701-566-9300Murphy’s Law Blog 2017 | #28
A big part of the whole scheme with making laws is relationships. Lawmaker to Lawmaker, Lobbyist to Lawmaker and Lobbyist to Lobbyist are amongst them. Throw in those from the Executive branch and staff and pretty soon there are a lot of people to know and get along with if one is determined to be […]hi
A big part of the whole scheme with making laws is relationships. Lawmaker to Lawmaker, Lobbyist to Lawmaker and Lobbyist to Lobbyist are amongst them. Throw in those from the Executive branch and staff and pretty soon there are a lot of people to know and get along with if one is determined to be friendly. Not all take that path, but generally it is acknowledged that one gets more with honey...
Murphy’s Law Blog 2017 | #27
This is the week leading up to Easter and the Capitol natives are getting restless. It’s horse to the barn kind of stuff about wanting to go home. Everyone wants to know when we are getting out and no one knows. But enough of that and on to the budgets that matter to growers around […]hi
This is the week leading up to Easter and the Capitol natives are getting restless. It’s horse to the barn kind of stuff about wanting to go home. Everyone wants to know when we are getting out and no one knows. But enough of that and on to the budgets that matter to growers around our state.
The DOT budget (2012) had their first conference committee this morning and there are several...
Murphy’s Law Blog 2017 | #26
Tiling bills look like they are about to be resolved as the chairman of the House Ag committee has decided to concur with the Senate treatment of HB1390. They will then kill SB2263 on the House floor. Amongst the major differences between 1390 and current law is that Water Resource District board members must undergo […]hi
Tiling bills look like they are about to be resolved as the chairman of the House Ag committee has decided to concur with the Senate treatment of HB1390. They will then kill SB2263 on the House floor. Amongst the major differences between 1390 and current law is that Water Resource District board members must undergo a course on water management each of their 3 year terms, a drainage...
Murphy’s Law Blog 2017 | #25
This morning I sat in on the first conference committee of the session. Usually they last half an hour and this one went 10 minutes over before they agreed to try later. ANYWAY, it was a bill (HB1339, which I had not previously followed but probably should have) that came in which would have dropped […]hi
This morning I sat in on the first conference committee of the session. Usually they last half an hour and this one went 10 minutes over before they agreed to try later. ANYWAY, it was a bill (HB1339, which I had not previously followed but probably should have) that came in which would have dropped the threshold percentage to appeal an assessed water project from 25 percent to 0. The House...
Murphy’s Law Blog 2017 | #24
Late on Friday afternoon in House Appropriations, a motion was made by Representative Streyle to eliminate any reference to SBARE, (State Board of Agricultural Research and Education) which is chaired by Mike Beltz of Hillsboro. SBARE was established by the Legislature in 1997 to be responsible for policy and budgeting for the ND Ag Experiment […]hi
Late on Friday afternoon in House Appropriations, a motion was made by Representative Streyle to eliminate any reference to SBARE, (State Board of Agricultural Research and Education) which is chaired by Mike Beltz of Hillsboro. SBARE was established by the Legislature in 1997 to be responsible for policy and budgeting for the ND Ag Experiment Station and later for NDSU Extension Service. More...
Murphy’s Law Blog 2017 | #23
You may recall that the last couple of sessions the Legislature “bought back” 12 percent of county budgets to take the pressure off of property taxes. Last session we worked hard to make it a bill that would fund the state mandated part of social services that are delivered by the counties. It failed even […]hi
You may recall that the last couple of sessions the Legislature “bought back” 12 percent of county budgets to take the pressure off of property taxes. Last session we worked hard to make it a bill that would fund the state mandated part of social services that are delivered by the counties. It failed even though the Governor was pushing it, so the buyback continued. This session SB2206...
Murphy’s Law Blog 2017 | #22
You may recall that the last couple of sessions the Legislature “bought back” 12 percent of county budgets to take the pressure off of property taxes. Last session we worked hard to make it a bill that would fund the state mandated part of social services that are delivered by the counties. It failed even […]hi
You may recall that the last couple of sessions the Legislature “bought back” 12 percent of county budgets to take the pressure off of property taxes. Last session we worked hard to make it a bill that would fund the state mandated part of social services that are delivered by the counties. It failed even though the Governor was pushing it, so the buyback continued. This session SB2206...
Murphy’s Law Blog 2017 | #21
Discussions with the Water, Tax, Transportation and other Worlds have us coming to conclusions that will go to the floor within the next week and then to Conference Committees. One experienced lobbyist stated that, were he a betting man, he would put a grand on the Legislature lasting at least to day 75 of the […]hi
Discussions with the Water, Tax, Transportation and other Worlds have us coming to conclusions that will go to the floor within the next week and then to Conference Committees. One experienced lobbyist stated that, were he a betting man, he would put a grand on the Legislature lasting at least to day 75 of the 80 allowed. Leadership has stated that they are trying to be done around Day 72, but...
Murphy’s Law Blog 2017 | #20
Yesterday was spent partly in Senate Finance and Tax as the committee worked on HB1361 which is about property tax caps. Each of the Senators has a position, with Chairman Cook stating that for the past five budgets, Morton county has not had a mill increase, but with a 3 percent cap they probably would […]hi
Yesterday was spent partly in Senate Finance and Tax as the committee worked on HB1361 which is about property tax caps. Each of the Senators has a position, with Chairman Cook stating that for the past five budgets, Morton county has not had a mill increase, but with a 3 percent cap they probably would have had one every year. Senator Laffen said he was against it on the basis of taking away...
Murphy’s Law Blog 2017 | #19
Big news. Today, upon the 5-0 Do Not Pass Recommendation of the Senate Agriculture Committee, the floor unanimously followed that lead on HB1282. It failed 46-0 with only one Senator absent. It would appear that the Commodity Groups were heard. It was a big water day in Senate Energy and Natural Resources. They took more […]hi
Big news. Today, upon the 5-0 Do Not Pass Recommendation of the Senate Agriculture Committee, the floor unanimously followed that lead on HB1282. It failed 46-0 with only one Senator absent. It would appear that the Commodity Groups were heard.
It was a big water day in Senate Energy and Natural Resources. They took more testimony on Quick Take – this time on the House version, HB1244. It...