[ST. PAUL, MN] – Governor Tim Walz today signed a bill that will fund 80 environment and natural resources projects with the goal of protecting Minnesota’s air, water, land, fish, wildlife, and other outdoor resources. The Governor then wrote to legislators urging them to work toward reforming the vetting process for future projects to prioritize citizens’ voices and remove politics from the process.

Projects are typically vetted by the Legislative-Citizen Commission on Minnesota Resources (LCCMR). However, the LCCMR did not provide recommendations for fiscal year 2023, as they were unable to come to an agreement and pass recommendations with the supermajority required. This bill is based on two separate motions brought at the LCCMR, but also includes 12 additional projects introduced by legislators and not vetted by citizens on the commission.

The full text of the letter is below.

Dear Majority Leader Miller and Speaker Hortman,

I have received, approved, signed, and deposited in the Office of the Secretary of State Chapter 94, House File 3765. However, I will also take this opportunity to note my strong displeasure with the number of projects included in this bill that were not vetted by the Legislative-Citizen Commission on Minnesota Resources (LCCMR).

Comprised of 17 members, including 7 public members with experience or expertise in the science, policy, or practice of the protection, conservation, preservation and enhancement of the state’s environment and natural resources, the LCCMR’s mission is to make funding recommendations to the legislature for special environment and natural resources projects from the Environment and Natural Resources Trust Fund (ENRTF). The group makes annual project funding recommendations to the Minnesota legislature based on a competitive, multi-step proposal and selection process. The inclusion and role of non-legislative, public members is a critical component of the LCCMR design and is meant to allow for more public input, directly into the decision-making process.

Unfortunately, this year, due to an unwillingness to compromise during the commission vetting process, no proposal received the requisite votes needed for an LCCMR recommendation to the legislature. The bill sent to my desk has twelve legislative additions, out of a total of eighty projects—a full 15% of the bill—that were not even proposed in the LCCMR vetting process. All but one of these additions were at the expense of projects that had been submitted as a proposal and vetted by the LCCMR. I am deeply disappointed that politicians undermined the integrity of a process that includes public members who spend hundreds of hours each year reviewing and recommending projects for funding. The politicization of this process does not go unnoticed.

Moving forward, I urge the legislators on the LCCMR to reach a compromise and provide the legislature with a thoroughly vetted LCCMR bill. Additionally, I implore the legislature to cease adding unvetted projects to this bill, and to let the public member experts on the LCCMR lead and prioritize making a recommendation to the legislature. Finally, I encourage a thoughtful discourse about how we may reform the LCCMR to ensure that politics stays out of this process.

Sincerely,

Tim Walz
Governor