[{"_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",6088534,"mediaKeyId","2880018-9adde0189d4305483d940cb304e203fa","parentId",2880018,"title","Human Services budget discussions: foster care projection, community cultural center funding and provider-rate debates","audioSeconds",2112,"startMs",3276000,"endMs",5388000,"viewUrl","/Search/View?dp=1&key=2880018-9adde0189d4305483d940cb304e203fa&start=3276&end=5388","thumbnailUrl","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/2880018-9adde0189d4305483d940cb304e203fa/thumbnail_3276000.jpg","articleUrl","/articles/6088534/North-Dakota/Human-Services-budget-discussions-foster-care-projection-community-cultural-center-funding-and-provider-rate-debates","mediaUrl","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6088534-31daeb43707c03cdfc70a97e88c1098f/orig.mp4?Expires=1770440085&Signature=IuUHRx5GmASw2DSihPOMqv0OjJWnwCl8sxept4uFbG1wSPT4Z-j7jq9DqZBkh3Vw7A-IReoBO1DtZlsFbI8bqUlb51osGkRNaBtSG7TKPxJJ51q92hjl3u8JAPgC5IS3cJVkGwe6WG7YqY5WnYq5U7pkxGjT65LBejiPy7u0txbau6IzSQq0Z77NCUye3LTY0Pie64uytxVDWfKLu4UrHrAjBlGbmOhaOD75vb6sk~vPMyDHj4UqWUjHXvx-oqYkq4AgneHufsGajx5EA2i6ZQn65vsKRwnWyttFbHnMNzpCV98VViI5-LX7yr9AIsZvSHZM9xGmMlr4YPm5g8jJ-w__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","author","North Dakota State Legislature","date","2025-04-04T00:00:00Z","article","Lawmakers in the Senate Appropriations Human Resources Division on April 3 discussed multiple Human Services budget items, including foster care funding, personal needs allowances for long-term care residents, a proposed community cultural center grant, and provider-rate inflation adjustments.

Two bills received formal committee recommendations:
- House Bill 1468 (adolescent residential psychiatric services): Senator Davison moved a due-pass recommendation; the motion was seconded and the division voted to recommend a due pass. Members noted the bill had multiple prior hearings and that proponents said the facility would reduce out-of-state placements for adolescents.
- House Bill 1485 (personal needs allowance for residents in nursing facilities, basic care, ICFs and PRTFs): Senator Cleary offered an amendment to raise the monthly personal-needs allowance modestly above the House version. The amendment lowered the Senate committee's prior $50 proposal to $15 monthly (a $5 increase over the House bill). The division adopted the amendment and then voted a due-pass recommendation on the bill as amended (roll call: Senator Clary: Yes; Senator Davidson: Yes; Chairman Deaver: Yes; Senator Magrum: No; Senator Matherin: Yes). The amendment was described by the sponsor as a compromise to reduce the fiscal note while giving additional allowance to residents.

Foster care projection and base-budget discussion
Senator Davison pressed for a lower foster-care projection in the Human Services base, saying he wanted to \"reduce that down to about 65,000,000\" (later discussed as a reduction target near $60.5 million). Donna Auckland of the Department of Human Services explained foster care funding was treated as an entitlement and is funded about fifty-fifty with federal funds; she told the committee the services would continue even if appropriation adjustments require a deficiency request later in the biennium: \"That is an entitlement type of a program. So we do have to provide those services. So if for some reason foster care increased more than what our appropriation is... we would ask for a deficiency appropriation.\"

Community cultural center grant
Committee members debated a requested $1 million facility appropriation for a community cultural center. Several senators objected to including a capital facility appropriation in the Human Services bill; others supported programming to sustain services for the high-risk population that the applicant serves. The committee agreed to remove the $1 million facility appropriation and instead provide $300,000 for cultural programming and services, with language to confine the appropriation to programming rather than land purchase. The committee asked staff to draft amendment language that limits funds to cultural-programming activities and to consider intent language rather than a capital appropriation.

Provider-rate inflator and basic care debate
Members discussed provider inflators and whether to carry forward prior-session increases. Senator Matherin and other senators argued for higher rates for basic care to preserve access to beds, while appropriators warned that different inflators for different provider groups would complicate an already large budget package. The division did not complete final inflator decisions but identified the matter for continued negotiation in conference.

State hospital and capital items
Senator Mather said the committee should consider deferred maintenance and potential repurposing of the LaHog (state hospital) building; members asked staff to provide prior assessments and campus plans and to work up options for Monday's meeting. Department staff said they could supply the assessment and noted the department keeps capital flexibility in its base budget for small projects.

Next steps and context
Committee members said they will continue deliberations Monday and in the full appropriations committee. Several items (foster-care projection, community-cultural-center language, inflators and state-hospital planning) were left for additional drafting and for potential conference negotiation with the House. The committee also noted the executive Human Services budget and current division numbers were close and emphasized the need to balance policy priorities against a tight general-fund outlook.

