BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) - North Dakota has become too dependent on oil and must diversify its economy, the state’s trio of Republican governor hopefuls said Thursday.
Attorney General Wayne Stenehjem, former Microsoft Corp. executive Doug Burgum and Bismarck state Rep. Rick Becker traded rhetorical jabs on the economy, tax policy, abortion and other issues in a party-sponsored debate in Bismarck, held less than a month before party activists meet at their state convention to endorse a candidate.
North Dakota is faced with a dramatic drop in tax collections due to a decrease in oil drilling and depressed farm commodity prices. Gov. Jack Dalrymple last month ordered 4.05 percent cut to government agencies and a massive raid on the state’s savings to make up for a more than $1 billion shortfall caused by incorrect budget forecasts and the drop in tax revenue.
Stenehjem, 63, said the state was well positioned to weather the shortfall due to various reserve funds that were in place for such a scenario, including the state’s Budget Stabilization Fund, a surplus stash of cash that has been built up over the past decade largely from past oil bounty. About $497 million was taken from the fund, leaving a balance of about $75 million.
Stenehjem, who painted himself as an optimist among his opponents, said those savings accounts will refill with what he believes are inevitable rebounds in oil and crop prices.
“Everybody knows the price of commodities will come back up - they always do,” Stenehjem said. Still, he said, the state must “diversify, diversify and diversify.”
Burgum, 59, said North Dakota has gotten itself into a fiscal jam because of “runaway spending” that must be controlled to rebuild its treasury.
“We can’t get to the answer by belt-tightening,” he said.
Becker, 51, said he also was an optimist but he’s also a realist. He said the state needs to curb spending, craft smaller budgets “and provide a better tax climate.”
The debate turned feisty over questions about abortion. North Dakota passed a spate of anti-abortion laws three years ago, including one that bans the procedure at six weeks of pregnancy. Stenehjem defended that law, which was ultimately struck down without ever taking effect.
Becker voted against the law but told the audience of more than 750 people that he is “pro-life.”
Burgum said he “rejects labels” and would prefer to allow North Dakotans to vote on abortion issues, instead of the Legislature.
Becker said he supported the legalization of marijuana, while Burgum said he would only support the legalization of medical marijuana.
Stenehjem said he supported neither.
“We will not be healthier or safer if we legalize marijuana,” Stenehjem said. “It’s a bad move.”
Less than a month before the Democrat-NPL Party’s endorsing convention, it had no announced candidates for statewide offices, including governor, a post the party has not held since 1992. The party’s top hopes, U.S. Sen. Heidi Heitkamp and former state Agriculture Commissioner Sarah Vogel, weighed runs for governor but ultimately rejected the idea.
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This story has been corrected to reflect that the Democrat-NPL Party has not held the governor’s office since 1992.
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