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Two House Votes Shows The Difficulty In Getting Significant Tax Reform To Pass

The dichotomy of HB 1328 and HB 1452 highlights the difficulty in passing meaningful legislation when it comes to significant tax reform issues.

Today, two separate bills that I have written about extensively were voted down by the State House. But the vote totals on these two bills illustrate the uphill battle that tax-reform and reduction advocates have when it comes to getting meaningful bills to pass.

Property Tax Reform

HB 1328 is a bill that I helped get introduced with the help of Representative Claire Cory (R-Grand Forks).

North Dakota's Watchdog Update
Property Tax Reform Update: Committee Accepts Amendments, Work Remains
Watch now (35 min) | Last week, I updated you about how the bill to reform property taxes for mobile home park owners and residents needed your help. The committee heard from enough citizens that it took up the amendment that I was proposing last week. Yesterday, they took up this amendment and voted 13-0 to accept it. There was overall agreement the amendment was better tha…
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After a long battle in committee, the bill was defeated on the House floor 44 Yeas to 50 Nays, with 3 absent not voting, with zero floor discussion or debate. (You can read up on what this bill did and why I consider it a litmus test for the Greater Property Tax Reform effort by clicking here.)

One thing to point out is that 9 Democrats out of 12 voted for the bill - but only 32 of the 79 Republicans present voted for it.

I’m going to hold off on being too critical just in case the bill can be brought back for reconsideration tomorrow - but the fact that it is easier to get Democrats to vote for th…

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Authors
Dustin Gawrylow