Legislative Notebook: All eyes on North Dakota revenue forecast next week

Number crunchers will take center stage at the Capitol next week when a highly anticipated revenue forecast is revealed to lawmakers, laying the foundation for budget decisions the rest of the session. Rep. Blair Thoreson, R-Fargo, said he expects Wednesday’s revenue forecast - prepared with input from Moody’s Analytics - won’t differ vastly from the January forecast from Legislative Council. That forecast projected oil and gas tax revenues of about $8.3 billion in 2015-17, down $4 billion from the December forecast, as well as $5 billion in general fund revenues and transfers, down $550 million from the December forecast.
“I think it’ll be where we were at, or close,” said Thoreson, chairman of the House Appropriations Committee’s Government Operations Division. “I don’t think it’ll be higher, if anything.” Thoreson said lawmakers need to continue to avoid unnecessary spending and build contingencies into the budget to be well-positioned if oil prices rebound. “We’re still in a good place,” he said. “The clouds aren’t maybe quite as high in the sky as they were before.”Unequal pay law passes A bill that cleans up North Dakota’s equal pay statute won final legislative approval this past week, though with significant amendments from the original version. Introduced by Rep. Kylie Oversen, D-Grand Forks, House Bill 1257 passed the Senate 47-0 on Wednesday after clearing the House 87-0 last month. It now awaits the governor’s signature. Under the amended bill, a person alleging gender-based pay discrimination may sue their employer in district court within two years of the last paycheck being issued. If the state labor commissioner decides to investigate the issue, the statute of limitations is paused until the commissioner completes the probe. House lawmakers stripped language stating that if an employee sued in district court and established a disparity in wages between a man and woman doing comparable work, the burden would shift to the employer to rebut the prima facie case. The Greater North Dakota Chamber was among those opposed to that provision. “The law will read easier and clearly state that pay differentials should only exist by measures of production and merit and not gender,” said Sen. Joe Miller, R-Park River, who carried the bill in the Senate.Language misses mark? Last month, House lawmakers tweaked a bill renewing the state’s Higher Education Challenge Fund in order to make sure it can’t be used for athletic scholarships, after roughly $239,000 went toward eight endowed scholarships for athletes over the past two years. Some lawmakers said that wasn’t the intent when they created the fund in 2013. Specifically, they added language to House Bill 1151 to exclude “scholarships intended solely for the benefit of athletics.” But Lt. Gov. Drew Wrigley, who chairs the fund’s committee, told the Senate Education Committee this week that the amended language technically doesn’t preclude scholarships to student-athletes, because the money pays for the academic component and isn’t solely to benefit athletics. Still, Wrigley said if the language - which he says discriminates against student-athletes - survives into the final version of the bill, he’d urge the challenge fund committee to adhere to its intent. “I’m not going to parse words with the Legislature on this,” he said. The Senate Education Committee gave the bill a 6-0 do-pass recommendation Thursday, making no major changes but adding a legislative study of the matching grant program, which provides $1 in state funds for every $2 in private donations raised by college and university foundations. The full Senate approved the amendment Friday and sent the bill back to appropriations.Tracking bills signed into law Keeping track of which bills are adopted by the Legislature and signed into law is just a couple of mouse clicks away. The website for the secretary of state’s office, www.sos.nd.gov, has a page that lists House and Senate bills and resolutions as they’re signed by Gov. Jack Dalrymple and Secretary of State Al Jaeger, right down to the minute. As of Friday, the site listed 31 Senate bills and 20 House bills that had been signed, along with three House resolutions. Nowatzki is a reporter for Forum News Service stationed in Bismarck. Contact him at 701-255-5607 or by email at mnowatzki@forumcomm.com.Number crunchers will take center stage at the Capitol next week when a highly anticipated revenue forecast is revealed to lawmakers, laying the foundation for budget decisions the rest of the session.Rep. Blair Thoreson, R-Fargo, said he expects Wednesday’s revenue forecast - prepared with input from Moody’s Analytics - won’t differ vastly from the January forecast from Legislative Council.That forecast projected oil and gas tax revenues of about $8.3 billion in 2015-17, down $4 billion from the December forecast, as well as $5 billion in general fund revenues and transfers, down $550 million from the December forecast.
“I think it’ll be where we were at, or close,” said Thoreson, chairman of the House Appropriations Committee’s Government Operations Division. “I don’t think it’ll be higher, if anything.”Thoreson said lawmakers need to continue to avoid unnecessary spending and build contingencies into the budget to be well-positioned if oil prices rebound.“We’re still in a good place,” he said. “The clouds aren’t maybe quite as high in the sky as they were before.”Unequal pay law passesA bill that cleans up North Dakota’s equal pay statute won final legislative approval this past week, though with significant amendments from the original version.Introduced by Rep. Kylie Oversen, D-Grand Forks, House Bill 1257 passed the Senate 47-0 on Wednesday after clearing the House 87-0 last month. It now awaits the governor’s signature.Under the amended bill, a person alleging gender-based pay discrimination may sue their employer in district court within two years of the last paycheck being issued. If the state labor commissioner decides to investigate the issue, the statute of limitations is paused until the commissioner completes the probe.House lawmakers stripped language stating that if an employee sued in district court and established a disparity in wages between a man and woman doing comparable work, the burden would shift to the employer to rebut the prima facie case. The Greater North Dakota Chamber was among those opposed to that provision.“The law will read easier and clearly state that pay differentials should only exist by measures of production and merit and not gender,” said Sen. Joe Miller, R-Park River, who carried the bill in the Senate.Language misses mark?Last month, House lawmakers tweaked a bill renewing the state’s Higher Education Challenge Fund in order to make sure it can’t be used for athletic scholarships, after roughly $239,000 went toward eight endowed scholarships for athletes over the past two years. Some lawmakers said that wasn’t the intent when they created the fund in 2013.Specifically, they added language to House Bill 1151 to exclude “scholarships intended solely for the benefit of athletics.”But Lt. Gov. Drew Wrigley, who chairs the fund’s committee, told the Senate Education Committee this week that the amended language technically doesn’t preclude scholarships to student-athletes, because the money pays for the academic component and isn’t solely to benefit athletics.Still, Wrigley said if the language - which he says discriminates against student-athletes - survives into the final version of the bill, he’d urge the challenge fund committee to adhere to its intent.“I’m not going to parse words with the Legislature on this,” he said.The Senate Education Committee gave the bill a 6-0 do-pass recommendation Thursday, making no major changes but adding a legislative study of the matching grant program, which provides $1 in state funds for every $2 in private donations raised by college and university foundations. The full Senate approved the amendment Friday and sent the bill back to appropriations.Tracking bills signed into lawKeeping track of which bills are adopted by the Legislature and signed into law is just a couple of mouse clicks away.The website for the secretary of state’s office, www.sos.nd.gov, has a page that lists House and Senate bills and resolutions as they’re signed by Gov. Jack Dalrymple and Secretary of State Al Jaeger, right down to the minute.As of Friday, the site listed 31 Senate bills and 20 House bills that had been signed, along with three House resolutions.Nowatzki is a reporter for Forum News Service stationed in Bismarck. Contact him at 701-255-5607 or by email at mnowatzki@forumcomm.com.