701-566-9300Murphy’s Law Blog 2017 | #15
This blog got delayed due to technical issues… OnThursday, March 2 there was a hearing for SB2047. This bill came out of the Water Topics Overview interim committee and then through Senate Natural Resources to eventually pass and cross to House Natural Resources. The hearing was all in favor, no opposition. Like its counterpart that […]hi
This blog got delayed due to technical issues… OnThursday, March 2 there was a hearing for SB2047. This bill came out of the Water Topics Overview interim committee and then through Senate Natural Resources to eventually pass and cross to House Natural Resources. The hearing was all in favor, no opposition. Like its counterpart that passed the House (HB1244), SB2047 is about the ability of...
Murphy’s Law Blog 2017 | #14
On Wednesday, the Legislature reconvened and I listened to a couple of Senate Finance and Tax bills that potentially could have gone sideways but it looks like they will stay in bounds. HB1044 related to the uniform definition of a primary sector business. The new crush plant planned for Jamestown, for instance, can qualify for […]hi
On Wednesday, the Legislature reconvened and I listened to a couple of Senate Finance and Tax bills that potentially could have gone sideways but it looks like they will stay in bounds. HB1044 related to the uniform definition of a primary sector business. The new crush plant planned for Jamestown, for instance, can qualify for a 10-year (Ag related) property tax exemption up to 100% if the...
Murphy’s LawBlog 2017 | #13
On Tuesday morning the House passed the Public Service Commission (PSC) elevator bill as amended without any dissent. As passed, HB1126 makes little change from the way the law has read for the past several years. It does make a change allowing electronic communications for the subsection on insolvency as well as a fiscal note […]hi
On Tuesday morning the House passed the Public Service Commission (PSC) elevator bill as amended without any dissent. As passed, HB1126 makes little change from the way the law has read for the past several years. It does make a change allowing electronic communications for the subsection on insolvency as well as a fiscal note of saving $88,000 from the PSC budget due to the reduction of 1.25...
Murphy’s Law Blog 2017 | #12
Back from the break that I had arranged before I took this job, I have spent the day catching up on Legislative activity. On SB2225, the trespass bill which would automatically post all land, I spoke with Senator Kelly Armstrong this morning. He related that at this point it has been amended to a pilot […]hi
Back from the break that I had arranged before I took this job, I have spent the day catching up on Legislative activity. On SB2225, the trespass bill which would automatically post all land, I spoke with Senator Kelly Armstrong this morning. He related that at this point it has been amended to a pilot program consisting of 5 counties that could apply. It has components like registration of...
Murphy’s Law Blog 2017 | #11
Just when I thought this legislative session had reached a fevered pitch, it dawned on me that was not the case. Instead, I had a real fever and had to take some time away last week. Now back at it, the last couple of days have been in Fargo at the Northern Soybean Expo along […]hi
Just when I thought this legislative session had reached a fevered pitch, it dawned on me that was not the case. Instead, I had a real fever and had to take some time away last week. Now back at it, the last couple of days have been in Fargo at the Northern Soybean Expo along with many of you learning about commodity markets, plant genetics and how funny John Phipps of the U.S. Farm Report is....
Murphy’s Law Blog 2017 | #10
Eight hundred nine pieces of legislation were “dropped in the hopper” or introduced this month. Other than a possible Delayed Bill or two, that should be it. Now it’s about survival in some form or another to avoid extinction. Very few bills that become law are able to ditch alterations. Maybe in Nebraska (the only […]hi
Eight hundred nine pieces of legislation were “dropped in the hopper” or introduced this month. Other than a possible Delayed Bill or two, that should be it. Now it’s about survival in some form or another to avoid extinction. Very few bills that become law are able to ditch alterations. Maybe in Nebraska (the only state with one chamber) it happens less, I dunno. My point is simply that from...
Murphy’s Law Blog 2017 | #9
A lot going on that has effect on producers these past two days. Yesterday in the Senate Ag Committee were two bills that took the entire day. The first, SB2245, was about 45 minutes long and is a farmer-friendly idea about using state owned land for wetland mitigation by creating a kind of wetlands bank. […]hi
A lot going on that has effect on producers these past two days. Yesterday in the Senate Ag Committee were two bills that took the entire day. The first, SB2245, was about 45 minutes long and is a farmer-friendly idea about using state owned land for wetland mitigation by creating a kind of wetlands bank. The idea is that a farmer who wants to make a swap could potentially use public land. One...
Murphy’s Law Blog 2017 | #8
Today was a big step in reduction of property taxes for ND. This bill, SB2206, is the culmination of an effort that began in 1997 to take responsibility for state mandates that the counties had to pay for where Social Services were concerned. Last session had a buy back for program services and this bill […]hi
Today was a big step in reduction of property taxes for ND. This bill, SB2206, is the culmination of an effort that began in 1997 to take responsibility for state mandates that the counties had to pay for where Social Services were concerned. Last session had a buy back for program services and this bill eliminates the 20 mill Social Services levy so that counties cannot backfill. The intent...
Murphy’s Law Blog 2017 | #7
It’s been kind of a long week and its Tuesday. This is nearly the end of new bills dropping as 40 came in last night. From now on there are only delayed bills and that means single digits at most. So it is done raining bills and we will understand the bigger picture to a […]hi
It’s been kind of a long week and its Tuesday. This is nearly the end of new bills dropping as 40 came in last night. From now on there are only delayed bills and that means single digits at most. So it is done raining bills and we will understand the bigger picture to a greater degree by the end of next week or so. There are some gorillas in the room concerning Agriculture, though.
Last week...
Murphy’s Law Blog 2017 | #6
Yesterday, the House Ag Committee heard testimony on the Public Service Commission elevator bill (HB1126). I had to be hopping in and out of that one to cover some of the Human Services budget hearings – as the largest single budget of our state government it is deemed relevant to try to understand at least […]hi
Yesterday, the House Ag Committee heard testimony on the Public Service Commission elevator bill (HB1126). I had to be hopping in and out of that one to cover some of the Human Services budget hearings – as the largest single budget of our state government it is deemed relevant to try to understand at least at a basic level- and, much more directly relevant, the Quick Take bill (SB2047). That...