During the legislative session earlier this year Democrats were in attack mode over two budget concerns. For one thing, they were worried that concerns over low oil prices would have the Republican majority spending too conservatively. “The sky is not falling here,” Senate Minority Leader Mac Schneider, a Democrat from Grand Forks, said. “We don’t…
North Dakota Tax Revenues Continue To Come In Under Forecast
When the August general fund revenue numbers were released by the Office of Management and Budget last month one lawmaker described them to me with one word: “Ugly.” By that measure the September numbers (see below) are even uglier, because they show the state falling further behind revenue forecasts. Last month’s report showed the state’s…
Oil Price Impact: North Dakota Has About 1,500 More Unemployed People Than A Year Ago
The latest numbers on North Dakota’s job market are out, and the state has seen a slight decline in the labor market from a year ago, but not as much as you might expect given some of the headlines about falling oil prices. I’m guessing most states in the nation would like to have a…
Senator Rich Wardner: Critics Of Oil Tax Reforms Fail Economics Test
By making North Dakota a great place to do business, our state has enjoyed unparalleled economic growth and job creation over the last 20 years. Virtually every sector of our economy has grown and provided new opportunities for the people across this great state. Unfortunately, Democrats like Senate Minority Leader Mac Schneider and House Minority…
White Hot To Merely Red Hot: Low Oil Prices Have Been Good To North Dakota
When oil prices began to crash this winter there was some panic in North Dakota. After all, while our state has been able to tout the nation’s strongest economy for the last several years, most of that economic growth was built on the back of the Bakken oil boom. Some worried that a bust was coming.…
Get Your Tin Foil Hats: Democrats Accuse Republicans Of Controlling Oil Prices
Now that the much-dreaded “big trigger” oil tax exemption didn’t kick in thanks to a modest recovery in oil prices Democrats have decided to make political hay over bipartisan oil tax reform to eliminate that trigger in exchange for lower overall rates. Today the Democrats’ legislative leadership – House Minority Leader Kenton Onstad and Senate…
Oil Industry Takes "Significant Blow" As Tax Exemption Fails To Trigger
The dreaded and much-talked-about “big trigger” oil tax exemption will not go into effect on June 1 as a slight rebound in oil prices will put the average price for the month of May above the trigger price. If the exemption had triggered it would have eliminated the state’s 6.5 percent oil extraction tax entirely,…
Three Affiliated Tribes Crying Wolf Over Oil Tax Changes
During the closing weeks of the 2015 legislative session lawmakers went to battle over a contentious reform to the state’s oil tax laws. With the possibility looming of a tax exemption triggered by low oil prices wiping out the 5 percent oil extraction tax entirely and blowing a multi-billion dollar hole in state tax revenues,…
North Dakota General Fund Tax Revenues Down 16.7 Percent In April
Oil prices have fallen, and oil activity in North Dakota has slowed down. This is showing up in the state in all sorts of ways from declines in airline boardings to projected falls in enrollment for oil patch schools. It is starting to show up in the state’s tax revenue streams too per the Office…
Video: North Dakota Senate Passes Oil Tax Reform Bill
It was a large video file to upload so it may be a couple of minutes before it appears After roughly three hours of debate, during which Senate Democrats worked to wring every possible drop of political theater out of the proceedings, the state Senate tonight passed an oil tax reform bill as amended in…