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April 23, 2009 Page 3
I'd estimate about 200 county
and township officials from all
across North Dakota last week at-
tended to state their case for the
Legislature to add money to North
Dakota's transportation budget for
state help in paying for the costs
of making road and bridge repairs
when the flood waters recede.
The comments at the meeting
revealed that the damage to our
State's rural roads is wide-spread -
only Golden Valley County bor-
dering Montana was not experi-
encing flooding.
The local officials spoke about
how they already need financial
help and will need much. much,
more when repairs are made to
correct damage, which can't even
be assessed at this time as so much
of the rural road system is still
under water.
The decision of county and
township officials was to adopt a
united effort to request restoration
of the $120 million which, by the
House Appropriations Committee,
has been removed from the 2009-
2011 governor's budget with the
stated purpose that it be reserved
for the 2011-2013 state highway
budget.
I did get a chance to visit with
the county officials in Dunn,
Stark, and Morton counties and
assured them that all of the repre-
sentatives on my side of the aisle
are solidly behind restoring the
$120 million currently removed
from the governor's budget.
Representatives of the counties
and townships met with senators
and representatives from their dis-
tricts all day, and we are hopeful
that the minority amendments to
SB 2012 will be adopted and the
transportation budget money will
be made available for local gov-
ernments to pay for these extraor-
dinary costs.
To me, the upcoming local ex-
penditures which will be required
to repair flood damage to county
By Rep. Shirley Meyer
To me, the up-
coming local ex-
penditures which
will be required to
repair flood dam-
age to county and
township roads and
bridges will be one
of the biggest finan-
cial calamities to hit
North Dakotans in
Other Views
By Lloyd Omdahl
decades.
Secu
\
rity committee yaks about stimulus
"We just gotta get our share of
that stimulus money floating around
the country,'~ Orville Jordan bel-
lowed as he entered the community
hall where members of the town's
,Homeland Security Committee were
and township roads and bridges assembled to serve as the leading
will be one of the biggest financial Midwest bulwark against terrorism
calamities to hit North Dakotans and other horribles.
in decades. = --
's The 13 electors were seated along
There . already been nature-re- the south wall. two under each win-
lated expenses over the past few dow, so they could all bask in the
years and many townships are al- warm April sun during the meeting.
ready hurting big time. They As the odd-man out, Holger Danske
don't need more expenses for re- dozed by himself in the stuffed chair
N '
pairs of Motherature s rampag- he had rescued from the Tollyville
ing. landfill by hauling it on top of his
Hopefully, we can convince a Henry J. (Some guy from Omaha
majority of the legislators in each said he would buy the car for $5000
chamber to vote to restore the if it still had back doors.)
money originally contained in the "We went through all of this in
governor's budget and the state February," Madeleine Morgan re-
will have the resources to start ad- minded the assembly.
equately aiding counties and "Yeah,'" exclaimed Orville,"but
townships in 2009.
we didn't have a shovel-ready proj-
Conference committees are in
ect then. Good thing! We now know
full swing. We had over 160 con- that the big money is going to banks.
ferenee committees left on the To get our share, we need a bank."
68th day - looks to me like we are "A bank?" blurted Committee
going to be putting in some long. Chairperson Ork Dorken. "Who's
long days if we have any hope of
getting done.
Thanks for all of the calls, let-
ters, and e-mails. I can be reached
at @nd.gov or by phone,at 888-
635-3447.
Capitol Notebook
By Dave Drovdal
How to contact your North Dakota
Congressional delegation
Sen. Kent Conrad
United States Senate
530 Hart Senate Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20510-3403
202-224-2043
https:llconrad.senate.govlcontact/webform.cfm
Sen. Byron L. Dorgan
United States Senate
322 Hart Senate Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20510-3405
202-224-2551
senator@dorgan.senate.gov
Rep. Earl Pomeroy
United States House of Representatives
1501 Lon worth House Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20515-3401
202-225-2611
http:llwww.house.govlformpoff eroy/zipauth.htm
The lake is starting to show signs
• of spring. There is some open water
around the edges in places. The ice
is even taking on a darker color
after the recent warm weather and
light shower. People are starting to
get optimistic that we finally have
winter in the rear view mirror.
