ST. PAUL -- Minnesota voters take control of a decade-old proposal to send a portion of the state sales tax to outdoors, environmental and arts programs now that state legislators have approved it.
After 10 years of failures, lawmakers on Thursday easily passed a constitutional amendment to increase sales taxes 0.375 percent.
The revenue from that increase will be spent on a range of outdoor programs -- improving wetlands, cleaning the state's water, funding parks and trails and other things -- and arts and history programs.
It was a day many Minnesotans waited to see for a long time.
Count Dave Zentner, a Duluth conservationist and former president of the national Izaak Walton League of America, is among those.
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"It's chills and tears," Zentner said. "I'm excited. I'm happy. We'll have a short celebration, then we'll get the whole conservation community together, and that's how we'll get the whole citizens' community together. After November, then our generation will have really left a gift for generations to come."
The proposal bypasses the governor and goes directly to voters in the Nov. 4 general election. A multi-million-dollar campaign to support the amendment is expected.
The House approved the measure 85-46, followed by the Senate, 46-17.
The votes culminate an effort that began by former Sen. Bob Lessard as a way to keep funds flowing to outdoors programs. As years went by, it became obvious to supporters that the idea lacked support from urban lawmakers, so the arts provision was included in recent years, giving the measure critical mass needed to pass the Legislature.
House Majority Leader Tony Sertich, DFL-Chisholm, said that $244 million would be produced by the amendment in 2010, and it should rise slightly after that.
The biggest complaint about the amendment is that it dedicates funding via the constitution, and opponents would prefer the Legislature make funding decisions year to year.
"Are we so hungry for new revenue ... that we are willing to compromise our core beliefs on fair taxation?" Sen. Tom Bakk, DFL-Cook, asked. "I'm just not willing to do that today."
Bakk, Senate Taxes Committee chairman, said sales tax increases hurt the poor more than others.
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However, Sertich said, dedicating funding via the constitution is the last chance to making sure funding for important needs is guaranteed.
The amendment, if approved by voters Nov. 4, would increase the sales tax for 25 years before it expires. Estimates of what the average Minnesota family would pay vary, but supporters say it probably would cost $56 a year.
