North Dakota house passes resolution instructing U.S. Senators Kent Conrad (D) and Byron Dorgan (D) to move forward on economic growth and jobs package.
WASHINGTON – Last week, the North Dakota House of Representatives passed a resolution by a voice vote instructing the state\’s members of Congress to support President Bush\’s Economic Growth and Jobs Package.
The bill\’s passage comes as a blow to North Dakota\’s two U.S. Senators, Byron Dorgan (D), chairman of the Senate Democratic Policy Committee, and Finance and Budget Committee member Kent Conrad. Both Senators have been exceedingly critical of the President\’s plan to eliminate the double taxation of dividends.
"Obstructionism can only go so far," said taxpayer advocate Grover Norquist, who heads Americans for Tax Reform (ATR) in Washington, "and senators like Dorgan and Conrad who purposefully block meaningful economic stimulus legislation will feel the full brunt of popular opposition, as the North Dakota House showed today."
On January 7, 2003, President Bush proposed a package of tax cuts to provide short-term support for the economy, bolster long-term economic growth, and reform the tax code by eliminating unjust double taxation. The plan provides $674 billion in tax relief over 10 years, which speeds up marginal income tax reductions from the 2001 tax cut and promotes capital expenditures and investment by increasing small business expensing and eliminating the unfair double taxation of dividends. Congress is getting set to debate the package in the near future and state legislators are demanding that their members of Congress pass these much-needed reforms.
"Similar resolutions have been proposed in numerous states, and the type of obstruction orchestrated by Dorgan and Conrad will be short lived," continued Norquist. "They can work with the President now, or be embarrassed by their voters later."
The resolution passed by the House explains these provisions and directs the state\’s elected representatives and Senators in the United States Congress to support and vote to enact President Bush\’s 2003 Economic Growth and Tax Relief Plan. The resolution passed by the North Dakota House now moves to the State Senate for consideration.