A bill that could increase funding for the Outdoor Heritage Fund is on its way to Governor Jack Dalrymple.
Both the House and Senate have passed the conference committee recommendations.
The fund gets money from oil taxes. It’s currently capped at $30 million. Dalrymple had proposed a $50 million cap. The House cut it to $40 million -- and the Senate's version was $30 million. The conference committee settled on $40 million.
"The fund projection, based on current oil prices, is $22 million for this next biennium," said Rep. Todd Porter (R-Mandan). "So it certainly is not going to fill to the $40 million."
Porter says the bill also changes policy – so the focus of the fund is toward bigger projects.
"We limited the local projects -- the playground equipment and those types of projects -- so that we are putting our focus toward those big projects," said Porter.
Another change is in the membership of the advisory committee on spending the money. Ducks Unlimited and Pheasants Forever had guaranteed seats. But the conference committee removed those designations.
"This has no effect on the current membership," said Sen. Don Schiable (R-Mott). "When these two groups' designees are up, the Governor can replace these members with members of those corresponding groups or others from one of the many conservation groups that would also like a spot on this board."
The House and Senate both overwhelmingly passed the amended bill.