Other views: N.D. has resources to help flood victims

North Dakota Republican legislative leaders, specifically House Majority Leader Rep. Al Carlson, R-Fargo, apparently believe the state does not have sufficient resources to aid victims of flood in Minot, Bismarck-Mandan and elsewhere. He all but said as much in a broadcast interview that did not get much attention. He tried to sell the myth that North Dakota does not have the money or mechanisms to get help to individuals, families and business people who are trying to recover from record spring and summer flooding.

How curious is that?

More curious still, the reliably anti-federal-spending Carlson said it is up to the Federal Emergency Management Agency and other fed agencies to cough up money for flood recovery. The price tag so far is an estimated $50 million and growing every day. FEMA and other fed sources already have provided tens of millions to flood victims and will provide more.

But what is North Dakota’s role? What should a state with record budget surpluses and a revenue stream as wide as the Missouri River be doing for its own citizens? Not much, to hear Carlson tell it.

Carlson has tried to downplay the good news of North Dakota’s historic budget condition. He seems to be suggesting the state is just a biennium or two from the poorhouse. It’s one way the leader tried to hold down catch-up spending on programs that were shortchanged in the past. Yes, the state is spending a lot more than it ever has, but not because the Legislature and governor are on a wild spending spree. Rather, lawmakers and the executive cobbled together a budget that addresses legitimate (and neglected) needs in education, social service, public infrastructure, water management and other areas, as advocated by North Dakotans from all over the state. On balance they did a good job.

But the work of the 2011 session also included socking away a lot of money in several special funds, including the start of the Legacy Fund from oil revenues, which was approved by voters in 2010. A surplus in all funds likely will total more than $1.3 billion. Honest state number crunchers will say that’s a conservative estimate because two of the major drivers of the state’s economy — agriculture and energy — are doing very well.

Not all that money is readily accessible; it is locked up in special-purpose funds. But there is no question North Dakota has the resources to help flood victims get close to whole recovery when federal dollars fall short, which they will. Legislative leaders — in particular, those who delight in savaging federal spending —should do what they can to lift North Dakota’s snout, even if just a little, out of Uncle Sam’s feedbag.

Tags: other views, north dakota, opinion, editorials, flood