By: Jeff Beach (North Dakota Monitor)
North Dakota lawmakers set state funding for public broadcasting at $400,000 early Saturday, providing money for tower improvements after threatening to cut off Prairie Public funding completely earlier in the session.
Gov. Kelly Armstrong had proposed $2.9 million in his preliminary budget for the 2025-27 biennium, with $1.7 million in one-time funding to assist with transmitter maintenance and replacement.
A bill mandating that Prairie Public funding be eliminated advanced through the House but was defeated in the Senate.
The Senate vote allowed lawmakers to restore funding in House Bill 1015. Some senators, however, advocated for cutting back on the Prairie Public appropriation.
The bill was amended in the Senate to provide $850,000 for Prairie Public, but did not restore its $1.2 million base funding. A conference committee this week cut the funding to $400,000 for infrastructure.
John Harris, president and CEO of Prairie Public, testified in a hearing that Prairie Public would be spending $4 million to $7 million in the next 18 months to upgrade facilities and buy transmitters.
Prairie Public leaders testified that the organization could survive without state funding, but that it will mean less local programming. Other funding sources for Prairie Public include charitable gambling, endowment funds and investments.
