[{"_1":2,"_88":-5,"_89":-5},"loaderData",{"_3":4,"_26":27},"root",{"_5":6,"_17":10,"_18":19,"_20":21,"_22":10,"_23":-5,"_24":-5,"_25":10},"user",{"_7":8,"_9":10,"_11":10,"_12":-5,"_13":-5,"_14":15,"_16":-5},"roles",[],"isAuthenticated",false,"isPremium","planName","subscriptionStatus","featureFlags",{},"insightsBudget","isDevelopmentHost","userPreferences",{},"recaptchaSiteKey","6LcvOJcUAAAAAHsB-gPGfGktcRlKpH7OTIU_dMTD","isImpersonating","impersonation","affiliateStatus","isFreedomPortal","routes/v2/article/layout",{"_28":29,"_30":31},"notFound",true,"relatedArticles",[32,76],{"_33":34,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":40,"_41":42,"_43":44,"_45":46,"_47":48,"_49":50,"_51":52,"_53":54,"_55":56,"_57":58,"_59":60,"_61":62,"_63":64,"_65":66,"_67":68,"_69":70,"_71":72,"_73":74,"_75":74},"mediaId",6092841,"mediaKeyId","2852064-04a993b6dfcb82ea4ef77eed2ba8d48b","parentId",2852064,"title","Senate panel revises Attorney General budget: adds cybercrime agents, restores salary equity and keeps vaping registry language with higher fee","audioSeconds",6283,"startMs",155765,"endMs",6439315,"viewUrl","/Search/View?dp=1&key=2852064-04a993b6dfcb82ea4ef77eed2ba8d48b&start=155&end=6439","thumbnailUrl","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/2852064-04a993b6dfcb82ea4ef77eed2ba8d48b/thumbnail_155765.jpg","articleUrl","/articles/6092841/North-Dakota/Senate-panel-revises-Attorney-General-budget-adds-cybercrime-agents-restores-salary-equity-and-keeps-vaping-registry-language-with-higher-fee","mediaUrl","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6092841-5c7b5f46c9e69007381ded142c0cc9dc/orig.mp4?Expires=1770442824&Signature=OUN1T2Mymk5HhJjO80wqALcEwjkruoXAKBx5NN2IjTeDvSZgyY3OtI7TXARvwU88sDEUYAU-VnwYc5SS3c2ToFKDSxsWCVYY~pIg4nc0lwzg882RKj34ajOzndX0LTLwnszkeEZDhc9bKHd2DPd1JjFiiwufjP3YLCWIzU6WZAY8JOj-5O1U7dTgZLq-PwAJRfgspAp7eeIvpifvAeoRPGV43fR5jpiMxAoWG7tw-Im5Bq77GaBuOe~dX-5l43hCydXsR8jQQ~iduItaMJeqlShjReMY0RGjWewKJ7u7Vfia2rXjogEfjEVbNec6b3q08PaQwvsgMhl~O7F7B9YS9A__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","author","North Dakota Legislature","date","2025-04-02T00:00:00Z","article","The Senate Government Operations Division on March 28 amended House Bill 1003, the Attorney General’s budget bill, to add law-enforcement positions for cybercrime work, restore a proposed attorney salary-equity package and keep language establishing an electronic vaping registry while increasing the application fee to $2,000.

The committee’s change package, presented by budget analyst Levi and discussed with Chief Deputy Attorney General Claire Ness, adds two Bureau of Criminal Investigation (BCI) cybercrime agents and $161,000 in one-time equipment money to support them. The amendment specifies those agents would be based in the Grand Forks area; the city of Grand Forks has pledged about $148,000 in equipment, training, travel and office space for the two positions, committee members said.

Committee leaders also restored an attorney-equity request the House did not include. The equity package totals about $291,000: roughly $254,317 from the general fund and $37,460 from other funds (about $16,000 federal, $16,000 from the Attorney General Refund Fund and roughly $4,500 from the lottery operating fund). Claire Ness told the committee the increases would primarily target junior and mid-level attorneys using the office’s tiering system and that the request was intended to reduce turnover.

Why it matters: the changes alter several funding sources and personnel authorizations that affect how the Attorney General’s Office provides victim services, cyber investigations and litigation support. Committee members stressed the Refund Fund balance will be tight in the next biennium if ongoing costs are shifted there.

