The Center for Medicare

Hello Everyone,



The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services’ Region VIII Office invites you to participate in our toll-free Region VIII Medicare Chat for Stakeholders, Partners, and Providers on May 7, 2009 from 11:00 AM to 12:00 PM Mountain Time (12:00 – 1:00 PM Central Time). We will give a few brief program updates, along with a more comprehensive presentation on the Recovery Audit Contractors (RAC). Join us and enjoy the opportunity to meet Jeff Hinson, our new Acting Regional Administrator, and have your Medicare questions answered by CMS.



This call is open to all stakeholders, partners, and providers who work with the Medicare program in Region VIII, which includes the states of Colorado, Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, Utah, and Wyoming. The phone number for the call and conference ID are included in the attached agenda.



Space for this call is limited. If you would like to attend this call, please register by sending an email to ceceilia.robl@cms.hhs.gov containing the following information:

Your name

Organization name

State you are calling from

Estimated number of people who will be on your line



Please pass this invitation and agenda along to your colleagues and association members. We appreciate your assistance in publicizing this call and welcome any ideas on how CMS can best serve our Region VIII healthcare community. As always, we are looking forward to chatting with you. Attached are the presentation materials.











Lucretia James

Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services

Region VIII

1600 Broadway, Suite 700

Denver, CO 80202

(303) 844-1568

lucretia.james@cms.hhs.gov

North Dakota Taxpayer's Association Comments

The Property Tax Attitude Problem
May 3rd, 2009




Senate Bill 2199 has passed, has been signed by the Governor, and is now law.

State taxpayers will now send $295 million to local school districts for the purpose of reducing property taxes - in one pocket, and out the other.

The next step to resolving the property tax situation is something that cannot be legislated - the attitude of local government officials.

In today's Bismarck Tribune (click here) we learn that the City of Bottineau had neglected to appraise commercial property values for 17 years.

Mayor Douglas Marsden said commercial property in Bottineau had not been appraised since 1992, because the city lacked an appraiser.

"After nearly 20 years, the City Council felt it was time," Marsden said.


"About 200 properties were reviewed and the city's commercial valuation grew from $24.8 million to $33.4 million, city auditor Penny Nostdahl said."


Next comes the swipe -

Marcy Dickerson, the North Dakota Tax Department's supervisor of assessments, said several North Dakota communities have not had an assessment in more than a decade. "I don't doubt one bit that Bottineau needed one," she said. "Taxes don't have to go up because of a valuation, but in the real world they usually do. They are based on the value of the property and not based on the income of the property owner."

Did you get that?

"Taxes don't have to go up because of a valuation, but in the real world they usually do.

This is the problem with property taxes, they don't go up because the school board, city council, park board, or county commission votes for a tax increase - they just go up on their own - whether the local government needs the money or not.


Until local government officials realize they control property tax increases by their own inaction, no amount of state money will fix the problem.

The only solution to property taxes is to require local government to vote on budgets and revenues seperately.

When values go up, local government can leave the mill levy right where it is, and get more revenue without "raising taxes."

The formula raises the taxes automaticly, it is the job of the local government to reduce the mill levy by the same percentage that property values increase.


-Dustin Gawrylow,
Executive Director







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North Dakota Senate Floor Calendar - May 4, 2009

View Senate Floor Calendar
Day 79 - May 04, 2009
Convene Times: 8:00AM

This is a LIVE page and is subject to change. Live Senate Audio | Live Senate Video

7th Order - Select and Divided Committee Reports
Bill
Number Floor
Action AM EM CO Message Committee Committee
Recommends Comm
Vote Primary
Sponsor Versions
SB 2011 Hse Rcd & Am Appropriations Conference Committee Engross
HB 1008 A Sen Rcd & Am Appropriations Do Pass Engross
HB 1014 A Sen Rcd & Am Appropriations Conference Committee Engross
HB 1327 A * Sen Rcd & Am Human Services Conference Committee Weisz Engross