","mediaType","Video","parentTitle","Senate Appropriations - Human Resources Division Friday, Apr 4, 2025 8:26 AM - 10:33 AM","oneSentenceSummary","Lawmakers in the Senate Appropriations Human Resources Division on April 3 discussed foster care funding, personal needs allowances for long-term care, a community cultural center request and provider-rate inflators as part of ongoing Human Services budget work.","taxTitle","Appropriations - Human Resources Division, Senate, Legislative, North Dakota","taxId",28901,"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},6088539,"Division sends House Bill 12-25 to full committee after split votes over firearm penalty and habitual-offender change",2770,245000,3015000,"/Search/View?dp=1&key=2880018-9adde0189d4305483d940cb304e203fa&start=245&end=3015","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/2880018-9adde0189d4305483d940cb304e203fa/thumbnail_245000.jpg","/articles/6088539/North-Dakota/Division-sends-House-Bill-12-25-to-full-committee-after-split-votes-over-firearm-penalty-and-habitual-offender-change","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6088539-8b99e83f49f491ed6c85518249af7ba5/orig.mp4?Expires=1770440085&Signature=H0KbYh4WlVui4gIIcmkksCAjQzlWMj6N8WGUgWr9uKTiD57EyNPpn13zL8WFZ82orj5O-WuoD41m-w4nI4d4Db-9TIk-9lJrZF8peO9RbGkYae8iF8HfRniDV-6ZcYT9YZfcBSzzgYhZwh-qNUSwchSk2EZihFoAc6wUQX6ita9KhOEH3BncYDYND67peTkvH7mFe7Oa77cGCdkHR5XxUIwfrE1vNLYB23xGr6WPNq2UDXtcAbbpikaOARh4oj022wuQFOWoIE7v-mXD89r1e2Reurgv4eVbsvYjH3M8jtgtCfuy4-wh~Rtr2pZKgke~Fq6WOglIAedhyDYVTTskFA__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","The Senate Appropriations Committee Human Resources Division on April 3 debated House Bill 12-25, a bill that would raise certain reckless-endangerment penalties when a firearm is used and would amend the habitual-offender statute to allow felony convictions from other states to be counted.

Representative Lawrence Clamine, who introduced the bill at the request of the North Dakota State's Attorneys Association, told the division the measure combines two prior proposals related to criminal statutes in chapter 12.1. \"Section 1 relates to reckless endangerment. Currently, there are 2 levels of penalty, a class C felony if the offender acted with extreme indifference to human life. Otherwise, it's a class A misdemeanor. The bill increases the penalty to a class B felony if the individual used a firearm in committing the offense of reckless endangerment. The reason for the increase in penalty is because of the rise in offenses using guns,\" Clamine said.

Clamine also described Section 2 as a change to the habitual-offender statute intended to allow courts to treat felony convictions from other states the same as North Dakota felonies. He told the division: \"A felony is a felony regardless of the maximum punishment.\" He cautioned that the bill's fiscal note applies only to the firearm-related change in Section 1.

The Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (DOCR) supplied the fiscal note cited at the hearing. Committee discussion referenced DOCR estimates that about 40 people are currently incarcerated for the relevant offense and serving just under four years; reclassifying the offense as a class B felony with the proposed mandatory minimum would lengthen average stays and produced an estimated $2.5 million additional general-fund cost for the 2027-29 biennium, the committee was told.

Senator Matherin objected to mandatory minimums, citing research: \"There is literature that says that mandatory sentences are not proven at all to be preventative in nature,\" she said, and raised equity concerns about who mandatory sentences most affect. Other senators and witnesses described recent shootings and drive-by incidents as justification for the tougher firearm penalty.

Several formal motions were offered in the division:
- Senator Matherin moved to remove Section 1 (the firearm penalty change); Senator Cleary seconded. The clerk's roll call recorded: Chairman Deaver: No; Senator Clary: No; Senator Davidson: Absent; Senator Magrum: No; Senator Matherin: Yes. The motion to remove Section 1 failed.
- Senator Cleary moved a \"do pass\" recommendation on House Bill 12-25; the motion was seconded for the purpose of discussion. The motion for a do-pass recommendation failed on roll call.
- Senator Davison moved a \"do not pass\" recommendation and Senator Cleary seconded. The do-not-pass recommendation carried on a roll call (majority yes) and the division agreed the bill will be carried to the full appropriations committee by a senator who voted yes.

The division repeatedly noted the narrow scope of the fiscal note: DOCR's estimate addresses only the sentence-length change in Section 1 and does not quantify the effect of the habitual-offender language in Section 2. Clamine advised members that amending Section 1 for fiscal reasons would not affect the Section 2 change.

Next steps: the division will forward the bill to full committee with a do-not-pass recommendation; members said they expect additional debate on the floor and in the full appropriations committee where fiscal tradeoffs will be weighed against policy concerns.

","Lawmakers debated changes to reckless-endangerment penalties and the habitual-offender statute. The division split on removing a firearms penalty provision and ultimately issued a do-not-pass recommendation to carry the bill to full committee; the Department of Corrections' fiscal note projects increased prison costs tied to the firearms penalty.","actionData","errors"]

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Human Services budget discussions: foster care projection, community cultural center funding and provider-rate debates

Division sends House Bill 12-25 to full committee after split votes over firearm penalty and habitual-offender change