LINCOLN — With state government facing a $471 million budget shortfall, one state agency again seeks to use state lottery funds, through the Nebraska Environmental Trust, to help finance its operations.

The proposal was described by trust supporters as a new and probably unconstitutional “raid” of trust funds — state lottery proceeds that are granted out to environmental projects.

A state official, meanwhile, described the transfer as necessary to continue soil and water conservation projects and said it complies with a recently amended state law that expanded the allowable uses of the money. The Nebraska Department of Water, Energy and Environment (NDWEE), in a mid-budget funding request, seeks an $8 million transfer from the Trust, of which $6 million would be used for a soil and water conservation program and $2 million for salaries and administrative costs.

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