Details of the long-sheet amendment

- FTE and position changes: The amendment removes three vacant, base-budget attorney authorizations but preserves the net reduction as two attorneys plus one paralegal (a lower-cost mix). It retains tobacco-compliance auditors included in the House version. Two additional BCI cybercrime agents are added for Grand Forks; one BCI agent would be added conditionally for guardianship work if Senate Bill 2029 passes. The long sheet also removed a proposed victim-witness advocate position (that item was identified earlier as an executive staff officer in the draft).

- Funding-source shifts: The Senate proposal reversed some House moves that transferred salary and operating funding from the Attorney General Refund Fund into the general fund, putting those items back into the Refund Fund for this biennium. Committee members and the chief deputy warned the refund fund’s balance is uncertain because recent opioid settlement proceeds were appropriated to the Department of Human Services in an earlier session, and future incoming settlement receipts are unknown.

- Litigation and gaming funds: The House had proposed authorizing a $2.0 million transfer from charitable gaming revenues for Attorney General litigation and operating expenses; the Senate version removed that transfer. Separately, the committee adjusted litigation-fund language so the litigation pool would receive $5.0 million from the State Investment/Settlement fund (SIF) in the coming biennium plus a $3.0 million deficiency appropriation carried forward from the current biennium, yielding an $8.0 million target that committee leaders described as matching the House intent.

- One-time items and removals: The Senate amendment removed a retired law-enforcement-dogs program the House included. It added $161,000 in one-time funding for BCI cybercrime equipment and removed a $2.0 million one-time gaming transfer the House had placed in the bill.

Vaping registry and fee change

A prominent policy item in the amendment is language creating an electronic smoking (vaping) fund and a registry for manufacturers. Lobbyists and industry representatives from Altria Client Services and the Vapor Technology Association testified at the committee. Altria’s representative described the registry as a mechanism to mirror cigarette-directory-style oversight; vapor-industry representatives warned such registries in other states have produced litigation and could limit legitimate products if federal premarket approvals remain slow.

Committee members debated whether the registry fee should be left as in the House language or raised. Senators Dwyer and Sickler asked for more information from state agencies and industry; after discussion the committee agreed to keep the registry language in the bill and increase the application fee to $2,000 (the committee left open the question whether the fee is a one-time or recurring charge to be resolved in conference).

Votes and next steps

Senator Sickler offered the amendment as discussed; Senator Dwyer seconded. The committee voted to adopt the amendment as described. Committee staff said additional technical edits would be finalized in a formal amendment document and that contingency language in the bill remains tied to the passage of related policy bills: the Guardianship BCI position is contingent on passage of Senate Bill 2029, and the $685,000 in human-trafficking victim grants is contingent on Senate Bill 2330. The panel said it would address any remaining clean-up language when the formal amendment is available.

Quotes

\"The refund fund is uncertain. We don't know what these class action cases are going to bring in,\" Claire Ness, chief deputy attorney general, said when discussing limits of the Attorney General Refund Fund and the risks of shifting ongoing obligations into it.

\"City of Grand Forks is contributing $148,000 for the 2 agents in the form of furniture, computers, certain forensic equipment, training and travel costs,\" Senator Seycla said when noting local support for the Grand Forks cybercrime positions.

