ND lawmakers to consider bump in state’s minimum wage

A bill designed to make federal impact aide more equitable for school districts that educate military base students is making its way through the North Dakota legislature. The House Education committee held a hearing on bill 12-46 on Wednesday.

Right now the state takes back 75-percent of the “tuition” school districts in Grand Forks and Minot receive from the federal funding formula. Supporters say the federal payment is designed to supplement state aid not supplant it. In the case of the Grand Forks District the amount can vary between two and three million dollars.

Business Manager Scott Berge told the committee that the federal payments also come up short when it comes to facility needs. “Frankly there’s not a lot of funding out there for Grand Forks to maintain the Twining Elementary and Middle School at the Grand Forks Air Force Base. Grand Forks serves around 300 students K-8 at the GFAFB.

The committee took no immediate action on the bill.