Minnesotans were poised to approve a constitutional amendment question on the November ballot showed voters favoring renewal of dedicated lottery funding for the outdoors, a system that has delivered more than $1 billion to environmental projects since it began 36 years ago.
For the measure to pass, more than 50% of voters needed to vote “yes” to the continued flow of Minnesota State Lottery cash into the Environmental and Natural Resources Trust Fund. Results were still trickling in early Wednesday.
Since voters first adopted dedicated lottery funding for the outdoors in 1988, the pipeline of money has provided tens of millions of dollars a year for clean water, wildlife habitat, environmental education, trails, land acquisition and other projects beneficial to natural resources.
“This goes to show that people can still agree on clean water and the environment, no matter what your politics are,’’ said Michelle Stockness, executive director of Freshwater, a St. Paul-based nonprofit. “We’re lucky to have a fund like this and other states would love to have it.’’
Dakota County Board Chair Joe Atkins said environmental groups and other supporters of the amendment kicked off a “Vote Yes’’ campaign this summer at West St. Paul’s Thompson County Park.
“Voters here strongly prefer constitutionally dedicating these lottery dollars … rather than giving the dollars to legislators with no guarantee about how they will be used,” he said.
The lottery amendment dedicates 40% of state lottery profits to the trust fund. The annual draw from the fund is shepherded by the Legislative-Citizen Commission on Minnesota Resources (LCCMR). The commission’s yearly recommendations must be approved by the Legislature and signed by the governor for the money to be released. In the current fiscal year, the trust fund generated $76.6 million to underwrite 101 projects. Next year, the withdrawal from the fund will surpass $100 million for the first time.