Keep Nature Winning: Minnesota Voters to Decide if Lottery Proceeds Continue Protecting the Great Outdoors

(KNSI) – Aside from voting for president and vice president and considering other questions on this November’s ballot, voters are being asked to approve a constitutional amendment for the continued use of 40% of lottery proceeds for the Environment and Natural Resources Trust Fund.

The measure was initially enacted in 1988 when voters approved the creation of the Minnesota State Lottery. It received an overwhelming response in 1998 when voters were asked to extend that until 2025.

Conservation Minnesota represents 140 organizations supporting the amendment to continue for another 25 years, until 2050. Campaign Director Marcus Star told KNSI News if you’re a Minnesotan and you’ve ever had fun outside, you’ve benefited from this funding. “It goes anywhere from the Superior Hiking Trail all the way down to the University of Minnesota to do research on aquatic invasive species. So it’s one of those things that, it’s hard to have not been a beneficiary of this money.”

He hopes Minnesotans will answer yes to keep the funding stream flowing because leaving it blank is the same as voting to dam it up. “In Minnesota, we’re different than quite a few states. If you leave this question blank, it’s actually considered a ‘no’ vote.”

Star is confident the measure will pass again, given that it passed with nearly 70% of the vote the last two times it came up. If the measure isn’t approved, the money generated from the lottery would be given to the Legislature to spend or save as they see fit.

Since 1991, more than $1 billion has helped fund more than 1,700 projects across the state — mostly in greater Minnesota.

Find out more about extending the amendment by clicking here.

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