Senate Democratic Caucus
End of Week Report (Week 10)
March 13, 2009
Week 10 in the Legislature was dominated by a debate over how the state should spend $575 million in stimulus money coming down from the federal government.
The debate is over whether the state should spend all the stimulus money on top of current spending proposals to stimulate the economy, or whether the state should hold back its own spending in the wake of the stimulus money. This latter approach—recommended by Gov. John Hoeven—would cut the stimulus’s effect almost in half by holding back $233 million in state spending.
Democrats believe this money should be spent as it was intended: to stimulate the economy. There are many crucial needs out in our state including underfunding schools, dilapidated roads and bridges and social service needs such as healthcare. The great news is that our state can solve these problems, while not spending a dime of state money and creating jobs and economic activity for our state.
Most states are using the stimulus money to fill holes in their budgets. North Dakota has the flexibility of having this debate because we are not yet facing the recessionary winds, and accompanying budget gaps, of many other states. Spending the stimulus as intended will help keep us as a happy exception.
In other matters:
— HB 1572, which passed the House earlier this year, is the much-hyped abortion bill that would grant human rights to a fetus. If passed and signed by the Governor, it could set North Dakota up for a court challenge to Roe v. Wade.
The battle over whether North Dakota should go down this road took an interesting turn last week when the North Dakota Catholic Conference— a staunch abortion foe– came out and said it could not support the bill as currently written. The Catholic Conference said it could only support the bill if it were amended to be more of a general statement that human life begins at conception, which would not trigger a court challenge. The group believes that opposing Roe v. Wade with a measure granting human rights to the unborn would not be an effective strategy in the quest to have this law overturned. The law has been vigorously opposed by abortion rights groups such as Planned Parenthood.
–HB 1400, this year’s main K-12 education funding bill, was stripped of preschool funding last week.
The $3.5 million in early childhood funding was cut out in the Senate Education Committee, affecting about 7,000 children across North Dakota. The funding originated in the Governor’s executive budget recommendation and passed the State House.
These funding cuts jeopardize the benefits that accompany widespread preschool education—a head start on learning, better health and earlier socialization. At a time when our state has a budget surplus and a windfall of stimulus money from the federal government, there is no excuse for cutting the funding that supports our children’s pre-school programs.
–SB 2184, a bill to exempt vehicle manufacturer’s rebates from the state excise tax, cleared the House last week after prior Senate approval. The change seeks to remedy the surprised look that many vehicle buyers have on their face when they find out they have to pay taxes on the amount of the rebate they receive when buying a car. For example, if somebody bought a $30,000 vehicle and received a $5,000 manufacturer’s rebate, they would have to pay sales tax on the full $30,000—not on the $25,000 they actually paid for the vehicle. After this change, they will pay tax on the post-rebate amount.
—SB 2217, a bill co-sponsored by Sen. JoNell Bakke, (D-43 Grand Forks), would punish parents of students who habitually skip school. The punishment would be a $500 fine.
Supporters of the bill say it is a necessary step to get parents on the school’s side in making sure their children attend regularly. It would help break the truancy pattern early, and could lead to higher graduation rates.
House members heard testimony on the bill last week. It has already passed the Senate and will be coming up for a vote in the full House.
–HB 1496, a bill to relieve companies of asbestos litigation liability from firms they purchased, passed the Senate on a narrow party-line vote last week. The vote was 24-22, with all Democrats opposed.
The change is supported by the company Crown Cork & Seal and national groups such as the American Legislative Exchange Council. Crown is an example of the situations that this change would indemnify: the company has faced more than $600 million in asbestos liability because it owned an asbestos manufacturer for less than a year in the early 1960s. If the bill is signed by Gov. John Hoeven, workers will lose an avenue to be compensated for asbestos-related health problems.