Is North Dakota in a Position to Pick Up More of the Medicaid Tab?

Is North Dakota in a position to take on more of Medicaid’s funding? That is an important question to consider while Congress debates health care reform. Under the rushed plan passed by the House of Representatives, Medicaid would be shifted to a new funding formula. Reports suggest the new formula would limit federal expenditures and […]

NDGOP: “…New Tax Rate would put LESS money into Oil Tax Buckets.”

The political debate surrounding the Republican decision to cut the oil extraction tax in 2015 continues over two years later. Rightly so, because this rushed change to North Dakota’s oil tax collections is having profound long-term impacts on our state budget. Moreover, the Republican decision to cut the oil extraction tax was passed and implemented […]

Burgum Vetoes Public Employee Retirement Power Grab by Carlson

Governor Doug Burgum line-item vetoed a number of bills over the last couple of days. One of the budgets Burgum line-item vetoed was the Public Employees and Retirement System (PERS). Make no mistake; this was a direct rebuttal to House Majority Leader Al Carlson. You may recall, the end of the session was drawn out […]

House Overrides Burgum Line-Item Veto on Parks and Recreation Budget

Governor Burgum issued a line-item veto to the state’s Parks and Recreation Department  budget to remove special privileges placed in by an amendment. Section 13 of HB 1019 directs the Department to establish rules to the state park marinas to allow only individuals and their immediate families who currently rent a slip to swim in […]

Day 75: Who is going to Blink?

Tonight at 6:30 in Bismarck the “Sine Die” party is scheduled to take place. This party is the celebration held by legislators to mark the end of the session. It’s meant to be a joyous occasion. However, over the last few sessions, it’s resembled more of a junior high dance with the Senate members huddled […]