BLOG: Minnesota’s Legacy Fund, Where are your tax dollars going?

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Last night the Senate Subcommittee on Legacy heard bills to fund projects from around the state.  Minnesota voters approved the Clean Water, Land and Legacy Amendment back in 2008 which increased the state sales taxes by .375% for 25-years.  The amendment mandates that a portion of the fund be used “to preserve Minnesota’s history and cultural heritage.”

Included in the funding proposals:

  • $50,000 to the Minnesota China Friendship Garden Society to plan and design a Chinese garden in Phalen Park in St. Paul

 

  • $100,000 to the Minnesota Humanities Center for Veterans Voices Month

 

  • $200,000 to the Minnesota Humanities Center for  programs with multiple cultures

 

  • $200,000 to the Children’s Discovery Museum in Grand Rapids

 

  • $250,000 to the Gunflint Trail Historical Society to complete phase two of the Chik-Wauk Museum and Nature Center

 

  • $300,000 to develop and install in parks in Ramsey County sport courts and fields for culturally relevant games

 

  • $325,000 to Lake Superior Center Authority for creation of the Amazing World of the Unsalted Seas   exhibit

 

  • $600,000 to the Children’s Museum of Southern Minnesota

 

  • $1,187,500 for renovations at historic Hibbing High School auditorium

 

  • $1,350,000 to Ka Joog Enriching the Life of Somali American Youth and Fanka Program for arts and   cultural heritage programs

 

  •  $1,400,000 to the Minnesota Children’s Museum

 

  •  $1,400,000 to the City of Red Wing to renovate the Sheldon Theater

 

  •  $2,750,000 to Wilderness Inquiry for historical and cultural heritage programs to increase opportunities for low-income students to participate in outdoor public place-based education programs

 

  •  $2,800,000 to the University of Minnesota to fund the Forever Green Agriculture Initiative

 

  •  $3,000,000 to  Minnesota Public Radio

 

  •  $3,000,000 to Como Park Zoo

 

  •  $3,700,000 to the Perpich Center for the Arts

 

  •  $6,000,000 to provide competitive grants for African culture, heritage, and arts programs via The Minnesota Humanities Center in collaboration with the Council on Black Minnesotans

 

  •  $8,400,000 to  Minnesota Public Television

 

Several of the organizations listed above, including the Perpich Center for the Arts and the Minnesota Humanities Center, are also requesting funds via Governor Dayton’s $842 Million bonding bill.