Today may very well be the last day of the 2017 legislative session. Lawmakers are hoping to be completed by this evening. We’ll see if that happens, but we hardly need to reach the official end point to conclude that it has been a rough session for the lawmakers and the state. Profligate spending during…
Will Governor Doug Burgum Sign a Bill Instituting a $10 Million Tax Hike on Phone Lines?
Not once but twice during his campaign last year Governor Doug Burgum signed pledges to oppose increases in the state’s taxes and fees. In March Burgum signed a pledge circulated by a group of NDGOP district leaders which stated that he would “oppose and veto any and all efforts to increase taxes or user fees.”…
What if Those Demanding Trump’s Taxes Are the New Birthers?
Remember the birther movement? It was an ugly bit of American politics from the Obama era. In fact, our current President was a major figure in birtherism. The conspiracy, for the uninitiated, was that President Obama isn’t really a naturally-born U.S. citizen and thus was ineligible to be President. Feeding into the conspiracy was President…
Leave It to Democrats to Refer to a $591 Million Oil Tax Increase as a Cut
When Democrats see spending growth slow they call it a spending cut. When Democrats don’t get as large a tax hike as they’d like they call it a tax cut. Back in 2015 state lawmakers, over the protests of most of the Democratic caucus, passed a reform bill for oil taxes removing a massive exemption…
Video: Governor Doug Burgum Talks Obamcare and Corporate Tax Cuts on Fox Business
This Fox Business segment featuring Governor Doug Burgum actually broadcast back on Monday, but I just got around to watching it and thought it was pretty interesting. As Republicans in Washington D.C. grapple with how to unravel Obamacare, and replace it with something new, Burgum was asked which parts of the law he’d like to…
Trying to Solve a Spending Problem With Tax Hikes Is a Fool’s Errand
Here’s a simple truth about governance: Spending increases are easy. Spending cuts are really, really hard. North Dakota is currently learning that lesson. Per data put together by Legislative Council, our state’s general fund spending increased more than 167 percent from the 2007-2009 biennium to the peak of the oil boom in the 2013-2015 biennium.…
Tax Status of #NoDAPL Protest Contributions Is a Gray Area
Back in early December I wrote that the #NoDAPL movement against the Dakota Access Pipeline had taken in, at that time, over $11.2 million through some 285 different online fundraising accounts. That’s a lot of money flowing to a lot of different places, most of which seem to be individuals or groups without any sort…
Governor Doug Burgum Has Broken His Pledges on Tax and Fee Hikes
Not once but twice during his campaign last year Governor Doug Burgum signed pledges to oppose increases in the state’s taxes and fees. In March Burgum signed a pledge circulated by a group of NDGOP district leaders which stated that he would “oppose and veto any and all efforts to increase taxes or user fees.”…
Marty Riske: Raising Taxes on Tobacco and Vaping Is Not a Good Solution
This November, the voters of North Dakota will have several divergent ballot measures to weigh in on. One such measure is a brazen attempt to socially engineer behavior with the state’s tax code. Newspaper editorial boards such as the Fargo Forum and Grand Forks Herald have already decided this tax increase is the way to go,…
North Dakota Democrats Think You’re Not Paying Enough in Taxes
The drift of North Dakota’s Democrats into political irrelevance often gets blamed on how far left their national party has gone. It’s hard to win elections in North Dakota when your fellow Democrats nationally are advancing (as one example) a federal regulatory regime which would be devastating for North Dakota’s primary industries. But there is…
