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Fire marshal seeks broader uses for cigarette safety fund; committee asks for spending breakdown
Summary
The State Fire Marshal asked the Industry, Business and Labor Committee to let the reduced cigarette ignition propensity enforcement fund pay for a wider range of fire marshal activities. Legislators asked for a detailed revenue and expenditure report before acting.
Doug Nelson, State Fire Marshal, told the House Industry, Business and Labor Committee he supports House Bill 1086, an agency bill that would expand allowable uses of the reduced cigarette ignition propensity and firefighter protection act enforcement fund to cover additional fire marshal-related expenditures.
Nelson said the fund was established in 2009 and currently supports testing and certification activities; the office assessed $71,250 in fees during the current biennium and the fund’s cash balance was $464,303 at the time of testimony. Nelson and Rachel Krieg, administrative division director for the Insurance Department, said current, narrowly written code limits uses largely to buying testing supplies and paying an administrative assistant who processes certifications.
Krieg told the committee salary and fringe for the administrative assistant and costs of testing supplies (she cited purchases such as cigarettes and hairspray used in test procedures) are the items currently charged to the fund. Nelson said some states use similar funds for prevention programs the State Fire Marshal’s Office lacks funding for, and offered two examples: a smoke-alarm distribution/installation program targeted at vulnerable households and devices that shut off oxygen tubing flow if a cigarette ignites while a patient uses oxygen.
Members pressed for more detail about historical spending and how the agency would use an expanded fund. Representative Jim Casper and others requested an estimate of typical annual or biennial expenditures, and Representative Dan Volmer asked where the fund balance is held. Nelson and Krieg said the program collects fees and the money currently remains in the designated fund, held at the Bank of North Dakota; they agreed to provide the committee with a clearer revenue-and-expenditure breakdown.
The committee left the hearing record open to receive the requested financial details. Nelson asked for a do-pass recommendation but the committee requested more documentation before deciding.
