VeraSun delays opening of ND ethanol plant

We saw this coming a mile away…

Brookings, S.D.-based VeraSun Energy (NYSE: VSE) announced today that it would delay the startup of its 110 million gallon per year ethanol production facility in Hankinson, N.D., marking the third VeraSun facility that has delayed startup operations this month due to market conditions.

This is becoming an increasingly popular thing for ethanol plants to do. The article goes on…

http://www.sunshineonschools.org/

There are more updates at Sunshine on Schools.  Now, users are able to see where their school district ranks in terms of mills levied in that district (see Tax Levy Reports Link on the Home Page).  Users will also be able to rank schools based on local revenue raised per pupil (see State Ranking Reports on the Home Page).  If you would like to see a statistic not listed on Sunshine on Schools, please let us know.  To contact us, click HERE.

Department of Public Instruction candidate Max Laird recently wrote the following on his blog:

It is curious that this newly released web site is found to be of value by my opponent. I too find it to be a reasonable way to view gross comparisons of school districts.

This proves that Sunshine on Schools is a useful tool for policymakers…

(DPI Superintendent Wayne) Sanstead uses Sunshine On Schools as an information source, he said. “I just used it this morning,” he said last week.

Since its late April launch, Sunshine on Schools has received praise from policymakers and administrators.

ND State Representative & Edinburg School Principal, Dave Monson:

"I found the information on the Sunshine on School's project to be very easy to read, accurate, informative, and useful. I am looking forward to the new updates and further information as it becomes available on the site. It is a great tool for school administrators!"

Read about it HERE

Does this surprise anyone?

North Dakota regulators have granted Otter Tail Power Co.’s request for a special charge to cover its investment in a wind farm.

Otter Tail owns part of a new wind farm south of Langdon in northeastern North Dakota. The project is capable of generating 159 megawatts of electricity. Otter Tail gets 40.5 megawatts of the wind farm’s output.

Why wouldn’t they?  Those downtown businesses are going to get taxpayer dollars.  In other words, they’re going to get something for nothing.  They are going to get your money put directly into their pockets.  Corporate welfare is alive and well in Fargo.

Why does the North Dakota Education Association (i.e. Teacher union) have a say in who becomes members of the Board of Higher Education?  The last paragraph of a Fargo Forum article revealed something shocking.

Can North Dakota compete with this?

Evan Barrett, the chief of Gov. Schweitzer's Office of Economic Development, came to give a presentation and answer questions on the state's favorable tax and regulation economy as well as the possibilities of an oil refinery.

"The presentation was stimulated by concerns that oil production and refining was heavily tilted to Williston more than here," Barrett said.

Despite having a much smaller population, the Bismarck School District has more enrolled students than Fargo.  However, the Fargo School District spent over $16 million more in 2006-07. 

Expenditure reports show that the top 9 school districts spend more than the rest of the state combined.

View Article HERE.

Developers of a downtown Grand Forks condo project are asking the City Council’s finance committee for free land and $200,000 in grants today.

Director of urban development Greg Hoover said the sticking point thus far has been the city’s reticence over financial assistance beyond just free land.

According to the Wall Street Journal, United Van Lines conducted a study concerning migration patterns.  The study concluded that North Dakota has the second highest out-migration rate in the country, slightly behind Michigan.

Auditors object to a private foundation owning North Dakota State University's Downtown Campus, according to the Fargo Forum

On Friday, January 25th, the Grand Forks Herald published a commentary about our report The Cost of Grand Forks Going "Green."  (read the entire report HERE and the commentary HERE)  On Thursday, January 31st, the Herald published two letters to the editor from folks who support the Green Grand Forks committee.  The letters paint the North Dakota Policy Council as a conspiracy-minded, anti-environment group spreading lies about the committee. 

Speaking at an event in Fargo, Iowa State University Professor David Swenson acknowledges that the ethanol industry has a positive impact on rural communities, but also states that it is not nearly as great as what is typically perceived.

The Grand Forks Herald is reporting that Quality One Wireless, in Devils Lake, will be closing.

ND lawmakers form group to study possible state oil refinery

Six Democratic state legislators and Agriculture Commissioner Roger Johnson have formed a task force to explore whether North Dakota should get into the oil-refining business.

Expanding North Dakota's refining capacity may help moderate prices for gasoline and diesel fuel, which are among the nation's highest, and assure a more regular supply, lawmakers said at a news conference Thursday.

The Centers of Excellence have come back to the state with their hands out.  According to KXMB, the North Dakota Emergency Commission has endorsed grants to four universities for Centers of Excellence projects.  NDSU, UND, Lake Region State College, and Minot State would split $10 million. 

