An all-encompassing economic development House bill may go too far in limiting spending for a state program that matches private sector funds for school projects, some say.

House Bill 1027, a 47-section "talent initiative"dealing with economic development, work-force retention and recruitment, trade and higher education, limits awards for the governor's Centers of Excellence initiative, allowing only 10 percent of awarded funds for infrastructure of the programs and work-force development each.

The Centers of Excellence intitiave was created in 2005, and matches $1 to every $2 that schools get from the private sector for approved projects.

Bismarck State College immediately jumped on the opportunity, creating a National Center of Energy Excellence, which included a building for the program.

Under the proposed amended law, funding for a building would have been restricted to only 10 percent of money used.

But many, including Shane Goettle, commissioner of the Department of Commerce, expressed concern that limiting those awarded funds would cut back on the initiative's successes.

"We think the program has provided the Centers of Excellence commission with a great deal of flexibility, and we'd like to continue with that flexibility,"Goettle said.

In fact, Gov. John Hoeven, in an interview with the Tribune, agreed that flexibility in the program is imperative.

"The program is working well. It's exciting, and all over the state, we're seeing a tremendous partnership between higher education and the private sector in developing new services, as well as the important task of educating and recruiting our work force,"Hoeven said. "The flexibility is important, and we'll continue to work on that with legislators throughout the session."

Flexibility was the buzz word with those concerned about section 7 of HB1027, which defined the award limitations.

"The Centers of Excellence Initiative is one of the most important and powerful initiatives that have affected higher education in quite some time," said Eddie Dunn, chancellor of the North Dakota University System. "The flexibility that's provided to the commission (for Centers of Excellence) allow the Centers of Excellence proposals to be private-sector driven, which is absolutely critical."

Goettle spoke highly of many parts of the HB1027, including alterations and additions to programs within the Department of Commerce, as well as formalizing the Department of Commerce's role in the Centers of Excellence Initiatives.

Kelvin Hullet, president of the Bismarck-Mandan Chamber of Commerce, agreed that the bill's work force development initiatives were a "step forward in the right direction,"but also questioned the funding limitations.

"Our concern we have is limiting that 10 percent to work-force development,"Hullet said, noting that the program in Williston, which has a job training initiative for oil fields, would suffer from such a cut.

Several others spoke in support of a majority of the bill, adding that it still needed some minor tweaking and tightening.

Tax Commissioner Cory Fong said that a few of the tax-related proposals -including incentives for businesses that created targeted work-force and recruitment programs, and an aggressive research and development tax credit -needed to be "tightened up."

The bill was sent to a subcommittee, with Rep. Dan Ruby, R-Minot, heading the subcommittee. Rep. George Keiser, R-Bismarck, chairman of the Industry, Business and Labor Committee, said that legislators should meet in groups to address the several different areas of the bill, and they should pay close attention to caps, numbers and credits.

"This is an important piece of legislation,"Keiser said.

(Reach reporter Crystal R. Reid at 250-8261 or at crystal.reid@;bismarcktribune.com)