The Minnesota House of Representatives has approved the expenditure of nearly $80 million in state lottery money on more than 100 environmental projects across the state.
Among the projects winning support Thursday were $7 million for the University of Minnesota’s Invasive Terrestrial Plants and Pests Center; more than $5 million for the development of state trails; and $3.2 million for the Department of Natural Resources’s County Groundwater Atlas, which produces maps and reports on groundwater and pollution sensitivity.
Other projects that would receive funding under the measure included PFAS soil and water pollution prevention efforts, environmental education programs, the management of future floods and droughts, and various wildlife conservation initiatives.
The House passed the bill on a 94-35 vote and sent it to the Senate, which is expected to vote this week.
“From protecting pollinators to preventing PFAS and micro plastic pollution, our lottery dollars work for Minnesotans,” Rep. Rick Hansen, DFL-South St. Paul, chair of the House Environment and Natural Resources Committee, said on the House floor before the vote. “It’s a diverse bill with diverse projects all around the state.”
The package is funded by the Environment and Natural Resources Trust Fund, which was created by a constitutional amendment in 1988 that sets aside 40% of the money generated by the Minnesota State Lottery for use in protecting, conserving and preserving the state’s natural resources, including air, water, land, fish and other wildlife. The trust fund has financed more than 1,800 projects since 1991 totaling around $875 million.
The fund was set to expire in 2025, but lawmakers last session passed a proposal that will ask voters statewide this year to renew the constitutional amendment and extend the fund until 2050. Republican lawmakers have attempted to use the fund to pay for things like water infrastructure projects, prompting outrage from environmental groups and DFLers.
The list of projects was recommended by the Legislative-Citizen Commission on Minnesota Resources (LCCMR), which consists of 17 members: five each from the House and Senate, two citizen members appointed by each chamber and five more citizen members appointed by the governor.
Last year, the commission received 218 requests totaling $174 million. The group whittled it down over the summer to 101 projects with a price tag of $79.64 million, which the LCCMR then recommended to the Legislature.
Ahead of the vote, Republican Rep. Jeff Backer of Browns Valley, who was among the members of the LCCMR, urged lawmakers to pass the proposal if it included projects that were located in their district. Backer himself voted against the bill.
“There are some good projects in this bill with trails but there are some odd projects in this bill,” he said. “I would really challenge, especially members on my side of the aisle but actually both, to look at this as a way to help projects in their district that have an impact with the public good.”
Mohamed Ibrahim
Mohamed Ibrahim is MinnPost’s environment and public safety reporter. He can be reached at mibrahim@minnpost.com.
