TU: St. Johns River gets $5.6 million in Florida budget; Cunningham Creek kindergarteners watch as he signs.

[Patricia M. McBride]

Although I applaud the governor for helping fund the project to keep the St. Johns restoration going, isn't this called an ear mark when Mr. Thrasher bends the governor's ear about it?  Just asking as it seems to me when one touts getting something like this put in the budget, it is an ear mark (used to make Thrasher look good). 

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April 18, 2012

By           Dan Scanlanjacksonville.com             Copyright 2012 The Florida Times-Union. All rights res... ,           Matt  Dixonjacksonville.com            Copyright 2012 The Florida Times-Union. All  rights res...

April  17, 2012 - 02:44pm

St. Johns River gets $5.6  million in Florida budget

After a two-year funding fight, Gov. Rick Scott included $5.6  million to help restore the St. Johns River as part of a roughly $70 billion  state budget he signed Tuesday at Cunningham Creek Elementary School in St.  Johns County.

Scott vetoed $10 million for the river last year, money  secured with the help of state Sen. John Thrasher, R-St. Augustine. This year,  Thrasher said, the money made it because Scott now knows more about the river's  regional importance. He also gave credit to Environmental Protection Secretary  Herschel Vinyard for being a "big advocate of the river."

"I think the difference is we had a year to educate the governor about the  value of the river," Thrasher said.

Scott vetoed $142.7 million, down from the record $615 million he axed last  year. The vetoes include $98 million in general revenue, and $44 million in  proposed trust fund sweeps.

Read more at Jacksonville.com:  http://jacksonville.com/news/florida/2012-04-17/story/st-johns-rive...