TALLAHASSEE (AP) - "In God We Trust" will officially become Florida's motto, although those words have appeared on the state seal since 1868, under a bill that Gov. Jeb Bush signed into law Thursday. It was among 24 measures he signed and two that he vetoed.
One of the vetoed bills would have required the state to install guardrails or other barriers along canals and other water bodies in Miami-Dade County. The other would have required notaries public, except for lawyers and insurance agencies, to keep journals on their transactions.
The motto bill resulted from a school project by two fourth grade pupils who discovered there was no state law certifying "In God We Trust." They approached Rep. Greg Evers, R-Baker, who introduced the bill.
"First and foremost this honors the Almighty," Evers said in a statement issued by his office. "It also gave these youngsters an opportunity to participate in Florida's legislative process."
Another section of the bill would name a proposed maritime museum and research center in Pensacola after the late Vice Adm. John H. Fetterman, who once headed the Naval Education and Training Command based there and after his retirement the Naval Aviation Museum Foundation.
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