Florida Gov. Rick Scott is proposing a big investment in environmental funding for next year's budget.

  • Gov. Scott proposes over $1.7 billion in environmental funding
  • Funding would be in 2018-2019 budget
  • State lawmakers would have to approve it

Scott proposed a more than $1.7 billion investment in environmental funding for the 2018-2019 recommended budget -- more than $220 million more than this year's budget.

Scott's office say the funding would include:

  • $55 million for Florida's springs
  • $100 million for Florida's beaches
  • $355 million for Everglades restoration
  • $50 million for Florida's state parks

The governor is also proposing $50 million for Florida Forever, the fund that is supposed to help protect natural lands, but that conservationists say has gotten little money from the state in recent years.

The governor made the announcement at the Audubon Center for Birds of Prey in Maitland at 2:30 p.m.

The state legislature will consider the governor's request during the January session. Whether the state will be able to accomodate the proposal is another matter. State economists say the cost of Hurricane Irma, and the cost of absorbing thousands of Puerto Ricans after Hurricane Maria, have wiped out the state's modest budget surplus.

Scott has a controversial record on the environment. In the past he's called for budget cuts to the state's regional water management districts, and the state Dept. of Environmental Protection. He's floated ideas in the past that would open up state parks to more private business, and his agency has been accused of trying to white wash the term "climate change," a topic he has avoided in public statements in the past.

Some question why he is making such a big push for the environment now, among them Democratic gubernatorial candidate Andrew Gillum. Next year is Scott's last year in office, and it's widely believed he will run for Florida Senate in 2018 against incumbent Bill Nelson, an environmental champion.