N.D. House Update: April 5, 2021

Members of the North Dakota House of Representatives reached agreement with the Senate, this week, on the financial forecast they will use going forward. Now that an agreement has been reached, based on the latest projections, the legislature can complete work on the various budget bills.

As reported earlier, the Appropriations Committees from both chambers heard revised revenue forecasts from Moody’s Analytics and IHS Markit. These forecasts were for the remainder of the current biennium, and the 2021-2023 biennium.

Using these reports, the Appropriations Committees adopted the revised, legislative revenue forecast for the two biennial. The budgets will now be based on the adopted revenue forecast. For the current period, an additional $149 million is forecasted to be collected in general fund revenue. This will be added to the previously expected, ending-fund balance for the 2019-2021 biennium and thus, the beginning balance for the next. During the next biennium, an additional $95.5 million of general fund revenue is expected to be collected.

To estimate the expected oil and gas tax revenue for the next biennium, the March 2021 forecast will use $50 per barrel, as the North Dakota price for crude oil, throughout the entire period. The average daily oil production is projected to be 1.1 million barrels per day for the first year of the biennium, and 1 million barrels per day for the second year. Using these projections, total oil tax collections for 2021-2023 will be $3.7 billion, or $743.5 million more, than the legislative forecast from January of this year. The state’s share of these collections will be $228 million.

SB 2011 is the budget legislation for the North Dakota Highway Patrol. The North Dakota Highway Patrol was established in 1935. The patrol is comprised of two major components, field operations and administration. Field operations consists of four geographical regions and motor carrier operations. Administration is made up of the administrative services division, the support services division, and finance. The appropriation for the agency, as it was passed to the House by the Senate, is $89 million, of which $45 million is general funds.

This budget currently includes $27.1 million for a new law enforcement training center funded by the strategic investment and improvement fund. The authorization of this project is up for debate. The patrol is authorized to have 193 employees, which include 159 sworn officers. Some interesting statistics, provided by the patrol from 2020, included 74,674 traffic stops, 1,719 crashes investigated, 5,806 criminal arrests, 140,489 motor carrier permits issued, and 1,593 drug-related arrests.

The House dealt with a number of bills, which have attracted interest statewide. They approved SB 2156, which raises the minimum age to 21, in order to purchase and use tobacco products. The bill aligns the state with federal regulations. Failure to comply with federal regulations could result in a state losing up to ten percent of Federal Block Grant funds. For North Dakota, that could mean a loss of $653,390.10.

The House approved SB 2165, which will make some changes to the carryover limitations in school budgets. School districts have received federal impact aid dollars associated with the COVID pandemic. For some schools, the sudden influx of federal funds have caused their carryover balance to exceed current allowable limits. The bill provides the opportunity for districts to retain impact aid funds, and seek information from school patrons on how best to spend the money.

The House also approved calling for a study of the long-term care insurance market in the state. The proposed study will help the state better understand, not only the current market, but the benefits offered, and how consumers are impacted.

They passed SB 2130, which will provide a cost-benefit analysis for mandated health insurance coverage measures. There is no question that the cost of insurance mandates leads to the rise in insurance premiums. By looking at the cost-benefits of such mandates, the legislature hopes to get a better idea of whether some mandates are raising insurance premiums, but providing little actual benefits to consumers.

House members gave their approval to SB 2226, which will allow North Dakota residents to utilize end-of-life facilities. The intent of the legislation is to provide more care options for patients facing end-of-life situations, in a less restrictive environment. At least one non-profit in the state plans to start raising funds to create this type of facility in some of our major cities. Many families do not want to place a family member into an assisted-living facility or nursing home at this stage of their life. However, they do want options, other than continued hospital confinement or home stay, which doesn’t always work for many families. A person utilizing an end-of-life facility would be able choose the hospice provider they prefer, and then receive round-the-clock care from RNs, CNAs and LPNs. Family members would be welcome to visit as often as they want, or even move into the facility with their loved one.

House members also approved SB 2125, which will add a licensed behavior analyst to the list of medical providers who could qualify for tuition assistance, if they meet certain criteria. There is a shortage of licensed behavior analysts in the state, and this program could encourage more students to join the profession in North Dakota.

Representatives had an extensive debate on HB 2026, which could allow some large extended trucks, known as road trains, on some North Dakota roads, as part of a pilot project. Concerns were expressed that local counties and others, with oversight of roads in an area, would not be given an opportunity to reject the pilot project, if they wished. Concerns were also expressed about the potential costs for repairs in the pilot area. The bill was sent back to the Transportation Committee to come up with some language that would be acceptable to local government.

Two major bills dealing with hunter and landowner issues passed the House this week. SB 2144 works to improve the electronic posting regulations in the state. The bill continues efforts to improve relations between the two groups. A large number of acres are being posted on-line, making it easier to find places open to public hunting, without going to a number of farms to ask permission. It also saves time and effort for the landowners, as they no longer have to drive around and post no-hunting signs.

The other related bill is SB 2036, which calls for a continuation of the interim study of electronic posting, and related issues, undertaken after the last session. The effort is to continue the positive dialog, which has started and continues, between sportsmen and sportswomen, and landowners, as well as legislators.

The House also passed SB 2178, which enhances some of the services provided by emergency service personnel. The goal of the bill is to improve access to care and avoid duplicating existing services. It will also help address the state’s health-care workforce shortage. It is hopeful by passing the legislation, we will facilitate access to care, and improved outcomes, for high-risk Medicaid members.

We look forward to hearing from our constituents during the closing weeks of the session. The process works best with citizen involvement, and we appreciate everyone who has reached out to us. District 23 residents, who wish to contact us with legislative ideas or comments on what is being discussed, can e-mail us at: [email protected] and [email protected]. During the session, mail can be sent to us at: ND House of Representatives, 600 East Boulevard, Bismarck, N.D. 58505-0360.

If you want to leave a phone message, you can call the incoming toll-free number 1-888-NDLEGIS (1-888-635-3447). For hearing-impaired individuals, the TTY toll-free number is 1-800-366-6888 to reach a relay operator.