North Dakota Development Fund hits pause as Legislature expected to weigh its future

Board members of the North Dakota Development Fund voted Thursday to pause new business while the Legislature weighs potential changes to the state-backed business financing program that drew critical audit findings, raising alarms for some lawmakers. The board also reviewed those audit findings – which included a lack of documentation for millions of dollars in transactions and inconsistent conflict of interest procedures – and a more recent audit that had lesser, more common findings. The meeting was the first since the board’s leaders resigned last month. Separately, the Ethics Commission voted to begin an inquiry into the fund in late October. Additionally, the head of the Legislature’s audit review committee is planning to introduce legislation to repeal the Development Fund and the Commerce Department, though he acknowledged the latter would be a heavy lift.

This excerpt comes from the named source. Read the original for the full reporting.