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Division advances historical society budget after trimming SIF allocations and adjusting donation language
Summary
The Appropriations — Education and Environment Division amended House Bill 1018 to reduce certain State Infrastructure Fund (SIF) allocations for heritage projects, shift a $2.1 million repayment expectation to SIF when needed, and advance the bill to full Appropriations unanimously with one member recused from an early vote.
The Appropriations — Education and Environment Division voted to advance House Bill 1018 as amended, approving reductions to some one-time grants, revising SIF and donation language for the military gallery expansion and altering several matching rules for local projects.
Division members discussed cuts to SIF funding for the military gallery expansion and other one-time grants, adjustments to local-match formulas, and the mechanics for repaying a line of credit previously authorized for the Teddy Roosevelt Presidential Library project.
Senator Meyer and other members walked the committee through an amended bill that reduces a previously proposed SIF contribution to the military gallery expansion and changes wording that had required pledged donations to reach a specific threshold before state funds could be accessed. The committee approved increasing SIF identification in one section from $2.1 million to $4.2 million and removed parallel donation‑repayment language so the funds would be characterized as SIF rather than donations for repayment purposes. Staff said this change would also require rewording the emergency clause to reflect the $4.2 million SIF amount.
The amendment package trimmed several one-time items: the military gallery SIF allocation was cut (from the House number), a $1 million transportation improvement grant (trolley project) was removed, and amounts for certain community cultural projects were lowered (for example, adjustments to funding for the Fargo Theater and other small community projects). The bill retains a $20 million line of credit previously authorized for the Teddy Roosevelt project and directs how the $4.2 million would be treated in the bill's emergency clause if included.
Agency staff told the committee that the overall project cost for the military gallery expansion was about $78 million and that state contributions, SIF appropriations, the line of credit and pledged donations have been shifting during recent negotiations. Committee members noted the fundraising target and the split of state versus private contributions remain subject to change.
Senator Meyer moved the amendment package (including the change increasing SIF identification to $4.2 million and removing the donation‑repayment language); the committee recorded one conflict of interest from a member who said a grantee is a customer of the member's business and that member abstained from a vote on the amendment. The committee then approved the further amend and gave House Bill 1018 a do-pass recommendation to full Appropriations; Senator Meyer will carry the bill.
