Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

By Dana Ferguson, Minnesota Public Radio News

Minnesota voters will decide this fall whether to renew a proposal that earmarks a portion of the state’s lottery proceeds for conservation, clean water and parks projects.

A group of more than 130 business, conservation and environmental organizations announced Wednesday that they would campaign together to convince people to vote “Yes.”

Advocates for the amendment said they worry it could fly under the radar with races for president, U.S. Senate and the state Legislature on the ballot.

The hurdle is a bit higher than a typical race because the measure needs to gain a clear majority of votes to pass.

“If you don’t vote and you leave it blank on the front of the ballot, it’s actually considered a ‘no’ vote,” said Marcus Starr, campaign director for Conservation Minnesota. “And if that’s the case, and over 50 percent of the people either vote ‘No’ or leave it blank, what would happen is that money would then have to be decided by the legislators.”

In 1988, voters both cleared the way for creation of the lottery. And they also approved a constitutional amendment that dedicates the resulting funding “for the public purpose of protection, conservation, preservation and enhancement of the state’s air, water, land, fish, wildlife and other natural resources.” A measure to extend that until 2025 overwhelmingly won approval in 1998.

The proposal’s backers hope it will be an easy choice for voters to say “yes” again.

“It’s really one of those things that no matter who you’re voting for atop the ticket, whether you’re a Democrat, Republican, everybody enjoys our outdoors, everybody likes parks and trails, everybody wants clean water,” Starr said. “It’s really hard to be against this.”

Like earlier measures, this one would continue directing 40 percent of the net proceeds generated to the Minnesota Lottery to the Environment and Natural Resources Trust Fund. The amendment also includes a new provision that would reserve 1.5 percent of lottery funds for projects in underserved communities.

Ann Mulholland, chapter director of the Nature Conservancy of Minnesota, North Dakota and South Dakota, said the designated funding for groups that had been historically passed over could even the playing field.

“Organizations that are small, whether in rural communities or in urban areas, that serve BIPOC communities, tribal communities, are going to have much greater access to these revenues going forward, and I think that’s really important,” Mulholland said.

Each year, the Legislative-Citizen Commission on Minnesota Resources sends out millions of dollars from the Environment and Natural Resources Trust Fund to environmental and natural resource projects around the state.

The state estimates that more than 1,700 projects have been funded through the trust fund since 1991. Without an extension, the constitutional dedication for the funding is set to run out in 2025. That would likely return the lottery revenue to the state general fund, leaving it up to state lawmakers to spend or save.