Conference Committees
Bill
Number Chamber EM CO Member Member Member Comm Reported
Back Versions
HB 1003 Senate * Kilzer Holmberg Warner APPR
HB 1003 House * Delzer Thoreson Kaldor APPR
HB 1004 Senate * Wardner Bowman Krauter APPR
HB 1004 House * Thoreson Delzer Glassheim APPR
HB 1008 Senate * Christmann Kilzer Warner APPR 05/02/2009
HB 1009 Senate * Bowman Fischer Krauter APPR
HB 1009 House E * Klein Martinson Onstad APPR 05/02/2009
HB 1012 Senate * Kilzer Fischer Warner APPR
HB 1012 House * Pollert Kreidt Ekstrom APPR
HB 1014 Senate * Grindberg Krebsbach Seymour APPR 05/02/2009
HB 1016 Senate E * Grindberg Wardner Lindaas APPR
HB 1016 House E * Kempenich Thoreson Glassheim APPR 05/02/2009
HB 1020 Senate * Fischer Holmberg Warner APPR
HB 1020 House * Skarphol Wald Williams APPR
HB 1327 Senate * J. Lee Dever Heckaman HUMSER 05/01/2009
HB 1327 House * Hofstad Damschen Holman HUMSER
HB 1377 Senate * Fischer Holmberg Robinson APPR
HB 1377 House * Thoreson Skarphol Kaldor APPR
SB 2001 Senate E * Christmann Holmberg O'Connell APPR
SB 2001 House E * Delzer Thoreson S. Meyer APPR
SB 2003 Senate E * Holmberg Krebsbach Robinson APPR
SB 2003 House E * Skarphol Martinson Williams APPR
SB 2004 Senate * Fischer Kilzer Mathern APPR
SB 2004 House * Kreidt Nelson Kerzman APPR
SB 2009 Senate E * Krebsbach Bowman Lindaas APPR
SB 2009 House E * Svedjan Carlson Onstad APPR
SB 2010 House E * Nelson Kreidt Ekstrom APPR 05/02/2009
SB 2011 Senate * Wardner Krebsbach Warner APPR 05/02/2009
SB 2011 House * Thoreson Dosch Glassheim APPR
SB 2018 Senate E * Grindberg Holmberg Robinson APPR
SB 2018 House E * Delzer Thoreson Kaldor APPR
SB 2332 House E * Weisz Skarphol Holman HUMSER 05/01/2009
SB 2333 House E * Nathe Weisz Ekstrom APPR 05/01/2009

Information Technology Open House at Minot State University

An Open Invitation to Faculty, Staff, & Administrators

What: Stop in at your convenience to see a live demonstration of the future in office communications:

Unified Messaging (integrated email, calendaring, instant messaging, voice mail)
Unified Communications (add audio, video, and Web conferencing)
Voice over IP (VoIP)
Where: Fisher Room, 2nd Floor Student Union

When: Monday, May 4, 2009
Between 2 p.m. & 4 p.m.
Tuesday, May 5, 2009
Between 9 a.m. & 11 a.m.
Between 2 p.m. & 4 p.m.

Hosted by IT Central Staff

North Dakota Department of Human Services

NEWS from the North Dakota Department of Human Services

600 E Boulevard Ave, Bismarck ND 58505-0250



FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

May 1, 2009



Contacts: Maggie Anderson, Medical Services Division Director, 701-328-2321; or Heather Steffl, Public Information Officer, 701-328-4933



Families impacted by layoffs reminded about child health coverage programs and other assistance



BISMARCK, N.D. – The North Dakota Department of Human Services and county social service offices are reminding individuals affected by the layoffs at Bobcat Co. plants in Gwinner and Bismarck that help may be available to fill gaps in family budgets if they lost company-sponsored health benefits along with needed family income.



County social service office directors in Burleigh and Sargent counties have contacted company and union representatives about meeting with affected employees to provide information about available programs. County staffs can help people apply for health coverage programs, child care assistance, supplemental nutrition assistance (food stamps), temporary assistance for needy families, and heating assistance.



“Public assistance programs exist to help individuals and families through tough times and temporary setbacks,” said department Executive Director Carol K. Olson. “If a family has experienced a change in income due to a layoff and has lost employer-sponsored health coverage, we encourage them to contact their county social service office because they may qualify for help.”



Olson said the department’s Medical Services Division has already contacted schools in Gwinner, Milnor, Wyndmere, Oakes, and Lisbon offering to provide brochures about public and private child health coverage programs that serve uninsured children. Contacts are still being made to Bismarck and Mandan schools. These programs include the Healthy Steps State Children’s Health Insurance Program, Medicaid, and the Caring Program. Together they covered approximately1,492 children in Dickey, LaMoure, Ransom, Richland, and Sargent counties, and about 5,178 children in Burleigh and Morton counties in March 2009.



