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Environmentalists say Florida voters approved Amendment One under the condition that record funding would be put towards land buying and protection. As Matt Galka tell us, they’re now suing the legislature because they believe it didn’t pan out that way.

The Florida legislature is staring a lawsuit in the face from three environmentalist groups unhappy about how Amendment One funds were handled.  Florida Wildlife Federation President Manley Fuller is part of the group suing.

“We’d like to see judicial direction about what is the proper expenditure of Amendment 1 dollars and what’s not appropriate,” said Fuller.

Voters mandated the legislature use around $700 million dollars of tax money to go towards conservation.  Environmentalists wanted at least $300 million to go into a land acquisition trust fund.  They wound up with $89 million.

The lawsuit wouldn’t change any budget allocations for this year. The group is hoping for more directions in the future.  The Governor stood by what the state is doing for the environment.

“$880 million dollars for water quality in the Everglades. Investing in the Kissimmee River, I think it’s the third year record funding for our springs, we’re doing the right thing for our environment,” said Gov. Rick Scott (R-Florida) when asked about the lawsuit.

The lawsuit alleges that $300 million of the Amendment One dollars is going toward backfilling state agency costs.

The Governor vetoed a number of water and sewer projects from the state budget Monday. The group filing the lawsuit says that even though some of the moves were good, it doesn’t change the core of their complaint.