Council for the Arts asks committee to restore grants officer FTE, fund fabrication and site work after Senate halves request

At an appropriations committee hearing, the North Dakota Council for the Arts asked lawmakers to restore a second full-time equivalent grants program officer, to permit limited use of a maintenance endowment to fabricate public artworks and to fund site infrastructure for its “Arch Across the Prairie” initiative.

The request includes: reinstating a grants program officer FTE (the council says the work is already being done by a combination of a hybridized admin FTE and a long-term temporary employee), a $380,000 fabrication request from a maintenance endowment the Senate trimmed to $190,000, and a $559,750 decision package for infrastructure, engineering and site work.

Why it matters: Council leaders said the staff increase would improve grant administration and service to rural grantees, while the fabrication and infrastructure funding would allow planned public artworks to be built and installed across regions. Committee staff and counsel discussed legal limits on how the endowment can be used and operational constraints if the National Guard is engaged for site work.

Council staffing, workload and request

Jess, a presenter for the Council for the Arts, told the committee that during the last biennium the agency requested two FTEs — an administrative assistant and a grants program officer — but received only the administrative assistant as a full FTE and left the grants work hybridized across positions. Jess said a long-term temporary worker has been performing full-time hours and the council now seeks to convert that role into a benefited FTE while making the previously hybrid admin position the full-time grants program officer.

Committee members pressed for detail on workload and justification. Chairman Nelson asked whether the change would reduce temporary salaries; Jess replied the current half‑time temporary slot would remain open and the council would still need to recruit for that half-time role. Committee staff noted a $172,000 reduction in the Senate recommendation tied to that staffing change; Jess and staff characterized that amount as related to benefits and retirement cost differences for the restructured positions.

Endowment, fabrication and Senate changes

Jess said the Council had requested $380,000 from a maintenance endowment to fabricate four public artworks. "We invested that separately with Rio," she said, and the maintenance endowment balance cited in the hearing was about $1.2 million. Jess explained that, if fully funded at $380,000, the council could fabricate and install four works; the Senate reduced the fabrication authorization to $190,000, which council staff said would allow fabrication of two works.

Jess also told the committee that federal CARES Act NEA funds have ended. "As far as I understand our NEA, the CARES Act funds have completely gone away," she said, adding that future NEA base funding is expected to remain at a flat level and that a proposed boost (about $75,000 a year for arts-and-health programming) remained uncertain and would likely be known only late in the session.

Legal and policy constraints discussed

Alex, committee staff, summarized the legal point about the original legislative language tied to the maintenance fund. "Legally, legislative assembly can't tie the hands of a future legislative assembly, so you can do what you want with that money," he said, noting the committee could change section language to permit construction or fabrication if it chose. Committee members and staff also noted the Senate added language to allow the maintenance fund to be used "for maintenance or for construction," which narrowed a prior constraint that had limited use to maintenance only.

Infrastructure, bids and the National Guard

The council requested $559,750 in decision-package funding for infrastructure tied to the Arch Across the Prairie program: engineering fees, minimal site prep, signage, regional partner planning and travel. Consulting landscape architect Jolene Reek described the package and the program’s partnership approach with the Department of Transportation and the North Dakota National Guard.

Reek explained practical limits on using the National Guard for site work: "In order to have the National Guard do work for us, they cannot compete with private sector contractors," she said. She said the project must first be put out to bid; if no contractors respond or bids exceed budget, that can clear the way for Guard involvement. Reek also said the National Guard cannot do work on private lands without further policy review even when the sites are covered by public easements.

Committee members discussed procurement thresholds. Reek and council staff said the $200,000 public-bid threshold governs when formal bidding is required; projects below that level can proceed with soliciting quotes (typically three) and, if no responsive contractors bid, the National Guard application becomes an option.

Leave payout and other requests

The council also requested a $40,000 decision package for a potential leave payout for a long-serving, retirement-eligible employee. Council staff said the employee had not confirmed retirement and that the agency expects to turn back roughly $25,000 in leave payout funds from the current biennium; some committee members suggested drafting section language to allow a carryforward of that unspent amount rather than appropriating new general-fund dollars.

Next steps and committee options

Committee members said the grants officer FTE and the fabrication/section-language question were the principal issues they would consider moving forward. Several members signaled willingness to consider restoring the FTE and to adjust section language to allow some fabrication from the maintenance fund; staff agreed to draft language if the committee wanted to pursue a carryforward option for leave payout funds.

No formal committee vote or final funding decision was recorded during the hearing.