Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Education Budget topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Appropriations committee reviews K‑12 and higher‑education proposals; UND nursing building bill fails in committee
Summary
Appropriations members reviewed several education spending proposals, reduced or deferred stand‑alone capital requests, and referred multiple items to the E&E division for budget alignment; the UND nursing building request received a do‑not‑pass vote.
The House Appropriations Committee heard multiple education funding proposals that came from policy and education committees. Members focused on ensuring proposals did not inappropriately replace one‑time federal ESSER money with ongoing general‑fund commitments and on coordinating requests with pending K–12 and higher education budgets.
Choice Ready grants (Senate Bill 2234): Representative Pat Heiner presented a request to replace ESSER funding for the Choice Ready grants. The House education committee reduced the original $2 million request to $1 million, noting last year 82 schools applied for grants at roughly $6,000 each. The appropriations committee referred the bill to the E&E division for comparison with the K–12 budget to avoid duplication.
UND School of Nursing facility request (Senate Bill 2286): The University of North Dakota sought a capital appropriation (originally presented as $95 million with UND proposing to raise $40 million locally). House Education cut the state ask to a proposed $55 million line of credit in committee; the House Appropriations Committee’s E&E staff reviewed the project and recommended it is a higher‑education budgetary matter rather than a stand‑alone bill. Representative Nathie moved a “do not pass” on SB 2286; the motion carried on a roll call (22‑0‑1) and the committee placed the measure in the higher education budget process for further consideration.
Mathematics instruction pilot (Senate Bill 2213): Sponsors described a program patterned on the state’s earlier “science of reading” initiative to provide professional development and pilot implementation focused on mathematics instruction for early grades. The bill requests $1.5 million total: staffing and pilot costs for the Department of Public Instruction and implementation grants to districts. The committee referred the bill to E&E staff and to the DPI budget process to ensure alignment with K–12 budget priorities.
Other votes and budget actions: the committee approved the Racing Commission and Trust Lands budgets (amendments and roll calls recorded) and asked divisions to supply additional materials (deferred maintenance reports and project details) for capital requests.
