I assume this is a move to hire people more palatable to the state by eliminating the competition. Or to score political points independent of the cost on the actual instruction. The world isn’t swimming in masters and PhD level people who want to start their career in Florida - there aren’t that many to draw from to start anywhere and the weather isn’t a high priority. Can they get startup funding, can they get ongoing funding to get students and researchers? These are the pertinent questions.
And I thought at the moment that the us as a whole was deemphasizing such funding. If this is correct, Florida will be unable, probably unwilling to make up the loss.