South Florida contractors were among those appealing Tuesday to Gov. Rick Scott’s job-creation push, urging him to seek more funding for Everglades restoration for economic, as well as environmental, purposes.

In his budget proposal, Scott has recommended cutting state restoration money from $50 million to $17 million. He also has called for 25 percent property tax cuts from the state’s water management districts, which environmentalists say also could reduce dollars for Everglades work.

House and Senate budgets advancing also tighten-up environmental spending, as lawmakers look to close a spending gap nearing $3.8 billion.

“Continued state funding of Everglades restoration will help ensure that the federal government stands by its commitment to fund these important projects and will allow construction to move forward,” the ten contractors wrote Scott. “The Everglades stand at a crossroads.”

Contractors included engineers, environmental consultants, and road graders from South Florida to Jacksonville and Mississippi.

Tags: budget, Everglades restoration

This entry was posted on Tuesday, March 29th, 2011 at 6:19 pm and is filed under Economy, environment, Everglades, Rick Scott, state budget. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.