(Jeff Beach/North Dakota Monitor)
(Jeff Beach – North Dakota Monitor) – North Dakota members of the state House onvoted to defund Prairie Public Broadcasting.
The House Appropriations Committee had recommended continuing to fund Prairie Public with $1.2 million for the biennium. But House Bill 1255, sponsored by Rep. Jorin Johnson, R-Fargo, passed the House on Monday with a 48-41 vote, cutting the funding.
The bill prevents state officials from providing state or federal funding to Prairie Public. It will move on to the state Senate, which also will take up the bill.
Rep. SuAnn Olson, R-Baldwin, noted the House minutes earlier had passed a bill creating the North Dakota version of Department of Government Efficiency that has been generating headlines for the Trump administration.
“This may be our first opportunity to start looking for efficiencies,” Olson said. “Our hope would be that we’re not continually finding something that has the ability to fly on its own.”
