Patronis Says Nixing In-State Tuition for Illegal Immigrants Would 'Fix' the 'Glitch' He Voted For

Jimmy Patronis, Florida's Chief Financial Officer and candidate for Congress would co-sponsor a bill revoking in-state tuition for undocumented immigrants if he were still in the state legislature, he said this past week, despite voting for the law ten years ago.

Patronis, who will resign in March to run for Congressional District 1, told The Floridian that the 2014 law he voted for is a "glitch" that needs to be "fixed." He says one solution is passing Republican Sen. Randy Fine's new bill, which would repeal the ten-year-old law that granted in-state college tuition to children who grew up illegally in Florida.

"If I was in the Legislature today, I would be a co-sponsor to [Fine's] bill," he said. "We discover things every single year—we pass a bill and we think it has good intentions, and then you realize you have to come back and fix the glitch that you created."

Patronis says his visit to the Southern Border helped him visualize the need for a "zero-tolerance" stance to "right this ship," pointing to the over 10.8 million illegal immigrant encounters under the Biden Administration compared to the 3.8 million under Trump.

"A full reset needs to [happen]," he said. "We've got a situation where our immigration system in the United States is broken."

Fine, a Brevard Republican who will leave office to run for Congressional District 6, filed his tuition bill last week. The legislation would repeal a 2014 law co-sponsored by then-House Rep. Jeanette Nuñez—now the Lieutenant Governor—and voted for by then-Rep. Patronis.

That law, pushed for by then-Gov. Rick Scott in his quest for re-election, requires public universities and technical colleges to give waivers granting in-state tuition to undocumented high schoolers who applied to college within two years of graduating and who went to a Florida school for at least three years.

Fine's repeal would eliminate in-state tuition for illegal immigrants before the 2025-2026 school year.

Patronis is the second high-profile Republican to endorse Fine's legislation for the 2025 Session. Wauchula-based Senate President Ben Albritton told reporters on Monday that he is open to repealing the tuition law—with one exception: he wants a slow "sunset" period to allow time for undocumented families to recalibrate their plans.

"My hope is that we approach this with balance so that we're not disrupting families that otherwise would have planned differently," said Albritton, who was among 32 House Republicans who voted against the law in 2014. "Because it's been in motion for 10 years, It's likely still in motion in their lives.

"I hope the Senate would consider the idea of a sunset so there would be some level of predictability."

Patronis and Fine will resign from their offices on Mar. 31 to run for their respective congressional seats, both of which were vacated after President-elect Donald Trump poached Rep. Matt Gaetz and Rep. Mike Waltz for his administration (even though Gaetz ended up declining Trump's nomination).

Both candidates were urged—then endorsed by—Trump in their races. The special primary election for CD-1 and CD-6 is on Jan. 28, and the special general election is on Apr. 1.