Florida State University President T.K. Wetherell has laid out his funding plan for higher education, one that would bring money by the truck load every year, but it could be losing steam.
Wetherell's plan would bypass the Legislature and go right to voters, but it has one hurdle: The Florida Taxation and Budget Reform Commission.
In January, Wetherell explained at a general faculty meeting that the funding shortfall for higher education could be solved by the state picking up the tab on the required local effort on property taxes for local schools and investing some of that money into higher education.

The required local effort which requires counties to contribute to school funding is mandated by the Legislature each year. It's paid by everyone in Florida who owns property, and is about 30 percent of every tax bill, Wetherell said. It would cost the state about $8 billion to replace.

"We're suggesting that the state buy that local required effort out," Wetherell said. "Our suggestion is that you buy that out with a broader tax base."

That broader tax base could include removing some tax exemptions, the president suggested.

The option isn't gaining enough traction on the commission, but Wetherell said the fact that the idea is still alive is good.

"They haven't killed it," Wetherell said. "If it doesn't make it, we'll do more cuts."