Prairie Public Broadcasting. (Jeff Beach/North Dakota Monitor)
(. North Dakota Monitor) – The North Dakota Senate defeated a bill that bans state or federal funding for public broadcasting but some senators who voted against the bill still called for defunding Prairie Public Broadcasting.
North Dakota typically funds Prairie Public Broadcasting through the Office of Management and Budget bill. Gov. Kelly Armstrong’s proposed budget included nearly $2.9 million for Prairie Public.
When House Bill 1255 mandating the public broadcasting funding ban passed the House of Representatives, Appropriations Committee members took Prairie Public funding out of the OMB bill.
Sen. Kristin Roers, R-Fargo, said Monday that the appropriations bill is where the funding decision should be made and warned of unintended consequences of passing the House bill.
