Committee moves to preserve and expand Soil & Water Conservation District funding to $22 million

The Minnesota House Taxes Committee on March 6 approved an author's amendment to House File 1066 to preserve and increase state aid to Soil and Water Conservation Districts (SWCDs) to $22 million per year and laid the bill over for possible inclusion in the omnibus tax bill.

The bill's author and committee members described SWCDs as an almost 90'year local resource that helps farmers and homeowners with soil and water conservation. "Funding them at the level requested will allow them to maintain their staffing, providing good jobs for local people, and solving local problems before they get out of hand," Representative Reyer said.

Sheila Vanni, assistant director of the Minnesota Association of Soil and Water Conservation Districts, told the committee the appropriation is "critical" to the districts' work with private landowners on water quality and soil-health projects, pointing committee members to a handout showing lakeshore stabilization, cover-crop assistance and rain-garden installations as examples.

As amended, the bill eliminates a scheduled reduction that would have dropped annual state investment from $15 million to $12 million. Instead, the amendment builds on the 2022 general fund appropriation and increases funding to $22 million per year; the $22 million figure came, the author said, from a bottom-up assessment of needs provided by each SWCD.

Committee discussion was brief. Chair Davids moved the author's amendment (66 A1); members approved the amendment by voice vote. Chair Davids then moved that House File 1066, as amended, be laid over for possible inclusion in the omnibus tax bill.

Ending: The bill will next be considered when omnibus tax negotiations proceed; the committee did not adopt a final disposition beyond laying the bill over for possible inclusion.