Conference committee delays decision on House Bill 1143 funding for Great Plains Food Bank

At a conference committee meeting on House Bill 1143, lawmakers representing the House and Senate postponed a final decision on whether to increase state funding for a new Great Plains Food Bank distribution center, saying they need more information about overall budgets before altering the House position.

The bill would appropriate state funds to the Agriculture Commissioner for a food distribution facility grant program. The House originally moved a $10,000,000 appropriation in committee but amended that to $5,000,000 before advancing the bill; the Senate later amended the measure in Senate Appropriations to restore the $10,000,000 figure. Sen. Burkhart, speaking for the Senate side, described the Great Plains Food Bank in Fargo as the state’s only food bank and said the organization serves all 53 counties through roughly 200…