After indictment, construction funding for Florida college plummets

From The Miami Herald: Northwest Florida State College in Niceville was hoping to get about $13 million this year for new construction on campus. But the state budget that lawmakers approved last week gives the school a paltry $576,000. None of Florida's colleges and universities got more construction money than state oversight agencies recommended for them. That is a reflection of lean times, but also a conscious attempt to reform a secretive budget process long exploited by powerful politicians, most recently and notably former House Speaker Ray Sansom. A grand jury has indicted Sansom and college president Bob Richburg on felony official misconduct charges. The investigation alleges that a proposed airport building was disguised in state budget documents as an education facility, but was to be used for a corporate jet business owned by a Sansom friend.