James Maxson, Minot

The next legislative session will be interesting to observe. Thanks to forces of nature beyond our control, North Dakota has been blessed with abundant oil and gas reserves. As a result, over the last decade, a substantial percentage of North Dakota’s tax revenues have been a result of its energy industry. We are being promised tax relief as a result. Who is against tax relief? Isn’t that like being against puppies?       

Tax relief unquestionably will be overwhelming popular. What could possibly go wrong? Well, for those of us who are old and gray, there is the memory of the 1980s. The state of North Dakota lost double digit sources of income. What happened? A drought decimated the state’s farm income. Farm commodity prices tanked. The price of oil tanked. Of course, that could never happen again.

The people of North Dakota were later wise enough to create by direct vote the Legacy Fund from oil and gas revenue. That trust fund now contains roughly 8 billion dollars. That sounds like a lot of money, but the interest that fund can generate minus what inflation cannibalizes won’t be enough to fix another 1980s scenario. Are we betting that history will not repeat itself? Oil and gas are not infinite resources. How predictable is the weather in North Dakota?  Farm commodity prices, like oil and gas prices are like the tail of a dog. They are subject to global events far beyond the control of Bismarck politicians.  Future North Dakota leaders may not have the luxury of being sugar daddies. Hopefully we are not being fed empty calories.