Senator Olafson Legislative Report
3-9-09

As I have mentioned in a previous column, the 2009 Legislative session is acknowledged by many, including the longest serving members, as being the busiest they have ever seen. For me personally, I had the time last session to write a legislative report most every week, but that has been a challenge this session, and I have not always been able to write. I know my District 10 colleagues, Representatives Monson and Damschen have had the same challenge, so I hope that between the three of us we are getting some helpful information out to the citizens of our District and area when we are able to write our reports.

The reason this session has been so busy is, of course, directly related to the fact that we have the largest budget surplus in our state’s history. I would like to discuss in this column a couple of the most important financial issues that will be addressed in this session.

The first is the major property tax relief bill, Senate Bill 2199. This bill would provide an appropriation of $295 million, which would be transferred from the permanent oil trust fund to the Department of Public Instruction for the purpose of significantly reducing local school mill levies. The net effect of this legislation would be a significant shift in the responsibility of K-12 education funding from the local level to the state. While I have had some constituents suggest that the state ought to bear a greater share of local school funding, I have only had one constituent tell me that they feel that property taxes are too high and they would like to see some property tax relief. I am not suggesting that only one constituent in District 10 feels that way, but I have only heard the complaint from one constituent. I believe the reason why it is not a big issue in District 10 is because our elected officials in our local political subdivisions have done a good job of managing our tax dollars and the people are for the most part satisfied with their actions. I have always been reluctant for the Legislature to get involved in the issue of property tax relief because it is a local issue and the Legislature does not levy property taxes. Still, the mood across the state is that property taxes in many areas are rising too quickly, so people are asking the state to intervene. SB 2199 will provide a reduction in school mill levies on a dollar-for-dollar basis, and it provides a new lower cap of 110 mills on the maximum mills that can be levied without a vote of the people. I have always said that I will not support any property tax relief bill which does not provide for some accountability and some restrictions on the ability to raise taxes again once the property tax relief is implemented.

The other major financial issue this session is the Federal Stimulus money that will be coming to the state of North Dakota. The information we received just last week is that we will be receiving $573.5 million dollars. We will learn more in the coming days about how we will disburse these dollars. I would like to see that money focused on our many infrastructure needs. I must say that this federal program is an experiment that could backfire and not achieve its intended purpose. Only time will tell. We do know this-the stock market is reeling and many analysts say it is in part a result of the fact that people are skeptical that the stimulus plan will achieve its desired result of turning around the economy. In closing, the Winston Churchill quote of the week that reflects my personal opinion on the chances of success of the stimulus spending: “The idea that a nation can tax itself into prosperity is one of the cruelest delusions which has ever befuddled the human mind.”