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Murphy’s Law 2023 | #7 — County and Township funding bills

This morning your NDSGA testified on two bills that would help rural road funding.
The first was SB 2275 and it would move a $400 million bucket called the SIIF –Strategic Investment and Improvement Fund- which fills from the Prairie Dog formula (oil tax is the fountain that fills these buckets). City, County and Township Infrastructure are the next bucket if enough money comes to fill it....

Murphy’s Law Blog 2023 | #6 — Getting Somewhere

Today, I was able to join Representative Paul Thomas and the North Dakota Ag Commissioner in testifying favorably on HB 1148. The bill establishes a $15 million Ag Infrastructure Fund whereby political subdivisions could access up to $2.5 million to help with costs associated with value added projects. As an example, NDSGA used the $25 million re-do of Stutsman County Road 62 for a 10-mile...

NDSGA | Legislative Report — January 20, 2023

North Dakota Farm Bureau Director of Public Policy Pete Hanebutt discusses the proposed carbon capture pipeline.

Murphy’s Law Blog | #5 — Bills Still Pouring In

Today, Rep. Thomas presented HB 1147. It asks for $100 million/year for the next 10 years for county and township bridges. The Upper Great Plains Transportation Institute states that we need about $95 million a year for the next 20 years to get our bridges up to snuff.
 
Earlier, I brought support for Senator Wanzek’s bill which would allow monies to counties and townships for snow removal...

Murphy’s Law 2023 | #4 — Some New Ag Bills Dropped

Today, we saw several bills concerning your industry. Bill numbers and a short summary follow if you would care to look them up:

HB 1356 is about farmland purchased by foreigners (aliens in the bill)
HB 1369 concerns funding fertilizer plant startups.
HB 1370 is on sales tax exemption for on-farm grain bin/storage.
HB 1371 is a description changing some definitions about who or what is...

NDSGA | Legislative Report — January 6, 2023

The appetite to incentivize animal agriculture in the state is high. North Dakota Corn Growers Association Executive Director Brenda Elmer outlines the options available to lawmakers.

NDSGA | Legislative Report — December 30, 2022

The North Dakota legislative session begins Tuesday. In the first update for this session, House Agriculture Committee Chair Paul Thomas discusses the opportunities to expand animal agriculture in the state.

Murphy’s Law 2023 | #3 — Bills Are Starting to Be Introduced

This is the fourth official legislative day and the sixth day of people meeting to make laws. So far, 441 bills have been put into the system for review and most expect there to be somewhere between 1,200 and 1,400, eventually. Last session there were approximately 900. There are a couple of weeks left to introduce, so rumors abound as to what is going to appear, and reasons why more have...

Murphy’s Law 2023 | #2 — Session Begins

Today is the third day of the session but still the first official legislative day (we get 80). This is because they only count as an official day if the House and Senate convene in their respective chambers. They did so on Tuesday to kick it off, but they don’t have enough bills that have made it through committees to act on together. So tomorrow, Friday, they will convene, and it will be...

Murphy’s Law 2023 | #1 — Legislative Ag Committees Chosen

Your legislators know what committees they are on as of yesterday. Senate Agriculture has a wrinkle in that Veterans Affairs committee was blended into it. Same Chairman in is Senator Luick, with member Senators Myrdal, Lemm, Weber, Weston and Hogan filling it out. Moving the Veterans Affairs committee made room for a brand-new committee called Workforce, although the House committees stayed...