The Senate Appropriations Committee, Government Operations Division, heard the North Dakota Department of Commerce present its 2025–27 base budget and a series of requests intended to support workforce growth, tourism and destination development, energy and value‑added industry, uncrewed aircraft systems (UAS) infrastructure and housing initiatives.

Chris Shilkin, commissioner for the Department of Commerce, opened the agency presentation, saying at a high level that Commerce’s base budget is "almost $87,000,000" with roughly $33 million in general funds, about $43 million in federal funds and a little more than $9 million in special funds. Shilkin said the department’s mission is to attract and retain wealth and talent and that commissioners will present division‑level details for the committee’s review.

Budget highlights and division requests

Administration and organizational items: Allison Widmer, director of administrative services, told the committee that the department’s base budgets remained unchanged between the prior administration’s and the current governor’s executive budget; differences are in one‑time items and transfers. Commerce requested one FTE for a procurement officer and one FTE for the North Dakota Development Fund, and the agency expressed support for the governor’s proposed total‑rewards salary package.

Community Services (CSBG and local programs): Ben Fall, Community Services Block Grant program administrator for the Division of Community Services, described CSBG as a federal grant distributed through seven community action agencies and said the program targets anti‑poverty services such as housing, health and nutrition. Fall reported program results for 2022–23 and recent funding levels: the program supported over 36,000 unduplicated individuals in that period, including about 25,100 individuals who obtained safe and affordable housing, roughly 13,000 children, more than 6,000 people with disabilities, nearly 5,000 uninsured individuals and about 1,200 veterans served through Supportive Services for Veteran Families. Fall said 2023 CSBG funding totaled $3,700,000 (up from $3,600,000 in 2022), and that the state closed out the CSBG CARES Act funds that originated in 2020. Legislative Council staff earlier told the committee that the department anticipates roughly $7,000,000 in federal CSBG funds for the 2025–27 biennium.

The Division of Community Services director (transcript name: Maria Efforts) described additional division responsibilities, including managing federal and state formula grants, the Office of Community Development and Rural Prosperity, state building codes education, the renaissance zone program, and energy conservation grants. She summarized two pilot programs from the 2023–25 biennium: a $1,000,000 grocery store (sustainable food) pilot that served approximately 258,000 people across participating communities, and a $1.5 million rural workforce housing and slum‑and‑blight pilot that produced infill lots and ready housing units. The division seeks a $5,000,000 continuation called community revitalization to advance slum‑and‑blight removal and prepare development‑ready lots.

Tourism and destination development: Sarah Adi Coleman, director of tourism and state marketing, told the committee that North Dakota saw 25.6 million visitor trips in 2023 that generated $3.3 billion in visitor spending and produced approximately $307 million in state and local tax revenue. She described a biennial marketing budget of about $10.9 million, of which roughly $5.0 million came from special funds; Governor Armstrong’s executive budget proposes a $5.0 million one‑time continuation for marketing. Coleman summarized the destination development grant program—created in the prior biennium with $25.0 million—which drew 81 applicants seeking a total of $151.0 million and resulted in 14 projects being selected. She said the Find A Good Life talent‑attraction marketing campaign had a $6.0 million media buy in the prior biennium and that the governor included $5.0 million to continue that initiative because talent‑attraction work requires multi‑year investment to build pipeline volume.

Economic development, energy and agriculture: Rich Garman, director of economic development and finance, reviewed several policy themes: an emerging "natural gas wall" as pipeline capacity tightens and the state’s opportunity to attract industries that use natural gas as feedstock or to convert gas to electricity; the state’s growing soybean and ethanol processing capacity; and plans to support value‑added agriculture and sustainable aviation fuel. Garman noted an agency request for a $10.0 million autonomous‑agriculture grant and summarized several commerce partner requests and line items in the executive budget summary: an enhanced‑use lease request for Grand Sky ($5.0 million special funds), a base and one‑time request for Northern Plains UAS test site BVLOS work ($3.0 million base plus $1.0 million one time), a VANTAS (statewide UAS network) request included in Commerce materials (figure shown as $9.9 million in the summary slide), a proposed $10.0 million Lyft/Legacy investment transfer, and an aggregate $50.0 million ask for the North Dakota Development Fund in transfers and special funds.

