Matt Doll, Minnesota Environmental Partnership
Minnesota has had our share of close elections, and 2024 reinforced that history: the Presidential race was decided by a few percentage points, the Minnesota House of Representatives ended up evenly divided between DFLers and Republicans, and each of the two parties took four of the state’s Congressional districts.
But as we’d hoped, the vote on renewing dedicated Minnesota Lottery funding for the Environment and Natural Resources Trust Fund (ENRTF) was nowhere near close. The constitutional amendment measure passed overwhelmingly, with more than three in every four voters saying “yes” to extend the Trust Fund’s dedication to 2050. If the amendment had failed, the constitutional dedication of lottery funding for the ENRTF would have expired next year.
The tradition continues
Last week’s “yes” vote means that the ENRTF will continue to receive 40% of annual proceeds from the state lottery. Combined with the investment income, that money should keep the Trust Fund stable for many years to come.
Most of the ENRTF’s grant funding process will remain the same as it has been for the last 25 years. Each year, 5.5% of the fund’s market value will go to projects recommended by the Legislative-Citizen Commission on Minnesota Resources (LCCMR) and approved by the Legislature. The Legislature can choose to ignore, circumvent or modify LCCMR recommendations, but very seldomly chooses to do so.
In one notorious case, the Legislature tried to use ENRTF dollars to fund wastewater infrastructure bonds, which are normally funded as part of basic government spending. That spending violated the spirit of the law and would have harmed the long-term sustainability of the Trust Fund. Fortunately, that raid was reversed, and the newly passed constitutional amendment bans ENRTF dollars from being used on wastewater projects in the future.
Most of the grant money goes to state and local government agencies, universities, and other large entities that can afford the time and cost that it takes to lobby for Trust Fund dollars. They spend it on projects that include climate research, habitat restoration, enhancement of public lands, and much more. In more than three decades, the ENRTF has provided more than a billion dollars in such investments in every corner of the state, supporting a vast array of jobs.
The ENRTF creates tremendous benefits for Minnesotans and our environment, but the lottery is not without social costs. Most lottery players are from low-income communities and may see few direct benefits from the lottery. As we sought to put ENRTF renewal on the ballot, environmental justice advocates considered how we could make sure that the fund would benefit low-income and diverse communities historically excluded from the funding process.
More money for community groups
Thanks to a hard-won coalition effort and the passage of the renewal amendment, an additional 1.5% of the value of the ENRTF will be available annually for a community grants program to fund three categories of work:
- help adversely impacted communities to respond to environmental degradation and related health concerns;
- fund education and awareness related to stewardship of air, land, water, forests, fish, wildlife, and other natural resources; or
- fund preserving or enhancing air, land, water, and other natural resources that otherwise may be substantially impaired or destroyed in any area of the state.
In a significant departure from past practices, individual grants will not be approved through a legislative process, which typically requires significant lobbying investment for any group trying to access it. Instead, there will be a community grants process administered by the Department of Natural Resources and be overseen by a committee of at least 11 and no more than 19 Minnesotans selected to provide environmental expertise and representation of the state’s diversity. The committee will be appointed by the commissioners of the Department of Natural Resources, Pollution Control Agency, and Department of Health. The resulting process will be much more accessible and shorter in length and will provide access to smaller grants, allowing community organizations to take part.
Funding for the community grants program will be available starting July 1, 2025. We expect that the DNR will soon launch a website for interested groups and individuals to learn how to access the ENRTF Community Grants program. We encourage our readers to learn more about this new program. If you have an idea for improving Minnesota’s environmental or public health, it just might win support from our state’s great Trust Fund.