Appropriations division acts on three orphan bills: aerospace health rejected; long‑term care infrastructure funded at $50M; wastewater plan converted to study

The Senate Appropriations — Human Resources Division took action on three bill items it had left over from prior hearings.

House Bill 16‑12 (UND aerospace medicine): Committee members moved a “do not pass” recommendation. Senator Cleary moved the recommendation with a second; the committee discussed higher‑education funding priorities and whether the program duplicates existing efforts at the University of North Dakota. The division voted by roll call: Senator Cleary — Yes; Chairman Deaver — Yes; Senator Magrum — Yes; Senator Mather — No; Senator Davidson was noted absent from the roll call. The committee named Senator Cleary as carrier to move the recommendation forward to the full committee.

House Bill 16‑19 (long‑term care facility infrastructure): Members debated the size and form of the program (grant versus loan). Senator Davison offered an amendment to reduce the bill’s $100 million figure; that amendment to move the total to $30 million failed on a voice vote. Senator Magrill then moved an amendment that reduced the bill to $50 million; the committee approved the motion and voted to give the bill a due‑pass recommendation to the full committee. On the due‑pass roll call, Senators Deaver, Magram and Mather voted aye; Senators Cleary and Davidson voted nay. The bill as amended would authorize $50,000,000 for long‑term care infrastructure and set program limits discussed in committee (maximum awards and match rules were described in testimony as up to $10,000,000 per project and up to 50 percent of project cost, per committee discussion).

House Bill 15‑77 (wastewater infrastructure): Committee members expressed concern that a $25,000,000 grant program would distribute limited funds without a prioritization mechanism. Several members preferred a revolving loan fund to preserve capital for multiple projects. The committee discussed converting the proposal into a study or into language creating a wastewater revolving loan fund, possibly drawing on the state’s resources trust fund. Committee leaders asked staff to draft study language and to revisit the item at an afternoon meeting; the transcript shows the chair agreed to “hot‑house” that bill and remove the $25,000,000 appropriation pending new language. No final roll‑call vote on the study language was recorded in the division transcript.

Why it matters: The decisions change how the Legislature will approach capital needs for long‑term care and wastewater: the long‑term care program will move forward with $50 million of state support, while wastewater funding will be reconsidered as a study or a revolving loan fund rather than the $25 million grant originally proposed. The do‑not‑pass on the aerospace health proposal removes a $500,000 planning appropriation for an aerospace medicine program from this bill package at this time.

Votes at a glance: See actions below for recorded roll calls and tallies.