7 Slippery oil prices.

• Position: STATELINE - Brief article

The plunge in oil prices has made budgeting tough for lawmakers in North Dakota, the nation's No. 2 oil producer. The Legislative Assembly must plan a two-year state budget while trying to estimate how low the price will go. They must also decide how to allocate shrinking revenues. A legislative panel predicted oil and gas tax revenues would drop 50 percent, from $8 billion to $4 billion. The House is debating a measure that would provide more than $1 billion to counties...