Governor's office seeks biennial funding for Fargo field representative, interns, AI licenses and children's cabinet support

Ros Layton, chief of staff for the governor, asked the Education and Environment Appropriations subcommittee to approve the governor's office budget request, saying it would maintain current compensation levels and add targeted resources to expand the office's reach and capabilities.

The budget request would: (1) place the governor's salary and associated fringe benefits on a single line with other salaries and wages; (2) add $20,000 in temporary salaries (bringing temporary salaries to $50,000 total) to support an internship program and use the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) matching program; (3) fund a regional field representative based in the eastern metro with a $272,000 compensation package (about $192,000 salary and $80,000 in fringe benefits) for the biennium and $30,000 in rent estimated for office space; (4) increase travel funding by $35,000 (to $100,000 total); (5) add $21,000 for NDIT licensing and user fees for AI tools (Copilot, ChatGPT) for all governor's office staff; (6) add $15,000 for professional development; and (7) increase the Rough Rider Award budget from $10,800 to $15,000 per biennium to address inflationary costs for portraits, bust framing and travel for inductees.

"Our goal is to develop a grama internship program and take advantage of the OMB matching program for interns," Layton told the committee. He framed the proposed eastern field office as a way to ensure the governor's office has "a presence at events and meetings on the Eastern side" and to support continued contact with local officials, legislators and constituents outside of Bismarck.

Maria Nesett, chief of staff to Lieutenant Governor Strinden and senior advisor to Governor Armstrong, told the committee the administration is requesting dedicated funding to administer the North Dakota Children's Cabinet and supports policy changes in Senate Bill 2,176 to move administrative responsibility from the Department of Human Services to the governor's office. Nesett said the governor's office asked that the biennial budget include the ongoing $35,000 for cabinet members and restore the full $65,000 one-time facilitation appropriation originally requested; the version before the committee included $35,000 ongoing and $30,000 one-time.

"We do need the policy changes that are located in Senate Bill 2,176, which essentially pulls it out of Health and Human Services and places it within the office of the governor," Nesett said, adding that the cabinet has built a strategic plan and will move toward implementation this summer.

Committee members asked clarifying questions about the Fargo field position, the source of the $30,000 rent estimate (provided by OMB), and the $21,000 NDIT figure for AI licensing. Layton and OMB staff said the $21,000 estimate came from NDIT and is intended to provide AI tool licenses for the governor's office staff (the office reports 19 FTEs). Senator Thomas and others questioned the per-person cost implied by the figure.

No formal vote on the governor's budget occurred at the hearing. The committee closed the governor's budget hearing and recessed before beginning the Workforce Safety and Insurance hearing.

Ending: The hearing record shows the governor's office representatives available to answer follow-up questions and asking the committee for "favorable consideration" of the budget; committee members signaled they would press on details such as the children's cabinet fiscal note and rent estimates during further staff follow-up.