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Congressional delegation helping rural communities

Josh Kramer, North Dakota Association of Rural Electric Cooperatives

Washington politics have become so polarized that it can be tough for Democrats and Republicans to come together to tackle big challenges. But that’s exactly what happened recently on Capitol Hill thanks to dedicated lawmakers like Senators Hoeven and Cramer and Congressman Armstrong.

North Dakota’s Congressional delegation listened to thousands of electric cooperative stakeholders as they fought tirelessly to add important legislation to the 2020 spending bill. The bill, which was recently signed into law, included a provision known as the RURAL Act, which solved an existential issue for electric co-ops and America’s rural communities.

Electric co-ops work to secure government resources to help pay for numerous activities that benefit the communities they serve. These include grants for storm recovery and economic development.

Every electric utility is one natural disaster away from suffering significant damage to its poles, wires and electrical infrastructure. In North Dakota, we have seen the crippling impact the combination of wind, ice and snow can wreak on even the most sturdy and well maintained of systems. Large scale weather events happen and are out of anyone’s control. When these disasters occur, North Dakota’s electric cooperatives rely on help from a network of neighboring line crews, equipment providers and contractors, as well as the assistance and financial support of the Federal Emergency Management Agency to restore power as safely and efficiently as possible.

In order to maintain their tax-exempt status, co-ops can receive no more than 15 percent of their income from non-member sources. Historically, government grants to co-ops were counted as contributions to capital, but due to a glitch in the 2017 tax law, government grants were reclassified as income, pushing some co-ops beyond the 15 percent threshold and jeopardizing their tax-exempt status.

This tax problem left co-ops with an unfair choice. Do they take the money they need to turn the lights back on for their members as quickly as possible after a disaster? Or, do they turn down those grants to avoid spending their members’ money paying, unintended taxes rather than improving service?

Thanks to Congress, electric co-ops across North Dakota don’t have to make those trade-offs. This is good news for both co-ops and their members, because some co-ops would have had to raise their electric rates to pay new taxes.

North Dakota’s electric cooperatives are extremely grateful to Senators Hoeven and Cramer and Congressman Armstrong for their support of the RURAL Act. In standing up for North Dakota’s local communities, they proved that Congress still works for the people. Notably, the legislation drew the bipartisan support of more than 300 lawmakers in the House and more than half of the Senate before it was passed. That’s a rarity in Washington these days.

In today’s fast-paced society, pausing to give thanks is done with increasing rarity. That’s unfortunate. Thank you, Senators Hoeven and Cramer and Congressman Armstrong, for working with us to solve this problem and looking out for rural communities across North Dakota.

(Kramer is Executive Vice President and General Manager, North Dakota Association of Rural Electric Cooperatives)

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