Less than $1 million in total funding separates House, Senate Legacy bills

Members of the omnibus legacy conference committee learned Thursday they won’t have a large funding gap to bridge as nonpartisan staff walked them through a side-by-side overview of the respective House and Senate bills during the group’s first meeting.

Sponsored by Rep. Bob Gunther (R-Fairmont) and Sen. Carrie Ruud (R-Breezy Point), HF707*/SF566 would appropriate money from the four funds established by the Clean Water, Land and Legacy Amendment in 2008 to benefit the state’s natural and cultural resources.

The two bills are $620,000 apart in total funding, with the House appropriating $529.18 million while the Senate would provide $529.8 million.

Outdoor Heritage Fund

There are only a few funding differences between the two bills in appropriating money from the Outdoor Heritage Fund.

The Senate bill is nearly identical to the recommendations made by the Lessard-Sams Outdoor Heritage Council, which helps administer the fund. It would appropriate $105.06 million, while the appropriation in the House version is $103.69 million.

The House bill would spend $5 million more for the Board of Soil and Water Resources to acquire permanent conservation easements and restore wetlands and native grasslands, but it would also give $4 million less to the Department of Natural Resources for wildlife management area acquisitions.

The House also includes language that would require the DNR, when using OHF money, to sell an equal amount of land when acquiring land in a county that has filed a “no-net-gain” policy.

Clean Water Fund

The House would appropriate $212.4 million from the Clean Water Fund, while the Senate appropriation is $211.6 million.

Both sides include $22 million over the upcoming biennium to help implement the controversial buffers program. But the Senate adds language directing $100,000 of that amount to each of the state’s 90 Soil and Water Conservation Districts and adds other language specifying how the money should be spent.

Parks and Trails Fund

The Parks and Trails Fund language and appropriations are largely the same, with only a $1,000 difference in appropriations: House - $54.281 million; Senate - $54.282 million.

Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund

The House and Senate appropriations are nearly the same from the Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund as well – House $123.363 million; Senate $123.364 million – but the House bill includes a few more provisions specifically directing where some grant money must go.

For example, it directs $750,000 for two statues of Dan Patch, a Minnesota harness racing legend – to be built and $500,000 to create a garden in St. Paul recognizing the cultural heritage of the Chinese and Hmong in Minnesota.