North Dakota Legislature: Flooding, Housing Join 'Fighting Sioux' Name On Agenda

The Fighting Sioux nickname is not the only thing on North Dakota lawmakers' plates during a special session this week, with flooding and housing also on the agenda.

State lawmakers convene in Bismarck starting Monday for at least a week to pick up where they left off when the regular session concluded in the spring. While much attention has been focused on a bill to repeal a law allowing for the University of North Dakota's controversial sports nickname to be laid to rest, the governor's office and lawmakers have been stressing the session is more than college sports.

Jeff Zent, a spokesman for Gov. Jack Dalrymple (R), said the governor plans to ask the legislature to focus on housing and flood relief and prevention during the session. North Dakota experienced extensive flooding in the Minot and Bismarck areas earlier this year, while in the western part of the state, the oil and gas boom has brought thousands of jobs but the construction industry has not matched pace with housing development.

"He will be asking for the state to assist in the process," Zent told The Huffington Post. "The state has been very involved in the flood and he'll be asking for additional funding."

Zent said the governor's flood program, which he'll formally announce in a speech to the legislature Monday afternoon, will include a focus on the development of low income housing for flood victims in Minot, Bismarck and Mandan. In addition, Zent said that Dalrymple will be asking for the legislature to fund long-term flood prevention along the Red and Missouri Rivers, including moving water out of Devil's Lake in the northeastern part of the state.

State Senate Minority Leader Ryan Taylor (D-Towner), the likely Democratic nominee for governor against Dalrymple, said among the bills likely to pass is one to have the state pick up the local government contribution to flood relief from this past spring, and to develop greenways along the rivers. This will include purchasing several hundred homes.

"It seems that we are in a new age of the water/river cycle in North Dakota," Taylor said. "We need to give the communities more room with the rivers. It is going to require some money to acquire those properties."

In terms of the oil boom, Zent and Taylor said the session will look to fund the development of affordable housing in the western part of the state, as well as market-rate housing. Taylor said the legislature will also look at the needs of the communities for the influx of residents, including the development of schools, streets, sewer systems and fire departments. Taylor said the legislature will look to boost the oil impact fund, which helps support new development in the oil-rich part of the state. The two-year state budget set aside $150 million for the fund, half of which has been spent. Taylor said the legislature will likely appropriate an additional $50 million to cover the budget through 2013.

"We also want to step up and look at a long-range plan," Taylor said of the oil boom.

Comments

[Anna18]

07:01 PM on 11/07/2011

Informative article about North Dakota.

[Anna18]

06:59 PM on 11/07/2011

Interesting article about North Dakota.

[StephenBP]

02:46 PM on 11/07/2011

“North Dakota sued Minnesota, claiming the neighboring state’s 2007 law limiting carbon emissions from electricity generated outside Minnesota and used within the state is unconstitutional.”

When people look no further than their misinformed gut feelings for guidance, they ignore the reality of chains of consequences tied to their behavior, but they don't escape it.

Here is how it truly goes. Humans use fire to generate heat and energy, but fire also generates green house gases. The greenhouse gases warm the atmosphere, which warms the oceans, increasing the rate of evaporation, and increasing rain and snow in northern climates. In southern climates, drought can occur because the warming atmosphere exceeds the temperature at which even moist air can precipitate water.

So North Dakota will enjoy a brief economic boost from fossil fuel, but they are spoiling the atmospheric commons and are starting to pay the price for that. The recent flooding is almost undoubtedly part of the cost of a century of burning fossil fuels.

[pogo]

01:16 PM on 11/07/2011

Can't they just change the spelling to "The Fighting Sue?" Or how about the University of North Dakota Liberaces, in honor of a famous native son?

[pogo]

01:48 PM on 11/07/2011

Oh, I'm so dumb: it's Lawrence Welk, not Liberace.

[Ernst Angst]

04:26 PM on 11/07/2011

The Fighting Welks!

[Badfinger1]

12:56 PM on 11/07/2011

...What North Dakota should really debate is their status as a succubus state.....
N.Dakota recieves $1.68 from the Federal government for every $1.00 that they contribute to our nation....Think about that.....They not only get their dollar back,thus NOT paying for any of the costs of running our Federal government(including national defense)...They actually get an extra .68c and for what? Are the rest of us still paying 40 acres and a mule just to populate land better siuted for bison...? A rhetorical question, so calm down.....But why do they get to suck money out of my pocket? What do I get from them? I get republicanteaparty type federal representatives sent to Washington to tell the rest of us how the federal government is too big and too costly....What the hell does N.Dakota know about sticking to a budget? Try living off just getting YOUR dollar back and let go of the extra .68c.....P.S. let's give the Sioux back THEIR country...They did just fine without our .68c.

[Daly]

01:26 PM on 11/07/2011

The loudest to cry states rights are always the ones that want their dollar and yours too