BISMARCK, N.D. – North Dakota’s Republican-led House has approved legislation that would use money from the state’s voter-approved oil tax savings account to help offset income taxes.
Representatives approved the measure 61-31 on Thursday.
The measure would use half of the earnings from the state’s Legacy Fund beginning in 2021 to reduce individual and corporate income taxes.
House Majority Leader Chet Pollert and House Appropriations Chairman Jeff Delzer are among the measure’s co-sponsors. But GOP Gov. Doug Burgum has said the idea isn’t “good policy.”
Burgum says Legacy Fund earnings should be used for programs that he has called “transformative.”
Backers say state income taxes likely would be eliminated over the next decade with Legacy Fund earnings. The fund currently holds more than $6 billion.