North Dakota Senate Democratic Caucus Update

Senate Democratic Caucus

End of Week Report (Week 16)

April 23, 2009



The last weeks of the 2009 Legislative Session showed the first signs of movement towards a final resolution. Lawmakers spent much of the week in conference committees—or small meetings of six lawmakers from the House and Senate that convene to work out differences between the version of a bill the House passed and a version the Senate passed. In addition to the many small compromises being worked out in these committees in rooms spread throughout the Capitol, a few large compromises brought the session closer to final resolution. The first was what to do about inequity in the wages for state employees. This issue crept up because of state employees who have been on the job for a long time, and thus have their yearly pay raises based off of a much lower base than their more-recently-hired peers. The result, after many years, is that they’re earning far less in salary for doing the exact same job. The solution to this problem is equity raises—money set aside specifically for raises to these employees for the purpose of bringing their pay back in line with their colleagues. However, the concept was the simple part. There was widespread disagreement over how much should be spent to solve these inequities and how it should be administered. Some, including the Senate Democrats, wanted more than $20 million to resolve the issue, and to have the money distributed to each state agency so they could decide which of their employees received the raises. Others wanted just $12 million, and to have the money distributed from a central pool. The compromise reached between Senate and House Republican leaders was for a $16 million central pool.

Another area that has held up the session is what to do about road funding and the Department of Transportation budget. In the wake of the flooding and snow devastation that imperiled the state throughout the winter and spring, many roads are in dire condition. This includes city streets that are filled with potholes and sinkholes and gravel roads that have been washed away and rutted to the point of impassibility. At the same time, some Republicans in the Legislature want to hold back $120 million in state transportation funding, with the rationale that the stimulus money pouring into the state from Washington, D.C. will more than make up for this. Negotiations are going on for the restoration of this money before the end of the session. Also, Sen. Tim Mathern, (D-11 Fargo) and Sen. Aaron Krauter (D-31 Regent) are leading a charge for an additional $100 million in disaster aid funds in the form of grants to cities and counties. Estimates of the total damage to the state run as high as $1 billion, though the Federal Emergency Management Agency may come in with 90 percent of the recovery funding. Even so, this would leave a $100 million bill for cities and counties that are already strapped because of the earlier snow removal costs.

In other matters:

--SB 2199 has become the catch-all tax bill, and the lightening rod for differing points of view on whether taxes need to be cut and which types of taxes should be a priority to cut. In its current form, the bill offers nearly $300 million in property tax relief, $80 million in personal income tax relief and $20 million in corporate tax relief. It is the result of many different bills being attached to one package. The Democratic Caucus is strongly behind property tax relief, and feels that’s where the entire bill should be focused. Last fall, voters across the state turned down an income tax cut by large margins. In every legislative district, voters rejected the idea. That means there is not one person in the Legislature who represents a constituency that voted for an income tax cut, and 141 lawmakers who represent a constituency that voted against the cut. In some areas of the state, the idea was rejected by a three-to-one margin.

--HB 1509, a bill to afford greater protections to those signing wind farm leases, is working its way to passage in the final days of the session. If passed, it would be a major benchmark in North Dakota’s movement towards being a wind power state. The bill would bar wind tower companies from keeping lease terms confidential once the lease is signed. Currently, many farmers and other landowners are kept in the dark as to what their neighbors are receiving for wind farm leases with the same terms as the ones they themselves are signing. Advocates of the bill say this prevents many farmers from getting a fair price for their leases because they have no prevailing rates with which to compare them. They also complain the secrecy is unnecessary. Opponents from the wind industry say it will simply drive development elsewhere, thus hurting the very North Dakota landowners it was written to protect.

--Sen. Aaron Krauter (D-31 Regent) will be appearing on Prairie Public’s North Dakota Legislative Review show this week. Krauter will be discussing the Legislature’s budgeting process and the Democrat’s priorities for the remainder of the session. The show airs at 5:30 p.m. central time on Saturday, April 25.



--If you are a disaster victim, assistance for housing and other needs remains available.

You can register online for assistance at www.fema.gov/assistance/register.shtm or by calling 1-(800)-621-3362.

For more information on SBA Disaster Assistance Loans, you can call the SBA at 1-(800)-659-2955 or online at http://www.sba.gov/services/disasterassistance.