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Lawmakers Hear Proposal for Legacy Fund Transparency Website; No Vote Taken
Summary
A bill to create a public, searchable website showing Legacy Fund investments and spending drew questions about legal limits on disclosure, contract confidentiality and costs. Lawmakers closed the hearing without taking final action.
Representative Bernie Satram, sponsor of House Bill 1319, opened a March hearing of the Industry and Business Committee urging greater public transparency of North Dakota's Legacy Fund investments.
"We have something called ADD, the agriculture diversification, development fund," Representative Bernie Satram said, explaining how the fund had helped expand local meat processing. He told the committee he and constituents want to know whether Legacy Fund money is invested in companies or countries they find objectionable and asked for a website that would show in-state and foreign exposure. "Are profits more important than principles?" he asked.
The bill would direct the Retirement and Investment Office (RIO) and State Investment Board to publish online information about Legacy Fund holdings and how biennial earnings are spent. Jody Smith, interim executive director for the Retirement and Investment Office, told the committee that much Legacy Fund information is already public but often available only in PDF reports that are difficult for general users to navigate.
"All of this…
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