Burgum urges legislature to approve tax relief

Governor Doug Burgum urged North Dakota lawmakers to include an income tax cut during an address to a joint meeting of the House and Senate today (Monday).

The Republican governor says the 17th special session in 134 years of statehood creates a unique opportunity to not only invest in the future – but allow North Dakotans to keep more of their hard-earned income.

Burgum says his $91 million dollar plan would draw from a $288 million dollar surplus in the previous two-year budget.

Burgum says the income threshold for the zero percent tax bracket would be raised from $44,725 to $60,000 for single filers and from $74,570 to $100,000 for married filing jointly. The governor says that would bring another 50,000 North Dakotans to the bottom of the tax bracket.

Lawmakers are meeting in a special session to address the OMB budget bill. Last month the state Supreme Court said the bill is unconstitutional because it violates the state single-subject requirement for bills.