Legislative Report, Week Seven. February 16^th, 2017, Rep. Rick Holman, ND District 20.

 

This weekend, Saturday February 18^th at 10 a.m., District 20 legislators will be speaking and answering questions at the Hillsboro Community Center. We had a great turnout at the Legislative Forum in Portland last week. Thank you to all who came.

 

I put together a comparison of where we are and where we were regarding the financial situation of North Dakota government. State income is down; we have to make adjustments. Here are a few notes on the current and past situation of ND finances.

1. Sales tax collections in 2015 were $2.4 billion, now $1.8 billion
2. Income Tax collections in 2015 were $1.5 billion, now $850 million.
3. In 2015 the state budget was nearly $14 billion, now with increased population and available funds of $13 billion we are required to develop a balanced budget.  Part of those needs will be covered by digging in to reserve funds and the extra funds from Measure 2 which passed in the November election.
4. In the 13-15 biennium Oil and Gas revenue was $6 billion. The projected income for the next two years is $3.5 billion. Remember that the people of ND decided to put 1/3 of the oil money into the Legacy Fund. The interest on the $4 billion reserve fund is now available and we will likely pass legislation to use some of it while leaving the principal alone to continue earning and growing.
5. State employees are a huge part of the budget. For that reason, all departments are being asked to find ways to reduce staff.
6. Most new building projects will be put on hold.
7. In 2009 the state started paying more of local school costs with the amount of state funding for schools going from, $700 million to $1.6 billion, with a required decrease in the property tax mill levy. If your property taxes have gone up it is likely due to increased valuation.

 

I've been asked if there is any consideration to increase tax rates to make up the difference. There does not seem to be any legislative energy to move in that direction at this time.

 

The only tax increase that has been considered was the 5% Nursing Home Tax, which is gone for now, but we will still need to find a way to cover the increased cost of operating a nursing home. Other forms of funding are under consideration but nothing seems to have much traction yet.

Thankfully a bill was defeated on Monday that would have reduced the liability for a driver who injures a pedestrian if the person was on a road and protesting. Here's the wording. "Notwithstanding any other provision of law, a driver of a motor vehicle who, while exercising reasonable care, causes injury or death to an individual who is intentionally obstructing vehicular traffic on a public road, street, or highway may not be held liable for any damages." This is one of those situations where someone puts forward legislation for a specific situation but the law covers lots of other situations creating unintended consequences.
The first period of the three-part session is over next week. Remaining House bills now move to the Senate and vice-versa. Many bills that bill sponsors thought were great ideas are now gone. Others have survived and will be debated and amended to make them better. It’s important for all of us to pay close attention to what issues are being debated over the next several weeks.