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Water Coalition urges lawmakers to protect North Dakota Resources Trust Fund while backing HB1020
Summary
The North Dakota Water Coalition told the Appropriations committee it supports House Bill 1020 and urged legislators to preserve the Resources Trust Fund — the group described it as a mechanism to avoid spending one‑time oil revenue on ongoing expenses.
Lauren DeWitz, chair of the North Dakota Water Coalition, told the Appropriations — Education and Environment Division she and the coalition support House Bill 1020 and urged the committee to guard the Resources Trust Fund.
DeWitz walked the committee through the rationale behind the trust fund’s creation, saying lawmakers formed the fund to put one-time oil revenues into one-time expenditures rather than ongoing programs after revenue volatility in earlier decades. "If we forget history and we lose some of those lessons, history's gonna repeat itself," DeWitz told the committee.
DeWitz said the Water Coalition is a membership organization representing about 41 organizations that work to coordinate water stakeholders, and she asked the committee not to use one‑time trust-fund revenues to offset ongoing spending or reduce taxes in a way that would imperil long-term projects. "We support House Bill 10 20, but I would ask this committee that you guys kind of be the guardians of that Resources Trust Fund," she said.
Her remarks came during the HB1020 hearing; lawmakers thanked her for the perspective and closed the public hearing later in the session.
