Mike Brandenburg — Mentioned as someone who could likely speak to fertilizer issues; transcript says 'Representative Brannberg' and appears to refer to Brandenburg.
Jay Fisher — Called as present during the roll call.
Keith Kempenich — Called during the roll call; name appears as 'Kempinick' in transcript.
Keith Kempenich — Asked about break-even pricing for new production.
Keith Kempenich — Addressed by the speaker as the member asking about the funding request and project duration.
Keith Kempenich — Addressed by name as the member raising concerns about public accountability.
Brandy Pyle — Called during the roll call.
David Monson — Likely the 'Munson' referenced in the roll call.
Adam Aetek — Adam Aetek, the Legislative Council senior fiscal analyst, introduced himself and began presenting on the base budget. After his presentation, the committee invited questions for him.
Brandon Deloff — Brandon Deloff, the executive director of the Housing Finance Agency, introduced himself and explained that the agency would provide an overview of its initiatives and funding priorities, including the housing incentive fund and homeless funding. He then began describing how housing development is supported through HIF and federal grants, referencing related funding from prior sessions.
Brandon Deloff — Brandon Deloff explains how tax-exempt mortgage revenue bonds let the agency borrow at lower rates and pass those savings on to borrowers, then walks through the mortgage loans purchased and servicing trends, noting that loan counts are growing slowly while dollar volume is rising because of higher home prices. He discusses projections and explains that servicing continues to increase because borrowers are not paying off loans. Deloff highlights borrower savings of about 1% below market, gives an example of a young employee who bought her first condo, and emphasizes that the homeownership program generates local economic activity without using state dollars. He estimates the program produced about $185 million in economic impact last year and notes that the agency’s programs also help groups such as single parents and non-first-time buyers before turning the presentation over to Jennifer Henderson to discuss HIF and homeless funding.
Dave Flore — Identified as the prior executive director who retired last June.
Kayla Axman — Kayla Axman is introduced as the CFO for North Dakota Housing Finance and then presents the agency’s budget update, explaining that the organization is on track with its appropriation and budget expectations.
SB2014 — The budget presentation referenced the contents of Senate Bill 2014.
Jen — Will provide additional detail on awards and remaining funds.
Tim Mathern — A senator asks about the implications of being short on FTEs and then follows up on how the organization’s mortgage revenue bonds, which are tax exempt, relate to interest-rate variation. The exchange appears to be a continuous discussion within the same committee conversation, despite a likely transcript misattribution of the speaker name.
Tim Mathern — Senator Thomas is referenced in a continuous discussion about growth areas and activity levels, with follow-up remarks addressing him directly and suggesting he may have been part of the January legislative group presentation.
Jennifer Henderson — Jennifer Henderson, Director of the Community Housing and Grants Management Division at the North Dakota Housing Finance Agency, explains the agency’s use of the Housing Incentive Fund and North Dakota Homeless Grant dollars. She says the agency received a $25 million transfer from the Strategic Investment Improvement Fund, with $20 million directed to multifamily programs and $5 million to single-family development, and notes that the multifamily round combines the low-income housing tax credit, HOME, housing trust fund, and HIF into one competitive application process. She describes how applications are thresholded and scored competitively, with priority given to serving the lowest-income households and preserving affordability, and references the Lashkowitz high-rise redevelopment in Fargo as an example. Henderson reports that demand has grown significantly: in the 2025 September round, requests exceeded $73 million while only $25 million was awarded, leaving 16 qualified projects unfunded, and says applications have doubled since 2023 while approvals remain around four to six projects per year. She concludes by explaining that selected projects receive conditional commitments and must reach closing and break ground by September 2026.
David Hogue — Asks whether the higher funding level is normal and whether increased funding drove more requests.
David Hogue — The speaker referred to a prior discussion with Senator Hogue about combining the funding streams.
