Publications
Fact Sheet North Dakota State and Local Taxes - Who Pays?
North Dakota State and Local Taxes in 2007. Shares of family income for non-elderly taxpayers and features, developments and comparisons. Report by the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy.
Too Great A Burden:Americans Face Rising Health Care Costs
Long before the current economic crisis began, Americans were already straining under the burden of two related trends: shrinking coverage and rising health care costs. Over the last decade, millions of Americans have joined the ranks of the uninsured, and millions more have become underinsured as the value of their coverage has declined. At the same time, health insurance premiums and out-of-pocket costs have risen steadily, and the number of families who are facing unmanageably high health care costs has grown. Left unchecked, health care costs will keep going up, forcing more and more American families into debt—and even into bankruptcy and foreclosure.
North Dakotans without Health Insurance
Every year, the U.S. Census Bureau—in its Current Population Survey (CPS)—reports the number
of people who are uninsured. This widely quoted number is intended to offer an estimate of
how many people did not have any type of health insurance at any point in time during the
previous calendar year.
Left Behind: North Dakota's Uninsured Children
An estimated 8.6 million children in the United States lacked health insurance coverage in 2007. That same year, Congress debated and passed two pieces of legislation that would have reduced the number of uninsured children by almost half, covering as many as 4 million additional
children. President Bush vetoed both bills. Since then, the mounting national economic crisis has driven up unemployment rates at a time when working families are already struggling with the rising cost of everything from gasoline to health insurance premiums. When the economy plunges, the number of uninsured Americans typically increases. This, in turn increases demand for safety net programs like Medicaid and the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP; Healthy Steps in North Dakota). According to the most recent Census data, North Dakota is currently home to an estimated 14,000 uninsured children.
Premiums versus Paychecks: A Growing Burden for North Dakota's Workers
Throughout the first eight years of the new millennium, health care costs have skyrocketed,
while working families’ wages have stood still. Other factors have also threatened families’
economic well-being, including rising gasoline prices and the downturn in the housing
market, but the confluence of stagnant wages and rising health care costs has become a significant strain on family budgets. Numerous national studies have documented this damage.
In Search of the Great Pumpkin: Economic Development Accountability in ND
This report surveys how success is currently [in 2002] being measured in North Dakota’s economic development programs.This broad review reveals that North Dakotans are being asked to take it on faith that economic development subsidies are producing results. That’s because state agencies typically measure success by the size and number of their investments, rather than the results of those investments. Report by Good Jobs First, with assistance from Don Morrison and Gail Erickson of NDCPG (North Dakota Progressive Coalition).