Thankfully, there was at least one member of the Emergency Commission that went to bat for the taxpayers.

On October 11, the Hoeven Administration sent out a news release to the media which stated that "2,000 new businesses and 25,000 new jobs [have been created] since 2000."  Governor Hoeven is attributing much of that job creation to his economic development programs.  This is evident because he has and will probably again ask the legislature to fund these programs at higher and higher levels. 

Putting these numbers up against an NDSU study about the oil industry in North Dakota and suddenly the Hoeven Administration's job count becomes a bit more confusing.

Is anyone surprised? 

The Alchem ethanol plant here is closing, at least temporarily.

The plant, which has 40 employees and has operated for 25 years, will suspend operations indefinitely.

The North Dakota Policy Council is announcing 100 in 100, a fundraising effort that will attempt to raise 100 new $100 memberships in 100 days.  All support is tax deductible.  Feel free to donate more if you are able. 

Sunday's Bismarck Tribune editorial asked an interesting question:  where are the jobs?

When Gov. John Hoeven announced the Centers of Excellence concept in 2002, an express component of the project's mission was to be the creation of well-paying jobs and business opportunities in North Dakota.

Fair enough. How many?

According to ND Ag. Commissioner Roger Johnson, there are some ethanol plants facing bankruptcy

Public-private partnerships have a downside on campuses
MATTHEW VON PINNON Editor
Opinion - 09/23/2007

It’s been a banner week for the presidents of North Dakota’s two largest universities.

It appears imminent that each will get a $100,000 pay raise and a nearly million-dollar new or renovated house to boot.

The two universities’ alumni foundations will pay for the new homes, and as usual, supplement the presidents’ public salaries of $290,000 to $325,000. To what level alumni will supplement the salaries, we don’t know.

Social engineering is the use of law as a manipulation tactic to force a certain behavior from people.  The Declaration of Independence and the Constituion of the United States were written to declare that all humans are created equal and to protect that equality. 

Politicians are experts at using the tax code to manipulate behavior.  Think about ethanol.  The government wants us to use more ethanol, so they give tax breaks to ethanol producers and consumers.

Now those in the radical environmentalist movement seek to use the tax code to limit the size of peoples' houses. 

The St. Louis Post-Dispatch had a political cartoon in their newspaper that the Bismarck Tribune picked up and put in their paper.  The idea the picture portrays is that cutting taxes means cuts to transportation spending.  That idea could not be more wrong.

Do not forget to sign up for our newsletter.  You can do so by clicking the box on the right side of the page, or by clicking HERE. 

A non-scientific poll on KXMB.com shows that over 80% of people believe that schools should be required to put their budget information on a website. 

Oil producers are expecting a fresh influx of drilling rigs this summer, drawn by a temporary tax cut on crude from newly drilled wells in western North Dakota's Bakken geologic formation.

In 2006, average personal income dropped in North Dakota.  According to the US Bureau of Economic Analysis,

North Dakota ranked 50th in the nation when it experienced minus 0.1 percent growth in personal income, a contrast from the average 2.2 percent increase across the country.

The Chicago Tribune has noted before how North Dakotans think putting up with a little weather is a small price to pay for good schools, safe surroundings and life spans that would impress Methuselah. Add the quiet triumph of recovering from the flood, and you have self-assurance that stops well short of arrogance. Self-assurance that should inspire the rest of us when events beyond our control disrupt our everyday lives.

As frustration starts to boil over in the Legislature regarding tax relief, Senate Majority Leader Bob Stenehjem (R-Bismarck) said it best...

When will politicians start going after these guys...

Agribusiness powerhouse Cargill said on Monday that its third-quarter earnings rose 49 percent on improving operations and tax savings.

The privately held maker of food ingredients and other agricultural products said it earned $553 million during the quarter that ended Feb. 28, up from $370 million during the same period a year ago.

This is bad news...

The state's personal income growth was the second lowest in the nation, according to reports released Tuesday.

North Dakota's personal income growth in 2006 was 4 percent, ranking just above Michigan's national low of 3.1 percent, according to preliminary estimates released by the Bureau of Economic Analysis.

Welcome to the NDPC Blog.  Here, you'll find daily (almost daily) updates on public policy matters that affect North Dakota.  Please feel free to link to, cut and paste sections of, and criticize our work, but give us credit when you do so. 

The North Dakota Senate, by a vote of 24-21, passed a constitutional amendment that would stash away some of the revenue from oil and gas taxes.  According to the Bismarck Tribune...

The amendment says that once North Dakota's oil and gas tax collections exceed $100 million during any two-year state budget period, any surplus goes into a "permanent oil tax trust fund." The $100 million threshold would be adjusted every two years to account for inflation.