BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) – Gov. Doug Burgum says a voter referendum to repeal a budget provision for a proposed Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library would likely have a “low chance” of passing.
Those who oppose the Legislature’s approval of $50 million to operate and maintain the library in Medora are petitioning to place a referendum on the June 2020 primary ballot to repeal the state funding, which must be matched by $100 million in private money.
The Bismarck Tribune reports one opponent, Riley Kuntz, says the library is a “gross misappropriation of funds” for a project that honors a president who wasn’t even from North Dakota.
Roosevelt spent four years on a ranch in the North Dakota Badlands while in his 20s. The area is now a national park and the state’s top tourist attraction.
