AN ACT to provide an appropriation for defraying the expenses of the information technology department; to amend and reenact sections 54-35-15.1, 54-59-14, and 54-59-15 of the North Dakota Century Code, relating to membership of the information technology committee and the information technology operating fund; to provide an exemption; to provide for a legislative management study; and to provide for a legislative management report.
SB 2021 is the North Dakota Information Technology Department appropriation bill for the 2025-27 biennium. It provides a total appropriation of about $200.5 million, including about $48.0 million from the general fund, to cover salaries and wages, operating costs, capital assets, statewide data systems, K-12 technology services, geographic information systems, health information technology, and the statewide interoperable radio network. The bill also authorizes two new one-time funding items from the strategic investment and improvements fund: a state data center migration project and automation of information technology services, including software licenses.
Beyond funding, the bill makes several statutory changes to the department’s governance and financial structure. It updates the membership of the Information Technology Committee to include an ex officio nonvoting member with health and human services IT experience, revises the information technology operating account into an operating fund, clarifies continuing appropriation and reporting requirements, and allows the department to accept and deposit federal or other funds into specified IT funds. It also exempts several large prior appropriations from normal unexpended-appropriation limits so they may continue into the new biennium, including broadband, cybersecurity, digitization, ERP-related, and radio network funding.
The bill’s impact on state law is broad but administrative rather than regulatory: it changes how the state IT department is funded, how it can move money among line items, how it reports to the legislature, and how certain prior project funds remain available. It also directs the Legislative Management to study two major policy areas during the interim: funding for the statewide interoperable radio network and emergency communications fees, and the state enterprise resource planning system for agencies and higher education. In addition, the department and the Department of Public Instruction must provide quarterly reports on the student information system transition.
Overall sentiment appears strongly favorable. The bill passed the Senate 45-1 and the House 75-17, indicating broad bipartisan support for the appropriation and the associated IT planning and oversight provisions. The lack of recorded committee transcript discussion suggests no major public controversy in the available record, and the large margins of passage imply general agreement that the department’s core operations, ongoing projects, and interim studies should continue.
The main points of potential contention are fiscal and structural. The bill reduces some operating and project lines while increasing salaries and adding a new and vacant FTE pool, which may raise questions about staffing, project timing, and how flexibly funds should be moved between line items. The interim study on radio network funding and emergency communications fees could also be sensitive because it examines 911 and 988 revenue, future funding options, and models that avoid harming existing emergency systems. Likewise, the ERP study may generate debate over whether the state should maintain one shared system or separate systems for agencies and higher education.
SB 2021 appropriates funds to the Information Technology Department for the 2025-27 biennium and amends North Dakota Century Code provisions governing the IT committee, the IT operating fund, and acceptance of outside funds. It expands reporting and transfer authority, exempts specified prior appropriations from lapse rules, and preserves funding for major ongoing technology and communications projects. The bill also directs interim studies on radio network financing and enterprise resource planning, which may lead to future legislation affecting state IT governance, emergency communications funding, and statewide technology systems.
The bill appears to have been received positively overall, with very strong passage in both chambers and no recorded committee opposition in the provided materials. The vote totals suggest broad support for maintaining and modernizing state IT operations, funding major projects, and studying longer-term financing and system-architecture questions. Any concern appears limited to specific budget-management and funding-structure issues rather than the bill’s overall purpose.
Potential contention centers on how much discretion the department should have to move money among line items, the use of a new and vacant FTE pool, and the reliance on one-time or continuing appropriations for large technology projects. The interim study on statewide interoperable radio network funding may be debated because it involves emergency communications fees, 911 and 988 revenue, and future funding options that must not disrupt existing systems. The ERP study could also be contentious because it asks whether North Dakota should continue with a single enterprise system or split systems between state agencies and higher education.