BISMARCK -- I am surprised at the reluctance of some of the people in North Dakota to do something that is in their best interests. A lot of the groups speaking out in opposition to Measure 1 on the November ballot are the ones who stand to benefit the most from its passage.
Measure 1 is something we should have put in our state constitution long ago. In the 1950s and again in the 1980s, North Dakota experienced oil booms. Both times, the opinion in the state was that it was the real thing, and it would stick around forever. The state began spending the money it brought in from the oil activity on programs that needed sustainable funding, and then the booms went bust.
The state was unable to sustain government spending at the level it had risen to. So, it had two choices: Make budget cuts or raise taxes.
When the oil boom of the 1980s went bust, the decision was to raise taxes. The citizens thought that was a poor choice and passed an initiated measure that prevented those tax hikes from taking effect. This resulted in across-the-board budget cuts -- which severely hurt the very groups that are so opposed to saving some of the money now.
It is happening again. Oil prices rose, new technology made North Dakota's oil fields more productive, oil companies began drilling wells again, and oil production in the state is currently reaching new all-time highs. But in the past few months, the price per barrel of oil has dropped by more than half.
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Something about this seems familiar.
Albert Einstein said, "The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result."
We have the chance to make a change. With a yes vote on Measure 1, voters will be saying that they want to do things differently than we have in the past -- that they want to save some of the money North Dakota gets from oil taxes in order to ensure our economic prosperity for generations to come.
Dave MacIver
MacIver is president of the North Dakota Chamber of Commerce.
