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Committee advances Agriculture Department budget, adds funds for trade office and grassland grazing grants
Summary
The committee approved the Ag Department biennial budget with added one-time and base funding items including trade office support, grassland grazing grants and pipeline royalty oversight funding.
The House Appropriations Committee voted to advance House Bill 1009 as amended, approving a budget that includes base adjustments, fund transfers and multiple one-time and continuing items for the Department of Agriculture.
Committee members reviewed line-item changes that increase the department’s all-funds total and add both base and one-time appropriations: salary and benefit adjustments; replacement of new-and-vacant FTE pool funding; $500,000 for a pipeline royalty and oversight program (replacing a previous pipeline restoration line); $3,000,000 in one-time funds for a grassland grazing project (from Bank of North Dakota SIF profits); a $400,000 increase for the state trade office (raising its request to $2.0 million total), and additional funding for noxious-weed programs from the Environmental Rangeland Protection Fund.
Members asked about state fleet cost increases; committee discussion noted rising per-mile fleet rates for light pickups and SUVs and agreed to examine Department of Transportation rates when that budget appears. The committee also discussed the Agricultural Product Utilization Commission (APUC) and the trade office: members asked how APUC measures success; presenters described an application and follow-up process and said several projects are committed and some funds are for future projects. The trade office said it is exploring an international office (discussed generically in testimony) and may partner with other states, but members expressed concern that shared arrangements could result in a poor return on state funds.
The committee also discussed meat-inspection capacity and staffing. Committee members were told the state’s meat inspection program includes about 16 FTEs for meat inspection and is inspecting roughly 74 plants; the committee noted potential future pressures from large-scale dairy operations and disease risks (avian influenza) and asked that related staffing and laboratory capacity be monitored during later budget hearings.
Representative Brandenburg moved the amendment (50300053001002); Representative Munson seconded. The amendment and the bill as amended were adopted by the committee and referred to the floor.
