By Jim Turner, The News Service of Florida
State budget negotiators agreed late Friday to set aside $50 million to pay for building upgrades at a Tampa college as part of a deal for a new stadium for the Tampa Bay Rays.
But Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman Ed Hooper said the funding, which would pay for Hillsborough College buildings, isn’t set until the funding agreements between the team and local governments are finalized.
“Until that issue is resolved and signed and sealed, I don’t know that the state should commit $50 million to help Hillsborough College rebuild three buildings that are in dire need of a lot of upgrade and upkeep and renovation,” Hooper, R-Clearwater, told reporters.
“This is not money that’s going to the Rays. This is for Hillsborough College … to build a new building to meet their students’ needs, but I don’t think that will be committed until there is a done deal.”
This is not the first time Hooper has chimed in on the state funding sought by the Rays.
On May 12, Hooper said the Rays, envisioning a $2.3 billion, 31,000-seat domed stadium and enjoining mixed-use development, need to get local government tax incentives approved before the state considers adding to the mix.
The Rays are seeking roughly $976 million in support from the City of Tampa and Hillsborough County.
This week, the Hillsborough College Board of Trustees moved forward with a non-binding ground lease with the Rays while the Hillsborough County Commission and Tampa City Council approved non-binding agreements to continue talks.
Hooper said in talks with Gov. Ron DeSantis, the governor has indicated he’s not willing to commit to the $50 million if the deal remains unresolved.
DeSantis and the Cabinet earlier this year agreed to include 22 acres to the initial 113 acres of the campus eyed for the new complex.
The team’s new ownership group is led by Patrick Zalupski, the founder and president of Dream Finders Homes, whom DeSantis appointed to the University of Florida Board of Trustees in 2023.
The funding is one piece of budget talks that remain in progress. House and Senate leaders issued statements Friday indicating they could have a finalized 2026-2027 budget by the end of Tuesday, setting up a vote of both chambers Friday on the spending plan for the fiscal year that begins July 1.
The offers released Friday also showed the House modifying its stance on transferring buildings, facilities, equipment and debt from the University of South Florida’s Sarasota-Manatee campus to Sarasota-based New College of Florida by three months.
While the Senate hasn’t backed the transfer, the House pushed the timeline for New College to assume the liabilities of the Sarasota-Manatee campus from USF from Oct. 30 to Jan. 31, 2027.
The House also agreed to $40 million for the Job Growth Grant Fund, which the governor uses for infrastructure and workforce training projects. The Senate started at $50 million for the fund, but the initial House budget didn’t fund the program.
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