Job Service North Dakota urges state funding for IT, wages and H-2A staffing as modernization proceeds

Job Service North Dakota asked the House Appropriations Committee’s Education and Environment (E&E) division for additional state funding to cover information-technology cost increases, salary and benefits, and an extra staff position for the H‑2A foreign labor program as it implements a federally funded system modernization.

Patrick Bertinelli, executive director of Job Service North Dakota, told the committee the agency is "93.64% federally funded" and that the state-level increases for wages and technology are not covered by those federal dollars.

Why it matters: Bertinelli said the agency relies on timely IT and staffing to operate unemployment insurance, workforce centers and federal programs that serve employers and job seekers across the state. He warned that, without additional general funds, service timeliness and program performance could be affected.

Job Service requested three main appropriations. First, $950,000 in general funds to cover inflationary increases in the cost of information-technology services and hosting charged by the North Dakota Department of Information Technology (NDIT). Second, a one-time general fund appropriation of $2.1 million to cover salary and benefit increases that federal grants do not allow. Third, $233,672 in general funds to add one full-time employee and related expenses to keep up with a growing H‑2A housing-inspection workload.

Bertinelli said the agency is carrying out a major unemployment insurance and workforce-system modernization paid with $45 million in ARPA funds awarded during the 2023–25 legislative session. He said the vendor is Geographic Solutions and that implementation is scheduled for the fourth quarter of 2026; the ARPA expenditure deadline he cited is Dec. 31, 2026.

On the H‑2A agricultural program, Job Service reported substantial growth in recent years and said the program strains staff time. Phil Davis, workforce services director, described the agency’s role as processing employer applications, placing job orders and performing federally required housing inspections; he said the agency does not typically interact directly with the foreign workers beyond inspections. Job Service said it processed about 1,315 H‑2A applications in the most recent period, drove roughly 91,002 miles to perform 1,910 housing inspections, and facilitated placement of 4,321 foreign workers in fiscal year 2024; the agency reported 13,332 placements across fiscal years 2021–2024.

Bertinelli and staff also summarized workforce and program metrics: Job Service operates nine workforce centers that serve an average of about 3,400 customers per month, handled roughly 2,400 phone calls monthly, placed 45,155 job orders and made 32,234 job referrals in the last year. The agency’s virtual job board counts more than 203,000 users (135,759 of them new), and its workforce programs include 15 distinct efforts aimed at removing barriers to employment.

The committee heard details about JP3, a two-year pilot placement program for justice-involved individuals funded with $640,000 in the prior legislative session. Bertinelli said the program receives referrals from the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (DOCR) and meets with residents about 90 days before release. He said the program had received 277 referrals, completed 213 intakes, and had 86 active participants, with a 73% employment rate among participants. Phil Davis added that, of 332 referrals overall, 15 later committed another crime and returned to prison; he described that as the known count of recidivism among referrals but noted not all released individuals are served by the program.

Jamie Lawler, unemployment insurance data and quality assurance manager, told the committee the UI trust fund balance is approximately $331,000,000 and explained employer UI taxes fund benefits. Committee members pressed staff for additional breakdowns of NDIT cost increases, mainframe lease figures and when transition savings might occur; Job Service staff said the agency will provide more detailed NDIT cost breakout information to the committee and that some mainframe costs will persist during the transition to the new system but could decline once migration completes.

Committee members expressed concern about the size of the IT rate increases charged by NDIT and asked Job Service to provide detailed line-item increases and historical comparisons. McKenna Theljes (listed in testimony as finance manager) explained NDIT provides an itemized breakdown and said she would supply the committee specifics on percentage increases and cost components.

Bertinelli concluded by asking the committee to consider continuing-appropriation language that would allow the agency to accept federal funds received in excess of the amounts appropriated in statute for the 2025–27 biennium; he said that language is necessary given how the U.S. Department of Labor provides funds to state workforce agencies.

The committee did not take a formal vote during this hearing; members asked questions and requested follow-up materials. The hearing record closed after the questioning period and Job Service invited committee members to a March 18 job fair in Bismarck to observe operations.