We aren't the only ones thinking
spring. It seems most every morn-
ing I hear a turkey gobbling not
very far away. The robins are
singing, pileated woodpeckers are
sounding off, and pairs of Canada
geese are honking on the ice or
overhead. Some of this of course is
hormonal, but one thing is certain:
Spring is chipping away at the win-
ter ice.
I have been seeing a few robins
in the park behind our house, and I
am hoping one will nest in our yard.
They are always fun to hear and
got money to invest in a bank?"
"We don't need money," replied
Little Jimmy, a home-schooling
graduate student who had the only
computer in town. "To get stimulus
money, we need debt - big debt - so
they can bail us out."
"You mean we could start a bank-
rupt bank and get money for being in
the hole?" queried Einar Stamstead.
"The bigger the hole, the better,"
Little Jimmy responded. "It would
be the best thing next to serving on
the Blue Cross Board of Directors."
Just then the north wind whipped
the door out of Einar Torvald's hands
as he entered the hall. "What are you
guys yakking about?" he shouted as
he subdued the noisy door.
"Yakking!" thundered Holger as
he suddenly came to life. "That's it!
Yaks! I heard at the Bingo Bar &
Convenience Mart in Newton that
the Wahpeton zoo got yaks from Ne-
braska. We need yaks."
day of the 80 days that we are al-
lowed to meet in session. At last
count there were 184 conference
committees that have to meet and With oil prices bordering on the
work out differences in bills before target price, it has changed the atti-
we complete our work. Many of tude of the last days of this session.
these conference committees will House Bill 1235 that has an oil in-
have to meet only once but there will centive was scheduled to be voted on
be several that will drag on for days. the floor and then sent to the gover-
The flooding across most of nor f or his signature. The bill was
North Dakota is certainly having an similar to an oil drilling incentive
effect on this session, that we passed last session. The
Last week, county commissioners Legislature has assumed the trigger
from all corners of thestate were at was going to apply, which resulted in
the capitol sharing their stories of de- this incentive having a zero fiscal
stmction caused by the flood waters, impact to the state. If the trigger
Even before that legislators had dis- doesn't apply, the fiscal note to the
cussed the fact that we need to figure state is around a $78 million loss and
out how the state can best help local with all the recent requests resulting
subdivisions with their finances. To from disasters, the incentive will be
just send money out on old formulas hard to pass. The House has decided
wouldn't necessarily get the most to place the bill in a conference corn-
dollars to the areas that need it. mittee to try and find an alternative
County and township roads have that will pass. HB1304, which will
suffered more than state highways, return more oil impact dollars to the
and if we invest the dollars in the counties, has been placed in a con-
highway fund and distribute it ac- ference committee. The bill has just
cording to the old formula most of a few small details that will be
the dollars end up used on state high- worked out alad then sent back to
ways. The Legislature is looking at both chambers for passage. As it
ways to fund directly to the counties now reads there will be $28 million
and townships.
m m m
"I didn't know there were yaks in
Nebraska," Madeleine ventured with
a tone of skepticism.
"Yeah! The Wahpeton zoo will be
a great tourist attraction," Holger af-
firmed. "We could do that. Yaks live
on grass. Half of the town is grass. We
could feed a whole gaggle of them
and outdo Wahpeton for tourists."
"But yaks are mountain animals
and we're sort of boggy around
here," Little Jimmy countered.
"Well, what's ~ high about Ne-
braska? Or Wahpeton? We cbuld run
them up to cemetery ridge once a
week for a dose of light air," Chief
Security Officer Garvey Erfald sug-
gested. "It'll create real jobs. We'll
need herders, tour guides, admission
collectqrs - a whole lot of people."
Suddenly, Ork put the issue to a
vote. To his chagrin, seven wanted
the bank and seven wanted yaks.
"Okay, go home and think about
it," Ork decided. "We'll vote again
in May when gardening is done. As
for now, you can sit here and yak all
day. I'm going to plant my peas."
That seemed to end the meeting.
At least, everybody left.
