Bismarck Tribune - North Dakota News - Four voter-initiated ballot measures turned in ahead of deadline

Four voter-initiated ballot measures turned in ahead of deadline

Aug 06, 2008 - 04:06:08 CDT

By DALE WETZEL

Associated Press Writer

North Dakota's fall lineup of ballot initiatives may include proposals to discourage smoking, cut income taxes, ban fenced hunting and revamp the administration of North Dakota's workers compensation agency.

Supporters of the workers compensation and hunting measures turned in their petitions Tuesday, hours before a midnight deadline arrived. The measures had to be submitted before the deadline to have a chance for a spot on the Nov. 4 general election ballot.

Advocates for the hunting initiative arrived at the Capitol shortly after 7 p.m. Tuesday, having arranged to get into the building after hours. Their initiative would prohibit the owners of a private, fenced game preserve from allowing paying customers to shoot deer, elk and other game inside the enclosure.

Gary Masching, of Bismarck, a member of the initiative's sponsoring committee, said the petition had 12,964 signatures, which is only 120 more than the minimum number of 12,844 that is needed to qualify for the ballot.

Roger Kaseman, of Linton, the initiative campaign's chairman, said supporters of the measure would be waiting to see if they made their goal. Lee Ann Oliver, the elections director in Secretary of State Al Jaeger's office, said a few hundred petition signatures are often disqualified during the monthlong petition review process.

"It's going to be nail-biting time," Kaseman said. "We'll just wait and hope for the best."

Earlier, supporters of the workers' compensation measure had delivered petitions bearing 15,544 names to Jaeger's office.

The initiative would allow the governor, rather than an appointed board of directors, to hire the director of Workforce Safety and Insurance. WSI provides medical insurance, lost wages and rehabilitation benefits for workers who are injured on the job.

The proposal also would prohibit WSI from unilaterally changing the decisions of administrative law judges in worker benefit appeals, and extend civil service protection to the agency's employees. Under current law, WSI workers may be dismissed for any reason.

The initiative campaign got underway in part because of opposition to the management style of WSI's former director, Sandy Blunt, who was forced out of his job last December. The agency's personnel troubles have gotten extensive publicity.

Stephen Little, a Bismarck attorney who drafted the initiative, said people who signed it were almost invariably enthusiastic about doing so.

"We didn't have any existing organization behind us, so it was a little difficult getting boots on the ground (to circulate petitions)," Little said. "But in terms of people's willingness to sign this petition, I was amazed.

"Probably 90-something out of 100 people were more than happy to sign it," Little said. "Some people wanted to sign more than once, but we wouldn't allow that."

The workers' compensation and fenced hunting petitions must be reviewed before they have a chance to qualify for the November ballot.

Jaeger is verifying two petitions that have already been submitted, which would reduce North Dakota's individual and corporate income tax rates and devote more state money from a tobacco company lawsuit settlement on efforts to discourage smoking.

The November ballot already has one measure in place - a proposed constitutional amendment that would establish a new trust fund for oil tax revenues. The 2007 Legislature ordered that the proposal be put to a statewide vote.

Supporters of four other proposed initiatives were not expected to make Tuesday's midnight filing deadline.

The measures sought to regulate the placement of oil pipelines, limit increases in state and local government spending, change North Dakota's child custody laws and require North Dakota's superintendent of public instruction to be a certified classroom teacher.

News > State

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Comments

Pete wrote on Aug 6, 2008 11:07 PM:

" There definitely needs to be more money spent on smoking prevention programs. Nearly all states spend far less than what is required to prevent kids from taking up a life long and deadly addiction. That is what the tobacco settlement money was intended for. Unfortunately many states have wasted their opportunity to reduce the death and disability that comes from smoking. Sounds like a very good initative to me. "

Safety bribes wrote on Aug 6, 2008 7:09 PM:

" So WSI takes too much money from the business community, then gives some back and puffs out its chest saying how wonderful they are. And the Business go wild. Oh how wonderful they are to give us free money.

Can a business that does not get a safety grant blame WSI for accidents? You would think so. It must not be the business's responsibility to provide a safe work environment.

Did you get your safety grant? If not you might not know the right people. "

Just Curious wrote on Aug 6, 2008 1:11 PM:

" krten,

It's the State's money only because it is money received from the tobacco companies won in court under the premise of it being used to pay for the state's cessation programs and to reimburse the State for money spent taking care of ill smokers.

Good measure, I hope it passes. "

krten wrote on Aug 6, 2008 12:01 PM:

" "devote more state money from a tobacco company lawsuit settlement on efforts to discourage smoking"

Um, pardon me, but why spend more money to keep on continuing to tell people that it is bad to smoke? Aren't there other more critical needs where the nine million (according to a call-out in the print edition of the Tribune) could be better used?!? Teenage drinking? Healthcare and prescription drugs? Homeless? "

Safety grants wrote on Aug 6, 2008 10:17 AM:

" If a business has a faulty wire, a safety guard on equipment that is bad, tripping hazards due to poor floor conditions, or just some issue that needs to be fixed to make a safe workplace. Is any of this workers compensations responsibility? Safety training for new company programs should be paid for by the company since they are the ones ultimately responsible for the safety of their employees. The real issue is not a safe working place, but whom, how, and why these grants where obtained. Stop hitting just the surface of the issues, and get to the guts of the issues.

If this is a grant program, the public should have more information of how this money was used once it was obtained. "

NDHunter wrote on Aug 6, 2008 10:15 AM:

" The fair chase initiative is dead in the water. Where is all of the support? "

Why wrote on Aug 6, 2008 9:53 AM:

" Why don't you want safer work places in North Dakota? Why is it such a big deal that we spent money on the workplaces in the state to improve the safety for our workers? Why would you not want everyone to have a safe place to go to work? It is almost like you want more people injured at work in North Dakota. I don't understand. "

It seems the whole story is not out wrote on Aug 6, 2008 8:52 AM:

" This is just part of the story. It seems that WSI has handed out numerous "Safety Grants" there is a list of this over at the northdecoder.com. This seems to be an interesting list if you know the state legislators whom voted on WSI issues, and what businesses they own. Might even explain why everything is so hush, hush in the new sometimes if you look at the list. "

Little wrote on Aug 6, 2008 8:20 AM:

" I won't put it passed the workers comp petition supports to have people sign it more than once. They seem bent on getting this transition in place without even thinking things all the way to the end. Their measure will do nothing, except have quality claims folks leave the agency for a better paying private job. "

Victor wrote on Aug 6, 2008 7:36 AM:

" Blunt, Indvik, Mandigo, Wald, Keiser, Rick Berg and Judy Lee among other Republicans should be so proud that their actions (or in the case of the legislature -- inaction) are what got the WSI petition so many signatures. Now get ready for the untold number of ads from the WSI surrogates (i.e. Chamber of Commerce) when they say that look at all the money WSI has, well here is something for them, its not about how much money can be put in the bank, its about helping injured workers, plain and simple, its not about Blunt allowing his cronies (with his help) to make the agency face so much public scrutinty because of their underhandness and many many time unethical behaviors. Its not about giving dividends back to the business owners, its to provide sure and certain relief to injured workers. These people's families should be so proud of their kin for causing this to happen. "

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