IBNL Committee backs Fargo Theatre matching grant, amends bill on agency-submitted legislation and adjusts cigarette-fee handling

The House Industry, Business and Labor Committee on an unspecified date heard multiple bills including House Bill 1438, a one-time matching grant request to support a centennial capital campaign for the Fargo Theatre; House Bill 1406, a proposal to require executive-branch agencies to secure legislative sponsors for bills they wish to submit; and amendments to the cigarette ignition-propensity fee and how related receipts are handled for the State Fire Marshal.

The committee gave House Bill 1438 a due-pass recommendation as amended and sent it to the appropriations section after members amended the matching requirement. "This bill would provide an appropriation to the North Dakota Historical Society for a matching grant, with the purpose of restoring the historic Fargo Theatre," Representative Carla Rose Hansen (District 44), the sponsor, told the committee, describing a capital campaign seeking $5,500,000 of which the $1,100,000 request represents 20% and would be conditioned on a dollar-for-dollar private match.

The nut graf: committee members said they supported preserving the landmark but debated how large a state match should be. Representative Koppelman and others…