Uncrewed aircraft systems (UAS) and Grand Sky: Department testimony and public commenters emphasized North Dakota’s leading role in UAS testing and commercial operations. The Northern Plains UAS Test Site representatives (Trevor Woods and Aaron Raesler) described VANTAS as shared UAS infrastructure meant to enable beyond‑visual‑line‑of‑sight operations statewide and said VANTAS and the test site generate external project funding. Aaron Raesler urged $27.0 million for VANTAS and related infrastructure over the 2025–27 biennium to scale the statewide network; he also described an FAA radar data pathfinder project (House Bill 1038, introduced separately) that would expand radar data coverage and that has an $11.0 million appropriation request in that separate bill. Tom Sawyer, developer of Grand Sky, requested an increase from the executive budget line for Grand Sky to $23.5 million to complete park infrastructure; Grand Sky officials told the committee the park hosts private tenants and direct jobs with average salaries above $100,000 and argued state infrastructure investment has leveraged substantial private capital.

Workforce and talent attraction: Katie Ralston Howe, workforce director and executive director of the Workforce Development Council, summarized the Regional Workforce Impact Program (RWIP) and other workforce initiatives. RWIP was launched with ARPA funds and subsequent general funds; Ralston Howe said RWIP awarded $26.5 million to 113 projects statewide and leveraged more than $16.0 million in local match. She said RWIP supported 58 childcare facility expansions that together would create more than 2,400 additional childcare slots and 208 new childcare workers (many projects still under construction). The workforce office requested $10.0 million to continue and enhance RWIP. Ralston Howe also described the Find A Good Life pipeline: more than 44,100 job seekers in the pipeline and roughly 25,100 actively engaged in the candidate marketplace; the office asked for $5.0 million (as noted by tourism) to continue talent‑attraction marketing. She also outlined a new Office of Legal Immigration, created by the prior Legislature to help employers recruit foreign‑born workers; that office requested $2.0 million for the coming biennium. Operation Intern and technical skills training grant programs were also discussed; Operation Intern closed applications quickly in 2024 and the department seeks $2.0 million for the program.

Housing and the Hope Fund: Commerce described an initiative called the Hope Fund (Housing Opportunities Promoting Employees) aimed at supporting market‑rate, development‑ready housing with flexible local match and public‑private partnerships. Commissioner Shilkin said Governor Armstrong’s recommended budget would include $50.0 million for the Hope Fund. The department also requested a $5.0 million continuation of the rural workforce housing and slum‑and‑blight pilot that had earlier been funded at smaller levels.

Public testimony and stakeholder feedback

Multiple stakeholders told the committee they support continued or increased funding for destination development, UAS infrastructure, autonomous agriculture and workforce programs, and highlighted on‑the‑ground housing shortages in rural communities.

- Zach Broadwell, Rugby job development executive director, described acute rental shortages in rugby that impeded workforce recruitment and urged flexible subsidy and infrastructure tools to lower build costs for small‑town rental housing.

- Destination marketing organizations and local developers (Charlie Johnson, Visit Fargo‑Moorhead; Jessica Ackerman, Axel Group/Visit Minot; Sherry Grossman, Bismarck‑Mandan CVB) urged continued and increased funding for tourism marketing and the destination development grant program; Minot’s Citizens Alley project was cited as an example of private investment amplified by state grants.

- Northern Plains UAS Test Site and Grand Sky representatives emphasized UAS‑related economic activity and asked for larger appropriations for VANTAS, radar integration and Grand Sky infrastructure. Aaron Raesler said shared UAS infrastructure reduces redundancy and enables scalability; he described ongoing federal partnerships and a potential royalty and user‑fee model to capture revenue from other states or commercial operators that adopt North Dakota’s model.

Committee process

The session was a public agency hearing; committee members asked clarifying questions about base budgets, one‑time items, program outcomes and plans for performance reporting. No formal committee vote was taken on Senate Bill 2018 during the hearing; the committee will consider the department’s requests as part of its ongoing budget work sessions.

Why it matters

Commerce’s requests touch multiple high‑priority state issues: workforce availability, affordable housing, visitor economy and destination development, economic diversification tied to energy and agriculture, and infrastructure to support emerging industries such as UAS and advanced manufacturing. Several proposals — particularly the Hope Fund and VANTAS expansion — would be multi‑year investments intended to unlock private capital and expand services in rural communities.

What to watch next

Committee staff and members indicated they would follow up with detailed long‑sheet budget documents and may request additional materials from Commerce and partner agencies as they craft reductions, additions or policy language in the house/senate budget process.