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Rental assistance and temporary raises for state workers in the oil patch will be phased out

The state Emergency Commission has turned down rental assistance and temporary raises for state workers affected by energy development.

The program was set up through the state Office of Management and Budget to help state workers deal with high rents and the high cost of living brought on by the ol boom. The request was for $47,000 – to provide help to employees of the state Tax Department, the Historical Society and Game and Fish.

But committee members say the environment has changed in the West.

"I think it's time to wean everybody off of this thing," said House Majority Leader Al Carlson (R-Fargo). "With the small amounts they're asking, they need to suck it up. They can do that."

"The rents are down," said Senate Majority Leader Rich Wardner (R-Dickinson). "I don't think this is necessary."

Wardner says the state is also facing budget shortfalls, and this would be one place to save money.

House Appropriations Committee chairman Jeff Delzer (R-Underwood) says lawmakers put $8 million into that funding pool for the current biennium – with the idea that the program would end.

"We're in much worse shape now than we were when we passed this," Delzer said. "It really is time to say this is done."

Two agencies that were big users of the program, Corrections and Human Services, will discontinue it July first. Transportation and the Highway Patrol are also phasing it out.

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