Chairman Cleary convened the conference committee on Senate Bill 2015 to discuss differences between the House and Senate corrections budgets, focusing on one-time funds, staffing and reentry program language.

The committee signaled agreement to include a $1,500,000 appropriation that had been removed from House Bill 1549 and to strike a separate $25,000 line and the Section 8 language in the House version that would have required the Department to "establish and administer" a Native American reentry program. "I would be in support of including the 1.5, but then striking the 25,000 that was removed," Chairman Cleary said, and staff were asked to capture those changes on an updated long sheet for the committees to review.

Why it matters: The decisions affect Department of Corrections operations, one-time deferred maintenance and equipment funding, and whether statutory language in a signed bill will be carried into the budget. The committee also discussed staff counts (FTEs), market equity for corrections staff and project prioritization for extraordinary repairs.

Committee discussion and direction

Members reviewed several House changes the Senate conferees said they were willing to accept and flagged items they wanted clarified before formal action. The Senate conferees indicated they would not restore a $25,000 services appropriation associated with Section 8 of the House sheet if the policy committees had intentionally removed it from legislation that is now law; nonetheless the $1,500,000 appropriation tied to House Bill 1549 was treated as appropriate to add back into the budget.

On staffing the transcript records a Senate proposal to reduce FTEs in a listed correctional program from 26 to 7 (identified in discussion as a reduction to the HRCC FTE count). Committee members expressed concern about other new FTEs in county and regional correctional centers, noting the addition of roughly 12.5 FTEs in DOC operations that had not been discussed previously in the Senate. Members said they wanted to balance any market-equity pay increases against the cost of adding ongoing positions.

Deferred maintenance, equipment and contingency funds

The committee reviewed the state infrastructure fund (SIF) one-time funding request for deferred maintenance and extraordinary repairs. The Senate had proposed $15,000,000 in SIF for deferred maintenance, about $1 million less than the governor's recommendation. Committee members discussed a department list of priority projects, including large boilers at "YCC" (described in the transcript as a facility visited by conferees), and a plumbing replacement item originally listed at $5,000,000 that one conferee proposed trimming to $4,000,000.

Representative Steeman proposed reducing about $2,800,000 from the governor's $16,056,609 deferred-maintenance figure to arrive at a proposed House number of $13,256,609; staff were asked to reflect that proposal on the long sheet. The group also discussed an equipment line where the governor recommended $2,000,000 and the House reflected a higher figure (reported in the transcript as $3,000,000), and an explanation that part of that total represents a contingent appropriation tied to potential federal funds.

On contingency and reserves, committee members noted a $1,000,000 contingency line shown on the long sheet and discussed whether departmental reserve funds (referred to in the meeting as roughly $2,700,000 in reserve) could be drawn down instead of adding to general fund contingency. The committee did not take a final action on that line and asked staff to provide clearer figures.

Market equity, starting wages and hiring pressures

Members discussed market-equity increases for corrections employees alongside concerns about ongoing costs from added FTEs. Senator Debre observed that the current starting wage for many positions is "just under $24 an hour," and conferees discussed the department's recruiting competition, with one member saying corrections can be competing with employers such as fast-food chains for entry-level employees. The committee requested more analysis of total general-fund impact before finalizing equity increases and FTE additions.

Other project requests

The committee asked members from Cass County and Fargo to be prepared to discuss a request for $5,000,000 for a diversion and deflection center — specifically the total project cost and the local support from city and county leaders — in a later meeting. Members also discussed a Northwest Region reentry center; one conferee said they would be willing to adopt a $1,600,000 level consistent with the governor and the House if there is agreement.

Next steps and process

The committee agreed that staff (identified in the meeting as Alex) should compile a new long sheet capturing items where there was consensus and circulate it for review. The conferees said they expect to complete work at a later meeting and that, where possible, consensus changes will be consolidated into a single motion when formal votes occur.

Ending

The chair adjourned the short conference meeting after directing staff to record the discussed changes and to prepare the long sheet for the committee's next session.