North Dakota’s House Majority Leader wants the Bank of North Dakota to delay building a new financial center.
The 2015 Legislature authorized the state-owned Bank to spend $17 million in profits on the new building. It would be adjacent to the existing Bank building, and it could be the home for the Commerce Department, Housing Finance and the Department of Financial Institutions.
Rep. Al Carlson (R-Fargo) did not support the building project. And he says he’s asking the Industrial Commission – the Bank’s board of directors – to delay the project until financial times get better.
"I just think that right now, the way the market is, the timing is absolutely wrong to be taking Bank profits and putting them into a new building, when we're going to have some other needs in the upcoming session," Carlson said.
Bank profits used to be diverted to the state’s general fund. For the past several years, the Bank has been allowed to keep those profits. But Carlson says that might change.
"It's an asset of the state," Carlson said. "We're going to have to look at those profits as we go into the next biennium."
The Bank reported $130 million in net profits in fiscal 2015.
The Industrial Commission meets Monday.