Ending note

Committee members said the Senate amendment aims to preserve necessary investigative capacity while balancing statewide budget constraints and left several items contingent on companion policy bills or conference adjustments. The committee carried the amendment on a roll call and will consider the bill as amended when the formal amendment language is posted for final action.","mediaType","Video","parentTitle","Senate Appropriations - Government Operations Division Apr 2, 2025","oneSentenceSummary","The Senate Government Operations Division on March 28 amended House Bill 1003, adding two BCI cybercrime agents for Grand Forks, restoring a roughly $291,000 attorney-equity package, shifting some salary and operating funding back to the Attorney General Refund Fund and keeping a vaping-product registry in the bill with the application fee raised to $2,000.","taxTitle","Appropriations - Government Operations Division, Senate, Legislative, North Dakota","taxId",28900,"location","North Dakota","headline","","shortSummary",{"_33":77,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":78,"_41":79,"_43":80,"_45":81,"_47":82,"_49":83,"_51":84,"_53":85,"_55":56,"_57":58,"_59":86,"_61":62,"_63":64,"_65":87,"_67":68,"_69":70,"_71":72,"_73":74,"_75":74},6092837,"Senate panel adjusts Adjutant General budget to reauthorize one coordinator for next-generation leadership program and add flood mitigation grants",2292,6565170,8858136,"/Search/View?dp=1&key=2852064-04a993b6dfcb82ea4ef77eed2ba8d48b&start=6565&end=8858","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/2852064-04a993b6dfcb82ea4ef77eed2ba8d48b/thumbnail_6565170.jpg","/articles/6092837/North-Dakota/Senate-panel-adjusts-Adjutant-General-budget-to-reauthorize-one-coordinator-for-next-generation-leadership-program-and-add-flood-mitigation-grants","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6092837-b58738b64dcaa691f80fcfef2b0817c1/orig.mp4?Expires=1770442825&Signature=MH75G4wMySvUQ44JTb17lmLglu0HKp1QIbx2tL06AQwaviTvhpptAMHNLzyfwpLQEwZ3uY7c5Dg6DMsHuq3P4Xop1C5gnAaMPnODY1qwcVijUHALPWZfGqaur~gtuqhs1VZyyCqrFPL3~vxh~oCzDO1quZ1WMSUA8rsa4nalrDqdf5smkqPQcIvS7C7R1DWNYQGwvCCCaeemKidF4ODelvMY2iazfgn6gMjvbTgeizRIX-6VfVoKVHVWQpmWcwQaEVLJa1vPgZN2~qnetX8xcULgjAHtRZPWeIIlH-GvQ8UFR66NDccPFT4GQBqsiy2dn2-HJiv45Bo5k5d2O5rKDw__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","The Senate Government Operations Division amended House Bill 1016, the Adjutant General’s budget, to reauthorize one full-time position intended to coordinate a next-generation leadership and recruitment effort between the National Guard and Career and Technical Education (CTE) programs, and to add $200,000 in one-time disaster-relief funding for local flood-mitigation grants.

Committee members and Adjutant General staff said the long-standing budget is nearly flat from recent biennia. The amendment narrows an earlier authorization to remove three federally authorized National Guard security positions (vacant and federally funded) and instead leave two of those authorizations in place while restoring one authorization to be used by the Guard as a state-funded coordinator for a generation-leadership program. The Guard said it plans to fund the coordinator position without additional general-fund appropriation by repurposing existing tuition authority and internal adjustments; committee members described the move as effectively net-zero to the general fund.

CTE coordination and timeline

Wade Sick, state director for the Department of Career and Technical Education, said CTE and the Guard have been discussing curricular and pathway work and that the Center for Distance Education already offers foundational courses. He described the coordinator role as an important liaison to translate Guard workforce needs into a sequence of courses and local partnerships. Committee members indicated a goal of having program groundwork in place for the 2026–27 school year.

Other changes

- One-time $200,000 from the State Disaster Relief Fund (identified in the long sheet) for flood mitigation grants at Moon/Loon Lake (listed in the long sheet as the local project).
- No other substantive changes to sections of the bill were reported; staff said a formal amendment package was drafted and would be posted in committee files.

Votes and procedure

Senator Burkhart moved the amendment; Senator Burley seconded. The committee adopted the amendment and will finalize formal amendment text prior to returning the bill for floor action.

Context and next steps

Adjutant General leadership told the committee the agency is working within constrained budget growth and that federal workforce-authority reviews are ongoing; the agency said it expects some federal civilian positions to face scrutiny in the coming months. Committee staff will finalize amendment language and post the updated long sheet and SPA to the committee record.

Ending

With the changes adopted, committee staff said they will circulate the final amendment before taking the bill up for final committee action.","The Senate Government Operations Division on March 28 amended House Bill 1016 to reauthorize one coordinator FTE to link the National Guard with Career and Technical Education programs, remove two of three federally authorized security positions (leaving two), and add $200,000 in one-time disaster-relief funding for Moon/Loon Lake flood mitigation.","actionData","errors"]

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Senate panel revises Attorney General budget: adds cybercrime agents, restores salary equity and keeps vaping registry language with higher fee

Senate panel adjusts Adjutant General budget to reauthorize one coordinator for next-generation leadership program and add flood mitigation grants