The future of House Bill 1020 was the subject of the testimony heard before the North Dakota Senate Appropriations Subcommittee in Bismarck last Friday. Two weeks ago, on February 27, the North Dakota House voted 90 to 4 to prohibit Fargo and its Diversion Authority from using state appropriated tax funds on the 2 billion…
Guest Post: North Dakota's Heart Beat Bill Is Constitutional
I apologize up front for the length of this piece. I have had many requests to lay out the constitutional framework for HB1456 also known as the Heartbeat Bill, but, as I said in my earlier piece on life there is a great deal of confusion and misinformation about the Supreme Court’s abortion decisions. Pro-abortion…
Guest Post: The Fargo-Moorhead Diversion Authority Is Being Milked By Special Interests
Where does all the money go? The Fargo-Moorhead Diversion Authority money, I mean. In 2013 the Diversion Authority is projected to spend $44 million on the FM Flood Risk Reduction plan. “The Corps and sponsors have invested approximately $60 million in the project through the end of fiscal year 2013,” according to Diversion Authority publicist…
Guest Post: Rep. Al Carlson Is Right About Diversion Amendments
Last week, on February 28th, Fargo’s Mayor Walaker was interviewed by Chris Berg on POV (Point of View), on Fargo’s KX-KVLY. The topic was Fargo’s reaction over to HB 1020. The bill would give Fargo $1O2 million dollars to bring the city’s flood protection measures up to 42.5 feet, nearly two feet more than the…
Guest Post: To Set Something Aside, No More Honey Boo Boo
According to the consumer research firm Yankelovich, if you live in an American city today, you see at least 5,000 advertising messages every day. Forget television, radio and billboards. In the digital era, we now see ads at the gym, on displays at the grocery store — even in your doctor’s waiting room. No wonder…
Guest Post: Legislature Doing Big Things For North Dakota
The 2013 North Dakota Legislative Session has reached the half way point known as crossover. That is the point where legislation that has passed the House and the Senate crosses over to be considered by the other legislative body. Predictably, the first half has been like watching sausage be made. There are lots of options…
Guest Post: Williston's Poor Fiscal Priorities Result In Credit Rating Downgrade
This afternoon, Bloomberg News is reporting that the credit rating agency of Standards and Poors has downgraded the credit rating of the City of Williston to a BBB+, three steps away from “junk bond status”. The $5.8 million of debt the city sold in December for water and sewer work is a fraction of the $625 million officials say…
Guest Post: The Left Is Changing Their Position On Abortion
Just weeks ago we marked 40 years since the Roe v Wade decision. Most people will tell you that they know where they stand on the issues of life and abortion, but what struck me during the debate over the Heartbeat Bill is how few people know what the Roe opinion even says. There is…
Guest Post: Give Ham A Chance
When I read the Inforum column posted earlier this week entitled, “Public college students express “no confidence” in university chancellor, support buyout” the following verse came to mind. For one thing, it is indelibly etched in my brain for life, and for another, I had spent an hour with Chancellor Ham Shirvani on the Legislature…
Guest Post: Give State Employees A Choice On Pensions
HB 1452 was originally introduced and ultimately amended with a Do Pass recommendation out of committee and received a similar Do Pass on the floor of the House late last week. The bill provides the option for newly hired state employees to direct the state as to into which retirement plan they would prefer to…