North Dakota House votes against Prairie Public funding, sends bill to Senate

BISMARCK — North Dakota lawmakers went against committee recommendations Tuesday, Feb. 17, and narrowly approved

a bill that would end state funding for Prairie Public,

the state’s largest public broadcaster.

The bill now goes to the Senate for further consideration.

House Bill 1255

would remove all state funding to support public broadcasting. Both the House Political Subdivisions Committee and the House Appropriations Committee recommended the bill not pass, but the full House passed it with a final tally of 48-41, with five lawmakers absent or not voting. All bills in the House require at least 48 votes to pass.

Proponents of the bill said it is an opportunity to look into Prairie Public Broadcasting for perceived editorial bias on issues such as abortion and to analyze their reserve funds to see if state funding is still necessary with the rise of charitable gambling and the revenue it brings to Prairie Public.

Opponents of the bill said Prairie Public is the backbone of the state’s emergency alert system, provides vital programming to North Dakotans, and that the cessation of government funding could lead to donors pulling their contributions to the organization, hurting Prairie Public’s financial stability.

The House first voted on the bill Feb. 4, passing it with a 61-32 vote before sending it to the Appropriations Committee. According to a fiscal note attached to the bill, the state is slated to allocate $1.2 million to Prairie Public if the bill fails in the Senate.