— Representative Meyer asks how many individuals were served by the homeless grants in the last year and follows up by requesting that the final year-end number be provided once available. The response confirms that the information on how many people were served with the grant dollars will be sent to him.
Dwight Kiefert — Representative Dwight Kiefert is involved in a brief committee exchange about what is driving the increase in low- and very-low-income households beyond income levels. He asks the question, and the response is directed back to him and the committee.
Nathan Anderson — Nathan Anderson introduced himself as the Director of the Department of Mineral Resources and identified his staff, and shortly afterward the presentation was turned back to him to continue the discussion.
Donna Schmidt — Donna Schmidt is introduced as the finance lead who will cover budget slides, the floor is turned over to her, and she then identifies herself and begins presenting the department's biennium spending information.
Ed Murphy — Identified as the state geologist.
Ed Murphy — Ed Murphy is identified as the state geologist who has served the agency for 46 years and is retiring in July. He is also credited, along with his team, for successfully completing the critical minerals rulemaking, highlighting his long service and contributions to the agency.
Michael Leach — Identified as the executive manager of agency support.
Don Vigesaa — Addressed as Representative Kepenik in the transcript; asked about whether the initiatives were started but not completed.
Don Vigesaa — Addressed as Representative Kempinnik in the transcript; earlier question related to legal fees.
Jon Nelson — A legislator, likely mis-transcribed in the record as Mr. Johnson or Representative Munson, is identified as having a question about Project North Star. The mentions all refer to the same brief exchange and should be treated as one consolidated moment.
Michael Zich — Named as someone who could explain the project in greater detail.
Ty Dressler — Representative Ty Dressler is addressed throughout a continuous discussion of oil and gas well operations, including drilling efficiencies, initial production from new wells, well integrity and spacing hearings, overlapping spacing units, and unitization with future recovery methods.
Nathan Toman — A continuous discussion covers drilling and production efficiency, including initial production from new wells, future lateral-length trends, risks and impacts of longer laterals, five-mile spacing units, well integrity, and hearing requirements for overlapping spacing units. The conversation then shifts to gas collection and forecasted production, including a 95% gas capture goal and whether that rule limits additional gas capture. Later references revisit Representative Toman’s earlier comments about growth areas, with some transcript uncertainty in the name rendering.
Justin Kringstad — Introduces himself as Director of the North Dakota Pipeline Authority and says he will skip some material for time.
Ronald Sorvaag — Called as present during the roll call.
Ronald Sorvaag — Addressed as chairman of the committee.
Ronald Sorvaag — Addressed as a senator and chairman of the committee.
Ronald Sorvaag — Addressed as chairman while discussing the effects of being short on FTEs.
Ronald Sorvaag — Addressed by name as Chairman Sorvaag while Jennifer Henderson answers his question about application growth and approvals.
Ronald Sorvaag — Chairman Sorvaag is addressed during a discussion of the homeless funding application process, including how applications are received, ranked, and scored under the funding criteria, followed by a brief acknowledgment confirming the explanation.
Ronald Sorvaag — Addressed as Chairman Sorvig in the transcript.
Ronald Sorvaag — Addressed as Chairman Sorbog/Sorvig in the transcript.
Ronald Sorvaag — Ronald Sorvaag is repeatedly addressed as Chairman during an ongoing committee Q&A exchange. Across the sequence, speakers direct questions to him on related policy issues including inflation, oil prices, the impact of conflict duration, and Venezuela, with Sorvaag serving as the chair being addressed throughout the discussion.
Ronald Sorvaag — Ronald Sorvaag is addressed as 'Mr. Chairman' in a brief exchange, with the same form of address repeated a few minutes later, indicating a continuous discussion without a substantive topic change.
Cole Conley — Called as present during the roll call.
Scott Meyer — Called as present during the roll call.
Paul Thomas — Called as present during the roll call.
Paul Thomas — Senator Thomas is addressed in the response discussing gas capture limitations.