Judy Lee

I am serving or have served on the boards of Eventide Senior Living, Veterans Home, Children's Advocacy Centers of ND, Vocational Training Center, United Way of Cass-Clay, Protection and Advocacy, F-M Symphony, Hospice of RRV, FM Chamber and FMWF Chamber boards, WF Planning and Zoning Commission, and others, including local, state, and national organizations.

1. Developing a budget that meets the needs of ND residents while enabling local control for those services managed by locally elected officials, enhancing relationships between the state and local political entities.

2. Implementing the federal Rural Health Transformation funding to assure that it is serving individuals by supporting caregivers in home & community settings, establishing access to services in all counties and, very important to me, establishing a network to which solo medical providers can subscribe to share records, like the large hospitals now have. It would reduce trips to larger cities for follow-up to specialty care by enabling local providers to be connected with the larger hubs, reducing travel for patients.

3.Enhancing educational programs that provide the best opportunities for students and results that lead to success for students and the state.

Opportunities include some controversial, but important topics, such as data centers and energy generation. We should not be obstructive, but we need to be educated and evaluate the benefits and challenges that might be involved.

Challenges will include managing spending and resources for successful and measurable outcomes in all areas.

Workforce continues to be one of our biggest challenges. We must continue to welcome legal immigrants to our area in addition to recruiting elsewhere and keeping our college students here.

Responsibilities will include supporting services for those with disabilities and our aging population and expanding behavioral health to all areas and for all ages.

It would depend on the amount of money and the type of program. I am not eager to pay people to move here, but we need to support affordable housing programs of various types and have a pro-business environment for success for owners and employees. That must include small businesses, agriculture, energy development, manufacturing, and others whose proposals are likely to succeed. Being competitive with other states in attracting students to our colleges with reduced tuition plans is worth considering, but the colleges need to have adequate funding to make it work.

I do support state funding for economic development if plans are well vetted, have good business plans, and are partnerships between state., local political subdivisions, and applicants. Thorough consideration of proposals is critical to success. Our tax climate must be attractive to new businesses, and financing options need to be available, perhaps through partnerships of Bank of ND with local lenders.

Programs like Tax Increment Financing have been successful for cities. In the end, the projects are worth more, so the tax base is not reduced permanently.

It cannot be a cookie jar to snatch money for a pet project.

The Renaissance Zones have been successful for commercial areas, and I'd like to see a similar program developed to upgrade older residential areas. A bill was introduced a few years ago, but there was not enough local support to help it survive. It should be considered by local political subdivisions and residents to determine if it is worthwhile supporting in the next legislative session. The Housing Finance Agency is a good partner with local lenders in supporting housing options.

The first 2 years of the program which provided support for families with children needing childcare did not have all of the available funding being requested. Apparently the efforts to inform families was inadequate. The next biennium, outreach included more information to the childcare providers to share with families, so they would know about the programs and apply. It was much more successful. Unfortunately, adequate funding was not included in the current budget, so now there is a long waiting list and funding is gone. This will definitely be addressed in the next session.

I strongly support the Red River Valley Water Supply Project! There is a critical need to guarantee adequate water supply to eastern ND, because the Red River system itself varies greatly in its water flow. There have been years when one could walk across the river in the area near the El Zagal golf course. It needs to be completed.

I absolutely support the development of a natural gas pipeline for eastern ND! There are many areas that do not have access to natural gas, and the pipeline would provide ND-produced natural gas to the more populated part of the state so that not only larger cities, but small towns and businesses could use the energy source.