North Dakota Permanent Oil Tax Trust Fund, Constitutional Measure 1 (2008)

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The North Dakota Permanent Oil Tax Trust Fund Referendum, also known as Constitutional Measure 1, was on the November 4, 2008 ballot in North Dakota as a legislatively referred constitutional amendment, where it was defeated. The measure would have establish a permanent oil tax trust fund from oil and gas tax revenue exceeding 100 million dollars per biennium, adjusted for inflation. The interest earnings on the trust fund would have been transferred to the general fund each year and no more than 20 percent of the principal of the trust fund could be spent each biennium, if approved by three-fourths of the members of both houses of the legislature.

Election results

North Dakota Constitutional Measure 1 (2008)
Result		Votes	Percentage
d No		193,111	63.97%
Yes		108,748	36.03%

Election results via: North Dakota Secretary of State, Official Vote of General Election, 2008

Text of measure

See also: North Dakota Constitution, Article X

Ballot title

The language appeared on the ballot as:

“

Constitutional Measure No. 1 (House Concurrent Resolution No. 3045, 2007 Session Laws, Ch. 584) This constitutional measure would add a new section to Article X of the North Dakota Constitution. This measure would establish a permanent oil tax trust fund from oil and gas tax revenue exceeding one hundred million dollars per biennium, adjusted for inflation; interest earnings on the trust fund would be transferred to the general fund each year; and no more than twenty percent of the principal of the trust fund could be spent each biennium, if approved by three-fourths of the members of both houses of the legislature. YES –Means you approve the measure as summarized above. NO – Means you reject the measure as summarized above.

”

Constitutional changes

The measure would have added the following section to Article X of the North Dakota Constitution:

All revenue deposited in the general fund during a biennium derived from taxes imposed on oil and gas at the time of production or extraction which exceeds one hundred million dollars must be transferred by the state treasurer to a special fund in the state treasury known as the permanent oil tax trust fund. Beginning in 2011, at the beginning of each biennium immediately following a biennium in which revenue from taxes imposed on oil and gas was deposited in the permanent oil tax trust fund, the state treasurer shall adjust the dollar threshold amount as determined under this section for transfers to the permanent oil tax trust fund by applying to that amount the rate of change since the beginning of the previous biennium in the consumer price index for all urban consumers, all items, United States city average, or any successor index, as calculated by the United States department of labor, bureau of labor statistics. The state treasurer shall transfer interest earnings of the permanent oil tax trust fund to the general fund at the end of each fiscal year. The principal of the permanent oil tax trust fund may not be expended except upon a vote of three-fourths of the members elected to each house of the legislative assembly and not more than twenty percent of the principal may be expended during any biennium.

Support

Representatives Weiler, Boehning, Kasper, Skarphol and Thoreson sponsored the resolution along with Senator Stenehjem.

Opposition

A group called Partners to Protect North Dakota's Future opposed both this measure and the North Dakota Income Tax Cut (2008).

Members of the coalition include:

• AARP
• AFL-CIO
• The North Dakota Education Association
• The North Dakota School Boards Association (NDSBA)
• American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME)

Path to the ballot

Constitutional Measure 1 was placed on the ballot by action of the 2007 North Dakota Legislative Assembly with the passage of House Concurrent Resolution No. 3045 (2007 Session Laws, Ch. 584), the full text of which can be read here.

See also

Suggest a link

• North Dakota 2008 ballot measures
• 2008 ballot measures
• List of North Dakota ballot measures
• History of Initiative & Referendum in North Dakota

External links

• North Dakota Secretary of State, Archived Election Results
• National Conference of State Legislatures State Ballot Measures Database