed the bill.

“The thing that I’m getting a little bit worried about is academic freedom, true academic freedom, and you’ve not necessarily in some of those really terrible, awful places that we’re talking about, right, but the ability to expand that, and the reasons that those may be expanded and what that could mean and how that could limit education, how that could limit somebody’s ability to go maybe to other countries to see things that maybe people think are not what they should be learning about,” Book said.

Avila said these are not countries “where we want our institutions and our students to go.”

“I think we want to make sure that our students get a well rounded education in a country that believes in similar ideals to the American way of life. I think, academic freedom, we all agree, we want that for our kids, we want that for our students, but it’s a two way street. It can’t just be our country alone,” Avila said in closing.

If passed, the bill will go into effect on July 1, 2023.