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Panel amends attorney general budget to add cybercrime agents, change fees and cut some one-time spending
Summary
The Appropriations — Government Operations Division amended the attorney general’s budget bill to remove some one-time items, add funding for two cybercrime BCI agents and one guardianship agent, shift several funding sources, and add new fees for electronic smoking-device manufacturers. The committee approved the bill as amended by roll call.
The Appropriations — Government Operations Division on the attorney general’s budget amended line items to remove several one-time additions, add targeted staffing for cybercrime and guardianship work, and change funding sources and fees.
Committee members said the amendment package removes three FTEs the House had added (netting to a 1 FTE reduction from the House version after other adjustments), increases the general fund by $692,000 and reduces other funds by $464,000. Staff summary materials presented the net change to the bill’s totals rolled up into section 1 and identified detailed, line-by-line changes in later sections.
Levi, a staff presenter, told the committee the amendment (the 02/2005 draft) removes a House provision that would have diverted $2,000,000 of charitable-gaming operating-fund transfers to the attorney general for litigation and operating expenses. The amendment also removes one-time funding for a retired law-enforcement-dog program and reduces a statewide litigation funding pool from $8,000,000 to $5,000,000, and authorizes an exemption so any remaining balance from the current deficiency appropriation can be carried into the 2025–27 biennium.
The amendment moves a total of $964,000 for medical examinations and children’s forensic interviews from the Insurance Regulatory Trust Fund to the general fund, a change tied to the passage of Senate Bill 2292. It also includes contingent ongoing funding of $685,000 for human-trafficking victim grants dependent on the passage of Senate Bill 2330, and clarifies a guardianship-program contingency keyed to Senate Bill 2029.
The package adds $825,000 to staff and equipment for Bureau of Criminal Investigation agents: two agents focused on cybercrime and one assigned to guardianships. Language in the amendment requires those cybercrime personnel, equipment and resources “must be dedicated for assisting a police department in a city in the northeast of North Dakota with at least 50,000 residents for the prevention and detection of cybercrime.” One-time equipment for the BCI agents is listed at $161,000.
Senator Dwyer moved a further amendment changing the electronic smoking-device manufacturer fee: the amendment keeps the manufacturer application fee at $2,000 (an increase from $500) and adds an annual renewal fee of $500. The motion to adopt that change was seconded and incorporated into the 02/2005 amendment.
After committee discussion, the committee voted to pass the bill as amended. The committee record reflects the committee adopted the amendments and then approved the bill as amended by roll call vote.
Why it matters: The changes reallocate existing funds, reduce several one-time expenditures, and add dedicated personnel for cybercrime and guardianship workloads. Contingent grants and some funding shifts depend on the outcomes of other bills referenced in the amendment.
The committee moved on to other business after approving the amended attorney general appropriation.