Income tax relief allows broader sharing of surplus
We have now reached the 67th additional dollars divided among the
watch during the summer, and hav-
ing a nest nearby makes summer a
little more official. Robins are per-
manent residents over much of the
United States. As we all know,
robins have adapted well to our
yards, parks, golf courses, and sub-
urban and rural settings. They cer-
tainly must be at the top, or close to.
the most widely recognized bird.
Robins probably introduced
more kids to nature study than any
other animal. Not only are they
common, but they typically will
nest on a wide variety of places be-
tween "five and fifteen feet above
the ground. Nests can be found in
crotches of trees, on branches, and
on a variety of structures that pro-
vide a small platform and some pro-
tection. Kids playing outside have a
knack for finding those robin nests.
Many of you can probably re-
cities, schools, townships find coun-
ties in the oil fields. Legislators from
oil counties hope to include $2 mil-
lion additional dollars for the impact
grant fund. I have been fortunate to
be assigned on both of these confer-
ence committees and will be able to
monitor the progress first hand.
The third conference comlfiittee
that I hope I will be assigned to is the
governor's $295 million property tax
relief bill. SB2199 was amended in
the house to include an additional
$100 million in income tax relief.
Many members on the House Fi-
nance and Tax Committee and the
majority on the floor felt that there
are a number of North Dakota tax-
payers who don't pay property tax,
but do pay other taxes and they
should be allowed to share in the so
called surplus revenue the state col-
'lected. This bill has yet to be as-
signed into a conference committee
but all these and other bills need to
be acted upon within two weeks.
If you have concerns you can still
contact me at ddrovdal@nd.gov. The
session will most likely last into the
first days of May, and we are all
looking forward to returning back to
our real lives.
m
By Chuck Lura
Robins probably introduced more kids to
nature study than any other animal. Not
only are they common, but they typically
will nest on a wide variety of places between
five and fifteen feet above the ground.
member the first time you peered nest. Over the next few weeks, of
into a robin's nest as a kid and saw course, the eggs, hatchlings, and
those beautiful blue eggs. It proba- fledglings had to be closely studied.
bly led to your first "nature study." If you are a nature lover, dedicated
Observations were made on thebirder, or have chosen biology as
size, shape, and materials of the your career choice,robins are prob-
ably a factor.
So "'When the Red Red Robin
Comes Bob Bob Bobbin Along," it
is time to take a break from your
work to relax and enjoy one of our
more common and observable
birds. For you children of the
1950s, you might even start singing
that old Bobby Day tune "Rockin'
Robin." As for you children of the
1960s who were mesmerized by
color television egery night, you
probably were absorbed by the dy-
namic duo, Batman (a.k.a. Adam
west) and Robin: "To the Batcave,
Robin!" Batman should have told
Robin to get "out" of the Batcave
and watch the bird for which he is
named and why his shirt is red!
"Get Out and Enjoy!"
(Lura is a biology professor at
MSU-Bottineau and lives at Lake
Metigoshe. lura@ srt.com )
Action of
President is
detrimental to
many towns,
cities
To the editor:
If President Obama wants to
stimulate the economy, why is he
actively pursuing a course that
would be detrimental to many towns
and cities across the nation?
The president wants to repeal
Section 199 of the tax code. The
cost of this repeal would exceed $13
billion. That's billions of dollars
that will not be applied to the devel-
opment and production of U.S. do-
mestic fossil fuels. The end result
would be greater dependence on for-
eign oil. Whose economy is h~ try-
ing to stimulate?
The city of Mandan would suffer
greatly if Obama succeeds in his
quest to punish oil refineries. He
wants to punish an industry that di-
rectly created 7,719 full-time jobs
and indirectly supported 38 500 full-
time equivalent jobs and $2 billion
in retail sales.
There is no reason to single the
oil and gas industry out for this tax
hike. They are keeping us supplied
with domestically produced energy
and providing much needed jobs
across the state. The Section 199
deduction should be left in place for
all U.S. companies.
Sen. Dwight Cook
Rep. RaeAnn Kelsch
Rep. Todd Porter
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58621
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Golden Valley News
P.O. Box 156, Beach, ND 58621
(U.S.P.S. Pub.
No. 221-280)
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