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Heated testimony for and against bill requiring audits and compact revisions for Fort Berthold revenue sharing
Summary
Senate Bill 2304 would authorize the state to withhold certain oil-and-gas revenue distributions to the MHA Nation until updated agreements and audits are completed and would require tribal audits; the committee heard dozens of witnesses on both sides and closed the hearing with no action.
Senator Chuck Wallen introduced Senate Bill 2304, which would direct the governor to negotiate an amendment to the 2018 oil-and-gas tax compact to explicitly include allotted and fee landowners and would require the MHA Nation to conduct and submit annual audits. Wallen told the committee the bill addresses concerns that the tribal business council’s agreements and audit practices have not accounted for allotted owners and fee holders within the Fort Berthold reservation.
“According to treaties and other agreements, the tribal council only has authority to tax tribal lands and not allottee lands,” Wallen said in his opening remarks, and he told members the goal was to ensure all landholders within reservation boundaries are included in any agreement that governs revenue distribution.
Several dozen witnesses testified. Supporters — many identifying as allotted landowners, enrolled members of the MHA Nation, and local ranchers — urged accountability, financial transparency and a temporary moratorium on distributions until audits of tribal finances were completed. Todd Hall, who identified himself as an enrolled member and landowner on Fort Berthold, told lawmakers: “A temporary moratorium is needed to safeguard the funds in question from being dispersed, squandered, and hidden from the public's eyes.” Multiple witnesses asserted that allottee-owned lands account for a majority of trust lands on Fort Berthold and asked the state to require audit documentation and clearer inclusion of all landowners in compacts.
Opponents included the MHA Nation and its legal representatives and the North Dakota Petroleum Council. Scott Davis, speaking for the MHA Nation Business Council, said the nation opposes the bill because it would “require the state of North Dakota to breach its legal obligation under the current oil and gas agreement by withholding payments that North Dakota is obligated to make under that agreement.” Ron Ness, president of the North Dakota Petroleum Council, and the MHA Nation’s testimony both stressed that the 2008/2018 agreements were negotiated to avoid dual taxation and to support continued energy development on the reservation.
The Spirit Lake Tribe (via a written statement read by Representative Colette Brown) opposed the bill on sovereignty grounds. The statement said that withholding funds and imposing audit requirements without government-to-government consultation would undermine tribal self-governance and could harm delivery of essential services.
Committee members asked procedural and technical questions: whether funds would be escrowed if the governor cannot secure a new agreement; what audits and responses to audit findings would look like; and which revenues might be withheld. Witnesses and the sponsor debated the scope of authority the tribal council has over allotted lands and the scope of the state’s trust responsibilities. Some speakers urged careful, targeted drafting to limit the bill’s scope to the MHA Nation rather than state-wide tribal policy.
After about two hours of testimony, Chairman Weber closed the hearing. Committee members said they had received substantial testimony on both sides and will take time to digest the record before any action. No committee vote or amendment was taken at the hearing.
