The House inaction was a slight to Senate President Ken Pruitt, who announced at the start of the legislative session in March that it was one of his top priorities because he believed the university Board of Governors ''has overstepped their boundaries'' by pursuing a tuition increase against the will of the Legislature.
Opponents were not ready to declare it dead, however, because House leaders could revive it with a two-thirds vote of 120 members of the chamber any time before they adjourn Friday.
''We're watching and waiting,'' said University Chancellor Mark Rosenberg late Tuesday. ``But it's hard to tell.''
The bill passed the Senate, but it was staunchly opposed by the university leaders and former Gov. Jeb Bush, who helped shape the current system.
The measure proposed a constitutional amendment in November to give budget authority over the state's 11 universities to the Legislature, stripping it from the Board of Governors, and allow lawmakers to control the debate over how to set tuition rates.
Bush argued that electing an education commissioner would weaken the power of the governor, politicize education and give the Legislature less control over education policy.
His view was echoed by the Foundation for Florida's Future, whose executive director is Bush's former education policy chief, Patricia Levesque, whose husband is a close advisor to House Speaker Marco Rubio.
Rubio promised the measure would get a debate in the House, but told The Miami Herald, ``That doesn't mean it will pass.''
''Most of my members oppose it,'' said Rep. Dan Gelber of Miami Beach, the House Democratic leader.
''They don't want to fiddle with the Board of Governors,'' he added.
