Feb. 11, 2019,
Rep. Rick Holman, ND District 20
Legislative Report #5.
I'll start with a couple pieces of legislation
that impact higher education. The Governor's Task Force on Higher Education
gave a report that led to a bill to change the governance structure of North
Dakota Colleges. House Bill 1500 will reach the floor next week. My view is
that it needs more study and that study should look at ways to make the current
board structure more effective and responsive.
Another issue is the state funding of Challenge
Grants which allow the colleges to receive a dollar in scholarship funds from
the state for two dollars raised from other sources. These funds have been very
successful in helping many students deal with increased tuition.
Last week we saw the reports on spring semester
enrollment. For eight years, Mayville State has had increasing enrollment, this
spring, registering 1121 students for a new high. Over the past several years,
by adapting to new ways of delivering education; by adding programs such as
nursing and others which fill vital workforce needs; by shared coursework with
other colleges and by providing an environment that students prefer, MSU is
doing what a college should by educating people to fill workforce needs in
North Dakota.
On Thursday, a House bill to allow counties and
other governmental entities to publish less of their activities in local
newspapers was narrowly defeated. I and 46 others voted no which was only one
vote shy of the 48 needed to pass. Sometimes a single vote can make a
difference.
House Bill 1402 will continue the partial funding
of the Area Health Education Centers which are in Hettinger and Mayville. For
several years, these organizations have worked with students in high school and
college to acquaint them with the many options in rural healthcare. By giving
middle and high school students experience with just what goes on in the
healthcare field, many may choose to follow up with that in their post-high
school education. By assisting those at the college level as they prepare for
their career, it's more likely that they will stay in North Dakota when they
finish.
North Dakota's roads, bridges and highways are in dire need of
improvements. The state needs additional investments to fix the conditions.
According to a report released in October, TRIP, a national transportation
research group, said North Dakota is short $2.5 billion for infrastructure
upgrades to deal with aging highway and bridges, road improvements and safety.
According to the report, nearly two-thirds of North Dakota's major urban roads
have pavements needing work and 14 percent of the state's bridges having
significant deterioration. Traill County, with over 400 bridges is certainly
aware of that.
Because of decreasing energy-related revenues due to low oil prices.
Infrastructure funding generated through energy-related revenues dropped by a
large percentage in the past year, going from $619 million in 2017 to $194
million in 2018. Twenty-three transportation and infrastructure projects are
currently on hold due to a lack of funding. It's time to balance its past infrastructure
investments in oil producing areas with the needs across the state.
The reduction in the oil tax in a previous session without recognizing the
volatility of oil prices, is having consequences. Fluctuation of commodity
prices should be no surprise to anyone in this agricultural state.
A system of reliable transportation is important in all parts of our state.
Whether used for agriculture, oil, retail or manufacturing, a good, reliable,
system of transportation is vital. Of course, for all North Dakotans, you need
assurance that if you plan to travel to someplace, that you can get
there. An investment in transportation is an investment in the future of North
Dakota.
We're approaching crossover which should begin on March 21. The House and
Senate started with about 960 bills. So far, the House has passed 177. The
Senate has passed 171. We still have to consider 455 with nine days before we
break for a long weekend and start over for the second round when the bills
that survived in one House are sent to the other House for additional
consideration. Floor sessions will be longer and hopefully some speeches will
be shorter.
Rick Holman
My contact information is: email, rholman@nd.gov, Text or call, 701-238-1124, or rholman2 on Facebook.
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