Chairman Sorvaug called the conference committee on Senate Bill 2003 to order and opened a roughly half-hour meeting focused on reconciling large higher-education and health-related budget items.

The most contested item discussed was a motion "that we approve $8,500,000 for the Minot Medical Building," which committee members moved and seconded and then put to a vote. Representative Sanford told the committee, "we think this should be taken in context with the, all the efforts that are gonna be made to bring this budget in line. So, at this point in time, we are not in favor of this." A partial roll call recorded several "aye" votes and at least one "no," but the final tally and formal outcome are not specified in the transcript.

House conferees presented multiple alternative savings and fund-swapping ideas intended to reduce the net general-fund impact. House proposals discussed in the meeting included:

- Using "tiers" money for the Minot State Dakota Hall demolition, saving $635,000 to the bill as drafted.
- Moving Dickinson State deferred-maintenance funding to the same "tiers" source, a proposed $875,000 reduction to the general-fund package.
- Reducing the Professional Student Exchange Program (PSEP) allocation by $750,000. Committee discussion noted that PSEP covers the difference between in-state and out-of-state tuition for certain professional programs and that institutional tuition rates vary.
- Cutting $2,000,000 from the economic diversification research fund.
- Proposing $5,000,000 reductions from both the NDSU New Horizons line and UND national security funding, and a similar $5,000,000 reduction to the statewide challenge-grant program.
- Suggesting a portion of funding for the UND Allied Health Facility come from the Community Health Trust Fund rather than the general fund.

House staff and members exchanged numbers and cautioned that fund balances and prior commitments were unclear. One staff reference provided a fund balance of $19,100,000 for the Community Health Trust Fund; another committee participant described earlier balances of about $13,000,000 and said the Department of Corrections removed $5,000,000 for diversion and deflection centers, leaving roughly $18,000,000 before other uses. Committee staff noted Department of Human Services commitments may further reduce available balance. Members explicitly described these as conflicting figures that need verification before final decisions.

Committee members also discussed other possible adjustments, including a $1,000,000 reduction to IT security and a $1,500,000 decrease in university system inflationary increases. One member said the cumulative items tentatively agreed in discussions total about $13,475,000 in savings, and that adding the House-proposed items would increase total reductions to roughly $44,085,000 by their estimate, subject to verification.

Representatives raised equity concerns about where cuts land. One conferee urged caution about reducing the challenge-grant program because "the challenge grant benefits all 11 institutions" and drawing down that line could broadly affect smaller campuses.

No final decisions were recorded in the transcript. The committee planned to recess and reconvene at 1:00 p.m. for further, rapid negotiations to resolve the outstanding items.

The meeting transcript contains differing staff estimates of available trust-fund balances and several proposed cuts that committee members said require further verification and allocation decisions before the committee will take final action.