701-566-9300Murphy’s Law Blog 2021 | #39 — Subsurface Water Management Reaches Agreement
After several conference committee meetings, today a compromise was agreed upon. HB1437 will require reporting of, but no permit for, tiling of agricultural land less than 80 acres in size. This was agreed upon because time was running out to reach agreement and/ or mostly because reporting of less than 80 was attached in an […]hi
After several conference committee meetings, today a compromise was agreed upon. HB1437 will require reporting of, but no permit for, tiling of agricultural land less than 80 acres in size. This was agreed upon because time was running out to reach agreement and/ or mostly because reporting of less than 80 was attached in an amendment under a sunset clause which will expire on December 31,...
Murphy’s Law Blog 2021 | #38 — Updates on Posting, Septic Systems and Township Roads
Just this Thursday morning, SB2144-the posting bill-was passed on the House side with only 3 dissenting votes. We can pretty much put this one to bed and thank all of the participants. Uniformity for local health units as well as installers where wastewater management is concerned has also been passed and is headed for the […]hi
Just this Thursday morning, SB2144-the posting bill-was passed on the House side with only 3 dissenting votes. We can pretty much put this one to bed and thank all of the participants. Uniformity for local health units as well as installers where wastewater management is concerned has also been passed and is headed for the Governor. Township road funding is now looking at up to $30 million...
Murphy’s Law Blog 2021 | #37 — Posting Bill and NDSU Research & Extension
Tuesday was Day 69 and by all accounts it is heading well into next week when 73 days had been the hope. It may be that this Friday will not count even though legislators will be working because they may not hammer in on a floor session which allows them to “cheat” on counting days. […]hi
Tuesday was Day 69 and by all accounts it is heading well into next week when 73 days had been the hope. It may be that this Friday will not count even though legislators will be working because they may not hammer in on a floor session which allows them to “cheat” on counting days. This would be done because there are many Conference Committees that need to agree on the final language and...
Murphy’s Law Blog 2021 | #36 — ADD and Road Trains Pilot Program Approved
Late last Friday, HB1475 was approved at a level of $10 million for supporting the new Agriculture Development and Diversification (ADD) fund. It sets up a board that will review loans and grants from the fund which have already been looked at by the Bank of North Dakota. Hopefully there are some entrepreneurs that will […]hi
Late last Friday, HB1475 was approved at a level of $10 million for supporting the new Agriculture Development and Diversification (ADD) fund. It sets up a board that will review loans and grants from the fund which have already been looked at by the Bank of North Dakota. Hopefully there are some entrepreneurs that will be aware and eligible to help our industry move forward. SB2026 is the...
Murphy’s Law Blog 2021 | #35 — Posting Bill and Political Equations
SB2144 is the bill that brings forward the agreement reached by the Interim committee. It seems best practice that a Legislature simply accept bills crafted over an interim by all parties, but it rarely is the case. As a legislator said to me this morning, “You have to give input if you really think it […]hi
SB2144 is the bill that brings forward the agreement reached by the Interim committee. It seems best practice that a Legislature simply accept bills crafted over an interim by all parties, but it rarely is the case. As a legislator said to me this morning, “You have to give input if you really think it is right.” And of course, one must. But it really messes things up when that type of...
Murphy’s Law Blog 2021 | #34 — Ag Diversification Development, Water
HB1475 passed out of the Senate yesterday and we are hoping that the House will concur with the changes. This bill creates the ADD fund spelled out in the title and it is currently $10 million for loans and up to 25% of that in grants per biennium. It started out at $150 million; the […]hi
HB1475 passed out of the Senate yesterday and we are hoping that the House will concur with the changes. This bill creates the ADD fund spelled out in the title and it is currently $10 million for loans and up to 25% of that in grants per biennium. It started out at $150 million; the House Approps cut it to $5 million and the Senate to $10 million. The Conference Committee has not yet been...
Murphy’s Law Blog 2021 | #33 — DOT Budget with Biofuels Passed by House, Career and Tech Ed
The Legislature has entered its third phase which is when all the committee hearings are done and the bills go to Conference Committees to reconcile any differences. This Monday morning, the massive $1.6 billion budget for the Department of Transportation was passed by the House in bill SB2012. Included was a new section that encourages […]hi
The Legislature has entered its third phase which is when all the committee hearings are done and the bills go to Conference Committees to reconcile any differences. This Monday morning, the massive $1.6 billion budget for the Department of Transportation was passed by the House in bill SB2012. Included was a new section that encourages the state fleet to utilize ethanol, bio and/or...
Murphy’s Law Blog 2021 | #32 — Head Snapping Speed on Big Bonding
HB1431 was just passed out of Senate Appropriations at warp speed when it was not even on the agenda. Senator Poolman moved to take all of the Senate Finance and Tax amendments out so that the Senate can vote to approve the bill as it came from the House. It was unanimously approved and that […]hi
HB1431 was just passed out of Senate Appropriations at warp speed when it was not even on the agenda. Senator Poolman moved to take all of the Senate Finance and Tax amendments out so that the Senate can vote to approve the bill as it came from the House. It was unanimously approved and that almost certainly means that the following will come to law: $435.5 million for the Fargo Diversion...
Murphy’s Law Blog 2021 | #31 — Culverts Bill, Big Bonding, Getting Done
If you had heard of SB2324, it was a bill Senator Terry Wanzek brought which got a lot of Township, County and Water people talking. A matter of enforcing the law, a constituent was frustrated and pointed out an injustice when a culvert needed to be replaced or right-sized. Law states that the local government […]hi
If you had heard of SB2324, it was a bill Senator Terry Wanzek brought which got a lot of Township, County and Water people talking. A matter of enforcing the law, a constituent was frustrated and pointed out an injustice when a culvert needed to be replaced or right-sized. Law states that the local government is responsible in some cases but if that political subdivision did not follow...
Murphy’s Law Blog 2021 | #30 — State Fleet, NDSU E&R, ADD Fund
ADD is the new Agriculture Diversification and Development fund which was pitched yesterday to Senate Appropriations. This effort to support value-added projects would start with the Bank of North Dakota looking at a proposal. If it met their qualifications but needed a bit more help with the bottom line, they would forward the proposal to […]hi
ADD is the new Agriculture Diversification and Development fund which was pitched yesterday to Senate Appropriations. This effort to support value-added projects would start with the Bank of North Dakota looking at a proposal. If it met their qualifications but needed a bit more help with the bottom line, they would forward the proposal to the ADD board which this bill (HB1475) would create....