Minnesota voters on track to reauthorize lottery conservation funding

Nov. 6—Minnesota voters on Tuesday night appeared to be on track to approve a constitutional amendment to extend the state's Environment and Natural Resources Trust Fund, a conservation funding source that dedicates 40% of state lottery proceeds to the outdoors, for another 25 years.

With just more than 81% of precincts reporting as of 12:23 a.m. Wednesday, Minnesota Amendment 1 had 1,905,327 "yes" votes and 408,305 "no" votes; another 151,451 voters left their ballot blank, for an estimated "yes" percentage of 77.29%.

A blank vote is the same as a "no" vote, and the measure needs an estimated "yes" percentage of greater than 50% to pass.

Conservation advocates were cautiously optimistic.

"I hate to say anything too early, but it's good to see that the yes votes are leading the way and what we expected," said Liz Deering, communications director for Conservation Minnesota, early Tuesday evening. "Minnesotans have a history of supporting the environment every time it's been on the ballot, and so we expect that's what we'll see tonight, too."

Based in Minneapolis, Conservation Minnesota has been among the groups leading the effort to pass Amendment 1 and reauthorize the conservation funding.

The Legislative Citizen Commission on Minnesota Resources — a 17-member panel made up of 12 legislators and five appointed citizens — makes ENRTF funding recommendations to the Legislature. Since 1991, the fund has provided nearly $1.1 billion to more than 1,700 projects around the state, according to the LCCMR website.

The amendment facing Minnesota voters on Tuesday included a couple minor changes. Key among them was language to increase annual ENRTF allocations from 5.5% of the fund's balance to 7%, with the 1.5% increase dedicated to a new "small community grant" program available for groups that previously hadn't qualified for ENRTF funding.