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Senate committee hears testimony for $50M rural endowment fund to support towns under 1,000
Summary
Lawmakers heard testimony on Senate Bill 2097, which would create a $50 million Rural Community Endowment Fund with $5 million available immediately; proponents said the fund would fill gaps for very small towns, while existing nonprofit leaders warned the proposal could duplicate current work.
Senator Tim Mathern, prime sponsor of Senate Bill 2097, told the Senate Agriculture and Veterans Affairs Committee the bill would "establish[] an endowment fund, and the earnings of the fund can provide grants to communities under 1,000 population." The proposal would set aside $50,000,000 as an endowment and make an additional $5,000,000 available so grants could begin in the first biennium.
The bill would place the fund in the North Dakota Department of Commerce; Commerce would run a competitive request-for-proposal process to select a state-based grant maker to administer awarding. Megan Langley, executive director of Strength in ND, said the Rural Community Endowment Fund would aim to finance projects that often fall outside typical charitable giving—examples she cited included "matching funds for infrastructure investments" and architecture and engineering fees that small towns cannot…
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