In a new poll, North Dakota voters say they'd like to see big changes to the state's Legacy Fund, which operates as a savings account funded by oil tax revenue.
In 2010, voters approved creating what's sometimes called the "people's fund," with 30% of tax revenue from oil production in the state flowing into the fund each month for long-term investments and general operations.
The North Dakota News Cooperative commissioned the poll, and 68% of respondents said they want the money used for economic development within North Dakota, rather than the current focus on out-of-state investments.
Trevor Smith, chief research officer for the analytics firm WPA Intelligence, led the project and said the results are telling.
"There's not a lot of familiarity with what the Legacy Fund is," Smith pointed out. "Three percent of eligible voters are 'very familiar;' 55% are 'very unfamiliar.' And then voters really want it to be transparent."
He added 84% of respondents want fund managers to ditch their current rule of having to file an information request and simply post the investments online. The poll, which connected with 500 eligible voters in North Dakota, was conducted earlier this month.
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Categories: North Dakota, Business