Democrats Try To Jam Through Union Unemployment Bill By Attaching It To Flood Relief

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Written By:
Rob Port

Nov 9, 2011
11:05am

This is a slap in the face to flood victims in the state.

The union is rallying outside the state capitol today in favor of subsidies for their lockout from American Crystal Sugar (in the form of expanded unemployment benefits), and inside the state capitol minority Democrats are doing their best to jam the bill through.

According to a House legislator, Rep. Lee Kaldor just added the unemployment expansion bill to the flood relief legislation being considered in the House.

This is inappropriate for a lot of reasons.

First, this isn’t an issue that should be considered during a special session. It’s a major, major change in policy and should be given the full scrutiny of a regular legislative session not passed amid the flurry of the special session.

Second, it should be passed on its own merits, not attached to much-needed legislation dealing with flood relief. Talk about insulting the victims of flooding in the state. That flood bill shouldn’t be politicized like this with Democrats trying to attach their pro-union agenda to it.

UPDATE: A reader points out that Kaldor’s amendment may very well be unconstitutional. From Article IV, Section 13 of the state constitution:

No law may be enacted except by a bill passed by both houses, and no bill may be amended on its passage through either house in a manner which changes its general subject matter. No bill may embrace more than one subject, which must be expressed in its title; but a law violating this provision is invalid only to the extent the subject is not so expressed.

UPDATE: Check out Kaldor likening his legislation to a natural disaster:

As a joint House-Senate committee met to consider that bill today, however, Rep. Jeff Delzer, R-Underwood, questioned the connection with disaster relief.

“I don’t see anything in this bill that makes this germane,” Delzer said.

Kaldor said the bill has a common theme of helping people who have been hurt either by acts of God or by acts of man. “We have issues here that are affecting the entire state of North Dakota. This is really no different,” he said.

Good grief.