Summary — HB 1448 (North Dakota): Advanced Technology Review Committee, Grant Program, and Fund
Status / timeline (key dates)
- Introduced: November 21, 2024
- Committee reports: House Appropriations and Senate Industry & Business (Feb–Apr 2025)
- Filed with Secretary of State: 05/02/2025
- Bill creates a new chapter in Title 54 of the North Dakota Century Code and includes a transfer and an appropriation (amounts not shown in the excerpt).
Purpose / intent
HB 1448 establishes a standing interagency/public–private structure and a grant program to support early‑stage research, prototype development, and commercialization of “advanced technologies” in North Dakota. The program is intended to help entrepreneurs, startups, and small businesses that cannot otherwise access prototype financing, and to promote state economic development and workforce advancement in areas such as artificial intelligence, machine learning, and quantum computing.
Key provisions
- Advanced Technology Review Committee
- Membership (voting and nonvoting): the state Chief Information Officer (or designee), the North Dakota University System Vice Chancellor for Information Technology (or designee), three private‑sector appointees (one each appointed by the governor, the House majority leader, and the Senate majority leader), and the Commissioner of the Department of Commerce (or designee) as a nonvoting advisor on awards.
- Private‑sector appointments: terms generally four years (staggered initial terms); members serve at the pleasure of appointing authority.
- Governance: by August 1 each year the Legislative Management chairman selects one appointed member to serve as committee chair; chair selects a vice chair.
- Compensation: private‑sector members may be paid up to $135 per day plus travel/reimbursable expenses, within legislative appropriation.
- Duties: meet as needed to review and approve grant applications.
Advanced Technology Grant Program
- Administered by the Department of Commerce; the department provides application forms, intake, compliance review and forwards complete applications to the committee.
- Committee establishes program guidelines, including special policies addressing intellectual property, inventions and discoveries arising from funded projects.
- Applicant criteria and priorities: focus on early‑stage R&D and prototype development; priority given to AI, machine learning, quantum computing and similar innovations; committee to consider economic development impact and workforce benefits; timely processing to enable leveraging of other funds.
- Permitted / prohibited uses: grants are for R&D, product research and innovation and should leverage other public/private funding where possible. Grants may NOT be used for capital/building investments, administrative overhead, or to supplant regular operating funds. If a grantee ceases operations in the state, it must repay the grant.
Advanced Technology Grant Fund
- Created as a special fund in the state treasury, administered by the Department of Commerce.
- Moneys to be used for grants and committee/department administrative expenses, subject to legislative appropriation; interest is credited to the fund.
Post‑award monitoring and evaluation
- The Department will conduct an independent review after work completion. Possible evaluation criteria: contribution to product/process development, investment attraction to the state, economic development outcomes, patents/commercial viability, and workforce impact.
Who is affected
- Direct beneficiaries: entrepreneurs, startup companies, and small businesses located in North Dakota engaged in early‑stage advanced technology R&D needing prototype funding.
- State entities: Department of Commerce (program administration), Information Technology Department (CIO), North Dakota University System (vice chancellor), and Legislative Management (chair selection).
- Taxpayers / state budget: fund operation and grant awards subject to legislative appropriation; private‑sector committee members compensated from appropriation.
Budget / appropriation
- The bill references a transfer and an appropriation to establish and operate the fund/program; specific dollar amounts were not included in the provided excerpts.
Potential impacts / considerations
- Supports commercialization of advanced‑tech R&D and could help attract or retain technology investment and skilled workers in North Dakota.
- Raises policy questions to be resolved in committee guidelines, especially intellectual property ownership, licensing, and expectations for commercialization or state return on investment.
- Program costs (grants and administrative compensation) are subject to legislative appropriation and oversight; the fund’s effectiveness will depend on appropriation levels and grant guidelines.
If you want, I can:
- Extract and summarize the committee‑level amendments (Senate vs. House versions) shown in the materials, or
- Draft a short one‑page memo on likely implementation issues (IP policy, reporting requirements, and audit/repayment enforcement).
