A poll unveiled on Monday at a media event in Tallahassee by Hamilton Campaigns and Ayres McHenry & Associates revealed that Floridians from both parties and all parts of the Sunshine State overwhelmingly wanted to see monies collected from the federal government in penalties from the BP oil spill stay on the Gulf states instead of going to Washington.

Environmental activists and business leaders held a media event in Tallahassee on Monday to announce the poll results and urge Congress to pass the Resources and Ecosystems Sustainability, Tourist Opportunities, and Revived Economies of the Gulf Coast States Act of 2011. A study of 140 businesses released last week from Duke University found they would flourish and add jobs under the RESTORE Act.

The RESTORE Act would ensure that 80 percent of the fines from the BP oil spill last year would go to restore the Gulf region. The measure has already moved through the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee and has the backing of both Sunshine State senators, Democrat Bill Nelson and Republican Marco Rubio. Introduced by U.S. Rep. Steve Scalise, R-La., in the House, the RESTORE Act is being co-sponsored by nine Republicans from the Florida delegation: Ander Crenshaw, Mario Diaz-Balart, Jeff Miller, Rich Nugent, David Rivera, Tom Rooney, Dennis Ross, Steve Southerland and Allen West.

The poll -- commissioned by Environmental Defense Fund, National Audubon Society, National Wildlife Federation, The Nature Conservancy, Ocean Conservancy and Oxfam America -- found that 84 percent of Floridians favored the RESTORE Act, while only 11 percent wanted to see the fines BP pays out go to Washington.

“Voters haven’t forgotten the BP oil spill was the worst environmental disaster in U.S. history because our ecosystem and economy are still recovering from it a year-and-a-half later,” said Pensacola Mayor Ashton Hayward in a statement released on Monday. “They recognize that the BP oil spill fines would dramatically accelerate our recovery.”

The poll found support for the bill was high across the entire state and across the political spectrum. Eighty-eight percent of independents, 83 percent of Democrats and 82 percent of Republicans in the Sunshine State backed the measure. Supporters of the tea party movement and likely Republican primary voters strongly approved of the RESTORE Act with 84 percent of each group backing it. Three-quarters of those surveyed -- 75 percent -- said they were more likely to back candidates who supported the measure.

“Regardless of political party or region of the state, this is an issue that unites Florida voters, when so many other issues divide them,” said Dave Beattie, president of Hamilton Campaigns, who usually supports Democratic candidates. “There is broad, bipartisan support for ensuring that fines paid by BP and any other parties responsible for the spill actually are targeted to the Gulf Coast states hurt by the spill.”

The pollsters noted that Florida voters -- including fiscal conservatives and deficit hawks -- backed the measure instead of having the fines be used to reduce the federal deficit or be spent by Washington. Seventy-nine percent of voters wanted to see the fines be used to pay for Gulf Coast restoration while 12 percent wanted to see them used to lower the federal deficit.