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Governor offers vision of promise

Kim Fundingsland/MDN Gov. Doug Burgum delivers his State of the State address in Ann Nicole Nelson Hall at Minot State University Tuesday.

Gov. Doug Burgum laid out his vision for achieving what he called North Dakota’s “unlimited promise” in delivering his State of the State address at Minot State University Tuesday.

Breaking with the tradition of biennial legislative addresses, Burgum’s presented his message outside the legislative chambers in a non-legislative year.

“The road ahead of us for North Dakota – it’s not some paved super highway. It requires judgment. It requires effort. It requires some thought,” he said. “We have always in the past been able to think of ourselves as a state that knows how to persevere, and we know how to endure. Now we need to add to that we are also the state that knows how to innovate. We know how to learn and we know how to lead.”

The founder of a Fargo software company, Burgum emphasized the innovation and harnessing “the unstoppable forces of technology.”

“Without the changes in technology, we would not have an oil industry in North Dakota today,” he said. “People wouldn’t be drilling if we hadn’t had the technology advances.”

Because technology touches every aspect of education and the workforce, he said, “We have to figure out a way to embrace the digital transformation.”

He sees technology as too static in state government, with technology specialists working to keep systems running rather than transforming how systems run. The state operates more than 160 websites, yet they don’t interconnect to create a user-friendly experience, he said.

Embracing technology is one of Burgum’s five strategic initiatives. He also provided updates on his other initiatives of reinventing government, strengthening tribal relations, transforming education, promoting Main Street and solving mental health and addiction issues.

“We need to start with the understanding that addiction is a disease,” he said. “We can’t incarcerate people with health issues and expect them to get better if they are not getting treatment while they are incarcerated.”

One of the governor’s emotional moments came in telling of a father who received Narcon, an opioid antidote, at an initiative event and later used it to save the life of his son.

North Dakota is likely to record more than 70 drug overdose deaths when 2017 figures are tallied, Burgum said. He added that 11,000 fewer opioid prescriptions were written last year, although prescriptions remain at a level equal to 60 doses per person in the state.

“I don’t think we ned that much pain medication as a state. We need to think about how we use it appropriately and how we manage the supply and manage the challenges of the disease of addiction,” he said.

He introduced Free Through Recovery, a pilot program to support 600 people with services not previously available to prevent incarceration. He also invited schools to participate in the Day of Prevention April 11 at Bismarck State College.

Burgum stressed the need for a more nimble and dynamic higher education system. He plans to tour all 11 public colleges and universities this year, starting with his tour of MSU on Tuesday, to assess the need for changes to higher education governance.

Burgum’s remarks on how to move forward followed comments on where the state has been during the past year. He talked about the drought, wildfires, falling energy prices, the Dakota Access Pipeline conflict and the state’s budget crisis. He cited continuing dry conditions across the state but highlighted signs that state revenues are on the upswing. However, he cautioned a significant revenue gap will remain when the next biennium’s budget is crafted.

When agriculture and energy prices sagged, North Dakota burned through its reserve funds. Burgum described the fund balances as substantially lower and almost zero in some cases. He presented a chart showing reserves at $65 million going into 2019. In addition, the Legacy Fund, which takes in 30 percent of the state’s oil and gas revenues, is expected to reach $5.26 billion at the end of this year.

Burgum advocated protecting the Legacy Fund principal and spending fund earnings on government transformation rather than basic services.

In speaking about the $65 million in net property tax relief passed by the 2017 Legislature, Burgum remarked, “Individual results may vary.” Clearly conscious of the 30 percent or more tax hikes that Minot residents saw this year, Burgum said the state is doing its share and suggested residents talk to their local officials if property taxes remain high.

Burgum spoke of the state’s support for Minot and Fargo flood control. He acknowledged the state’s military members and veterans, singling out much-decorated World War II veteran Lynn Aas, 96, of Minot in the audience. He recognized tribal officials and talked of the efforts to improve relations between the state and tribes and spoke of building relationships with Canadian neighbors.

He also discussed Vision Zero, a recently launched initiative to eliminate state highway fatalities.

“We can get to this number, and I think we can get there before any other state does,” Burgum said.

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