Chancellor Mark Rosenberg isn't getting the additional money from taxpayers but from private donations. University foundations are turning over the money to a private account maintained by the state Board of Governors, the appointed panel that oversees Florida's 11 public universities and that hired Rosenberg.
The contributions to the account, which are used mostly for Rosenberg but also for other board expenses, used to be mandatory, but legislators last year quietly changed the law to ban the practice. Universities don't all contribute equally. The board asks for contributions based on a university's enrollment.
Some lawmakers say it's hard for universities to turn down a request from the Board of Governors, because the panel makes budget recommendations and approves degree programs for colleges.
''It sounds like soft extortion to me,'' said Sen. Don Gaetz, a Niceville Republican and chairman of the Senate Pre-K-12 Education committee. Gaetz, who publicly berated Rosenberg this week for opposing a Senate plan to give the Legislature more budgetary control over universities, added: ``I thought we had gotten past the point in our society where tribute could be exacted in return for protection.''
Bill Edmonds, a spokesman for the Board of Governors, defended the right of the board to ask for donations.
''The law doesn't say we can't ask. It says we can't require it,'' Edmonds said.
But the dispute over how much Rosenberg gets paid is another example of the souring relations between lawmakers and the Board of Governors, which voters created in 2002.
Legislators are moving ahead with a proposed constitutional amendment that would strip the board of its power. The House Schools and Learning Council on Friday voted 9-6 in favor of the amendment, which also calls for an elected education commissioner.
The amendment is a top priority for Senate President Ken Pruitt, but it may be a tough sell in the House because some Republicans want to keep an appointed education commissioner. House Speaker Marco Rubio said Friday the measure ''warrants serious consideration'' but added, ``It doesn't mean it's going to pass. It means there will be debate.''
In just the first few days of the session, legislators have already grilled Rosenberg so aggressively that on Friday he joked to House members: ``I, too, come in peace, but I brought some adult Depends. I hope that I don't need them.''
Rosenberg, a former provost at Florida International University, is paid $232,000 a year by the state.
But from the private account he also receives an additional $199,000 in compensation -- $125,000 in salary, a $24,000 housing allowance, a $9,000 car allowance and a $41,000 retirement supplement.
Last fall Board of Governors Chairman Carolyn Roberts asked universities to donate a total of $300,000 to help pay for Rosenberg's extra compensation and other board expenses.
Most universities agreed, but Florida State University refused. FSU President T.K. Wetherell said the money is needed to help students in tough financial times.
Florida Atlantic University President Frank Brogan said he didn't mind the request, saying that Rosenberg and the board staff help represent universities in Tallahassee.
Rosenberg said asking for private donations to help pay for his salary is a way to have a ''professional staff'' with a salary competitive with ones paid in other states.
Sen. Jim King, a Jacksonville Republican and member of the Higher Education committee, called it a ''subterfuge'' and said he doubted most lawmakers knew how much money Rosenberg was making.