Qualifying income levels vary by program. Parents can receive information and take the first step toward applying for the child health coverage programs by calling the department toll free at 1-877-KIDSNOW (1-877-543-7669) or by contacting their local county social service office.



Information about public assistance programs and county social service office locations is available online at http://www.nd.gov/dhs/services/financialhelp/index.html.



# # #



Sent by:

Heather Steffl

Public Information Officer

N.D. Department of Human Services

701-328-4933

hsteffl@nd.gov

North Dakota Information Technology Council Legislative Report

Final Days of the Session



Today marks the 77th day of the session, and the Legislature must complete its work by Wednesday, May 6, the 80th day of the session. Legislators have been busy in conference committee meetings and floor sessions to meet this deadline.



Conference committee work is nearly complete for all ITCND bills. A final summary of all ITCND tracked bills will be included in the last legislative update, which will be sent the week of May 11.



Status of Key Bills



SB 2016 – Support

SB 2016 received final passage from both chambers this week. This bill is the Job Service North Dakota appropriation. It includes $1.5 million for Workforce 20/20, authorization of $200,000 in federal fiscal stimulus funds for the spidering program and authorization for New Jobs Training.



SB 2018 – Support
SB 2018 remains in conference committee. This bill is the North Dakota Department of Commerce appropriation. ITCND sent the attached memo to the conference committee members regarding the $30,000 lifetime cap on business’s participating in Operation Intern. The committee has not yet made a decision on the following House amendments:

· Removal of the additional $100,000 for InnovateND that was added by the Senate. This brings the general fund appropriation for InnovateND back to the governor’s recommendation of $250,000. There is also $150,000 allocated in special funds, bringing the total InnovateND appropriation to $400,000.

· A $300,000 decrease in the general fund appropriation for Operation Intern from $1.2 million (Governor’s recommendation and Senate version) to $900,000.

· A change in the policy language regarding Operation Intern to limit the funding awarded to an individual company to a lifetime maximum of $30,000. It is unclear if the intention behind “lifetime” is to include past years or to begin on July 1, 2009. If it is to include past years, it is likely many of IT businesses using the program have already used up a significant portion of that amount.



SB 2021 – Support

SB 2021 received final passage from both chambers this week. This bill is the North Dakota Information Technology Department’s (ITD) appropriation bill. It includes:

· $1.8 million for increased bandwidth and replacement infrastructure for internet and video conferencing for K-12 schools. This is consistent Governor’s budget recommendation.

· $2.4 million ($200,000 from general fund, $2.2 million from federal stimulus funds) for the statewide longitudinal data system (LDS). It also includes a contingency clause allowing ITD to use $2.2 million in general funds if stimulus funds are unavailable. The Governor had included $2.2 million in his executive budget for the LDS.

· A section requiring ITD to report to the Interim IT Committee on outsourcing activities.



Status Report



The status report for the bills being tracked by ITCND is attached.



For More Information



If at any time you need additional information or know of others who are interested in receiving this report, contact Annika Nelson, ITCND assistant executive director, at office@itcnd.org or 701-355-4458.



Copies of bill drafts and information about the 61st Legislative Session can be found at the Bills and Resolutions link on the North Dakota Legislative Council website at www.legis.nd.gov/.



How to Contact Your Legislators



During a legislative session, a legislator can be reached at the State Capitol through e-mail or by leaving a message with the legislative telephone message center at 888-NDLEGIS (635-3447) or 701-328-3373 (local). These numbers can also be used to obtain information on bills under consideration. Otherwise, a legislator can be reached by mail or e-mail at the address listed in the legislator's bio online under the 61st Legislative Assembly link at www.legis.nd.gov/assembly/61-2009.





Addressing Mail Correspondence

To a Senator:

Honorable (full name)

State Senator

600 E. Boulevard Ave.

Bismarck, ND 58505



Dear Senator (last name)


To a Representative:

Honorable (full name)

State Representative

600 E. Boulevard Ave.

Bismarck, ND 58505



Dear Representative (last name)




2009 Legislative Deadlines




Date

May 6
Topic

Session is limited to 80 legislative days







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All attachments to this message are listed below.
Click on the name of any of the attachments to download them.

