Official Newspaper of Eddy County since 1883
Official Newspaper of Eddy County since 1883
We have now reached the halfway mark of the 66th legislative session. At this time, all bills that have been passed in the House have been moved over to the Senate for further consideration and vice-versa. There is still work to do on many of the bills, and as they continue through the next chamber and conference committees, we will fine-tune them so that by the time the bill is signed we feel confident that we have the best possible product for the people of North Dakota.
We will hear the second budget forecast in March, and after the appropriate adjustments have been made, we will adopt a final budget for the biennium. We are committed to passing a budget that funds our priorities, ensures adequate reserves and balances without increasing taxes.
As always, our top priorities are education and caring for our state’s most vulnerable citizens. In K-12 education, we have proposed an increase in per-pupil funding throughout the next biennium. Additionally, we have proposed inflationary wage increases in the next two years for our K-12, higher education, human services and state employees. These wages were held constant throughout the last biennium.
Republicans have taken big steps toward developing a strong workforce, a diverse economy, an improved infrastructure network, reduced taxes and improved health services.
In order to strengthen our workforce, we passed HB 1171 and SB 2306. HB 1171 is designed to train more people for high-demand, high-paying jobs. It authorizes a loan repayment program for students going into high demand professional or technical fields in the state. The program levies matching dollars from the private sector, combining them with profits from the Bank of North Dakota and making this a smart investment in our workforce and our state. SB 2306 also addresses our current workforce shortage by removing barriers preventing military spouses from receiving a license from a state board in an area in which they are licensed in another state. The passage of this bill will make it easier for military spouses to find work in our state and will supply necessary human capital to fill labor shortages we are currently facing.
Republicans are also working to diversify North Dakota’s economy while supporting the important industries that are already here. One example is our investment in Unmanned Aircraft Systems. This technology sector will spur more high-tech, high-wage jobs and also benefits our established agriculture, energy and railroad industries. We believe that getting this infrastructure in place will encourage significant investment from private industry into North Dakota’s economy. Another bill to promote economic diversification is House Bill 1333, which authorizes the Bank of North Dakota to use some of its profits to provide North Dakota businesses with small, low interest loans for commercialization of a product. This funding will give North Dakota businesses the small boost in capital they need to move their already-developed product into production stage and spur companies to develop and build their products here in the state and provide high-paying jobs.
Our growing state also faces a number of infrastructure needs, and in order to address these needs, we passed HB 1066, affectionately known as Operation Prairie Dog. This bill uses revenue from oil production taxes to provide funding for critical infrastructure projects at the county, township, and city level, even in non-oil producing areas. The amount of money each political subdivision receives is based on a formula that accounts for the subdivision’s size, population, and growth rate. Additionally, the Senate passed SB 2275, which allocates legacy fund earnings to establish a revolving infrastructure loan fund managed by the Bank of North Dakota to provide low interest loans to political subdivisions for similar projects. These bills will benefit every single one of our communities.
In order to improve local health services as well as provide real property tax relief, the Senate passed SB 2124, which is the result of a 2017 bill that directed the state to take over funding of social services from the individual counties and to study the design of the social services delivery system. The bill proposes to reorganize the current 47 county units into 19 multi-county zones. This change will improve the organizational structure of these services while maintaining access and funding. Collaboration will improve efficiencies in services like long-term care eligibility, adoption and child care licensing and expand the capacity for these programs throughout the state.
Republicans are working hard for the people of North Dakota by promoting common sense policies that support our state’s citizens, families and businesses. As we move into the second half of the legislative session, we will continue debating each of the remaining bills in order to pass the legislation that is best for the people of our state. We are honored to serve our communities by being a strong voice for our local constituents.
Chet Pollert, House
Majority Leader
Rich Wardner, Senate
Majority Leader
