Senator Justin Eichorn (R-Grand Rapids), the lead Republican on the Senate Environment and Natural Resources Committee, issued the following statement regarding the passage of the Environment and Natural Resources Trust Fund constitutional amendment renewal. The trust fund was established following a 1988 constitutional amendment.

“The original intent of the Environment and Natural Resources Trust Fund was to protect and preserve our air, water, land, fish, and wildlife. That is something that all Minnesotans can support, and if this bill simply renewed the amendment it would likely get overwhelming bipartisan approval. Unfortunately, Democrats seem intent on injecting their extreme partisanship into everything this session. They took this bipartisan idea and turned it into something divisive by changing the successful way we’ve distributed money for years to benefit select interest groups. We should be sticking with the clear mission statement and not inject politics into preserving our outdoors for all Minnesotans to enjoy.”