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ITCND Status Report - May 1, 2009.doc Size: 847064 bytes

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Call to Action.2018.doc Size: 104398 bytes

North Dakota Democratic Senate Report

Senate Democratic Caucus

End of Week Report (Week 17)

April 30, 2009



Week 17 in the Legislature marked the slow grinding march towards the end of the session. Over the course of the week, lawmakers split up into small groups known as conference committees to settle final differences in legislation. Three members of the House and three members of the Senate make up a conference committee. For most of the week, the House and Senate started early in the morning, going in and out of session throughout the day and into the night. This schedule, alternating between conference committees acting on bills and the floor passing them out, made up the rhythm of the session’s end.



The session is headed towards what might turn out to be a record breaker. Friday marked the 77th day. The all-time record is 78 days, which was set during the 2007 session. This is also the first session that will end in May. The reason: In late March, Legislative leaders decided to recess the session so lawmakers in flood-affected areas could get back home. Also, normal legislative action could not take place during this time period because travel across the state was prohibited or severely restricted, meaning people who needed to be at the Capitol in Bismarck for hearings or other facets of the legislative process could not get there.



So what’s the hold up? More than 35 conference committees are still meeting to resolve differences on various pieces of legislation. Some of the major issues left to be voted on are HB 1400, the K-12 education funding formula and HB 1012, the Human Services budget. This year’s education bill will be the culmination of two years of work by an independent education panel formed to define and implement educational adequacy standards after the last session. It is also responsible for distributing the education portion of the federal stimulus to each school district in an equitable manner. The Human Services budget, HB 1012, is the largest, most complicated budget in state government. It is also being held up by a debate over whether the Healthy Steps program (also known as SCHIPS) should be raised to 200 percent of poverty or whether it should remain at the current level of 150 percent of poverty.



In other matters:

--SB 2199, a major tax reform measure, passed both chambers of the Legislature and was signed into law by Gov. John Hoeven last week. The measure provides $395 million in tax relief to North Dakotans over the next two years. Of that, $295 million will be delivered as property tax relief funneled from state government, through individual school districts across the state, and into the pockets of North Dakota property tax payers. Another $90 million will be delivered in the form of income tax reductions, and an additional $10 million will be passed on to corporations in the state in the form of a reduction in North Dakota’s corporate tax rate. Property tax reduction has been a pillar of the Democratic Caucus, and most every member supported the tax relief package. At a time when many important programs in our state remain underfunded and our roads remain in disrepair after a season of snow and flooding, many members felt there were better uses for the $100 million in other tax reductions. However, the hope is that all these reductions will work together to keep our economy above water, and to allow North Dakotans to share in some of the state’s budget surplus.



--HB 1554, a bill to regulate extraterritorial zoning, remained in conference committee last week as lawmakers worked towards a solution. The bill is the culmination of anger on the part of rural residents about the state’s current extraterritorial zoning law, which allows large cities to dictate zoning requirements in a band that extends out four miles from its border. The current compromise being considered by the conference committee calls for city zoning control over the first two miles of an extraterritorial zoning area, and mixed control for the outer two miles. The mixed control means that city officials would have to consult with county, township, or other local officials elected by residents of the band in deciding how that area should be zoned.



-- HB 1012, the Human Services budget, has become the site for the latest battle over the state’s Healthy Steps (SCHIP) funding level. Since the beginning of the session, Gov. John Hoeven, all Democrats and some Republicans have been advocating raising the state’s SCHIP income requirement to 200 percent of the poverty line, or $42,400 for a family of four. Others are opposed for ideological reasons. Such an increase would allow more families to obtain health insurance for their children and would bring North Dakota closer in line to other states that offer this program. After a separate bill to raise the standards was defeated, attention has now turned to making it part of the Human Services Budget.



--HB 1216, a bill to ease regulations on out-of-state pheasant hunters, passed the Legislature last week. The bill allows out-of-state hunters to hunt three times for five days each during a pheasant hunting season. The current out of state licenses calls for two periods of seven days each. The bill has created tension between in-state hunters who want a rich and bountiful pheasant population to hunt for themselves, and some rural areas that feel the change would be a boon to the economy because lodges, hotels, shops and other businesses that cater to hunters could do so for three weekends instead of just two. However, this issue may not be closed as the Senate may reconsider its actions and vote again on this bill.