Governor Kelly Armstrong has again said property tax reform tops his list of issues for the upcoming Legislative session.
Already, more than 40 bills concerning property tax have been prepared for the upcoming Legislative session. He said he would like to cut that number down to one or two bills.
"Legislators from large communities in North Dakota, small communities in North Dakota, and the House and the Senate have all heard the same message," Armstrong said. "But what we can't have is paralysis by analysis."
Armstrong told reporters it would need to be "the most significant relief and reform we can deliver."
And Armstrong said it has to be durable.
"And what I mean by durable is, we have to be able to do it if oil is at $55 a barrel, and soybeans are at $6 a bushel," Armstrong said. "We have to be able to deliver to North Dakota constituents, but also recognize that we run on a two-year budget cycle, and even as great as everything is, we're still a commodity based economy. And we have to make sure that we can deliver something we can fulfill, and not just make that promise."
ADDICTION AND MENTAL HEALTH SERVICES
Armstrong said another key issue he will focus on will be delivery of addiction treatment, mental health treatment and rehabilitation services.
"There aren't a lot of things we touch, where you can actually change entire families' lives, and do it well," Armstrong said. But he said the state right now doesn’t have enough people to do these jobs. And Armstrong said that’s not just a North Dakota problem.
"There aren't enough people going to school to become addiction counselors right now to fill all the open seats that exist across the country," Armstrong said. "So we have to get creative, and figure out a way to do it."
Armstrong said if you do it well, you do exactly what government should do.
"It should hold people accountable," Armstrong said. "It should give them an opportunity to improve. And it should give them a little bit of grace."
Armstrong said this should help with the “revolving door” of recidivism.
