Republican Legislative leaders have rolled out an “infrastructure” plan for the 2019 Legislature.
The plan affects the entire state, not just the Oil Patch.
"We want our state to grow," said Senate Majority Leader Rich Wardner (R-Dickinson) at a Bismarck news conference. "We need to meet the needs of infrastructure across the state."
The proposal creates three new “buckets” funded through oil taxes: a $115 million county/township infrastructure fund; a $115 million municipal infrastructure fund; and a $50 million airport fund.
Wardner said the money would be used for things like roads, streets, water, and curb and gutter projects.
"We want to help these communities, so they don't have to go to their local taxpayers to raise taxes," Wardner said.
"It's critical. It's needed," said Senate Appropriations Committee chairman Ray Holmberg (R-Grand Forks).
Holmberg said the Legislature has understood the need for a number of years.
"When we started two sessions ago, we essentially did triage, and took care of the worst transportation and infrastructure problems in the state," Holmberg said. "That was in the oil patch."
Holmberg said it's now time to turn the attention to the rest of the state.
"That's what this program does," Holmberg said.
Wardner said there has also been discussion about using Legacy Fund earnings to expand some revolving loan fund programs. The proposal would be to sell bonds for those loan programs, and use Legacy Fund earnings to pay off the bonds. But Wardner said that idea is still being debated. And Holmberg said he's still looking at that.
"Once the Legislature moved away from bonding, about 5 sessions ago, there has been a sizable number of Legislators that view the word 'bonding' like Dracula views the Cross," Holmberg said.
Holmberg said while he sees support for using the interest from the Legacy Fund, he doesn’t see much interest in using the fund’s principle.
"The one thing I think we heard loud and clear was 'figure this out,'" said Rep. Todd Porter (R-Mandan). "We have huge infrastructure needs, and we need some certainty."
