Earlier this year state lawmakers considered legislation, introduced by Rep. Scott Louser (R-Minot), which would have allowed those running for local political office to affiliate themselves on the ballot with a political party. You can listen to my interview with Louser about the legislation here. It wasn’t too popular among some local elected leaders, including…
Print Column: We’re Going to Do Something Stupid With the Legacy Fund
MINOT, N.D. — We’re going to end up doing something really, really dumb with the Legacy Fund. It was created by the North Dakota Legislature, with approval from the voters, back in 2010. As of February the fund had about $5 billion in it thanks to revenues from oil and gas development. Yet, at this…
Plain Talk: Is the Legacy Fund at Risk From Initiated Measures? and Some Thoughts on the Demise of the Sunday Close Law
Lawmakers in Bismarck are debating reforms, but as the law stands now North Dakota’s initiated measure process is wide open. Interests with a lot of money can pay to have their signatures collected, pay for a slick marketing campaign, and change the state’s laws. Even our state’s constitution. With billions of uncommitted dollars sitting in…
Attorney General Stenehjem Responds to Democrats, Says Lawsuit Challenging Obamacare Is His Duty
Lately North Dakota Democrats have been trying to make a campaign issue out of a lawsuit challenging the legality of Obamacare. The suit was filed by the State of Texas, which is paying for it, and Attorney General Wayne Stenehejm joined North Dakota to the list of plaintiffs. The Democrats – most recently Senator Heidi…
The Public Deserves Details About the Cost of Governor Burgum’s Security
For a while now there has been a lot of hot gossip in North Dakota’s capitol building about Governor Doug Burgum’s travel expenses and his security expenses. The rumors hold that Burgum has traveled excessively and often has an excessive security detail in tow. State Auditor Josh Gallion, to his credit, took a look at…
Republican Lawmaker Says His Residence Is Still in North Dakota Despite Currently Working in Minnesota
Recently the state’s political circles have been buzzing about state Rep. Bill Oliver, a Republican from New Town, supposedly moving to Thief River Falls in Minnesota where he’s managing an O’Reilly Auto Parts Store. This sort of thing has been controversial in recent years. Current House Minority Leader Corey Mock, a Democrat, moved out of his…
There Is No Version of Reality in Which a $600 Million Tax Hike Is Really a Tax Cut
Democrats really, really want “Republicans cut taxes for big oil” to be a viable part of their political platform heading into the 2018 election cycle. The big obstacle they face is that it isn’t a true statement. What they’re hoping is that if they just keep repeating the claim, over and over again, the public…
Democrats Aren’t Being Honest When They Talk About North Dakota’s Budget Situation
I’ve been pretty blunt in recent weeks talking about Republican handling of North Dakota’s budget situation. I think Republicans bungled. They spent too much. They built big budget increases on the back of unsustainable revenues driven by a boom in commodity prices. They have nobody to blame for that but themselves. I’ve also written, consistently,…
Leave It to Democrats to Refer to a $591 Million Oil Tax Increase as a Cut
When Democrats see spending growth slow they call it a spending cut. When Democrats don’t get as large a tax hike as they’d like they call it a tax cut. Back in 2015 state lawmakers, over the protests of most of the Democratic caucus, passed a reform bill for oil taxes removing a massive exemption…
Constitutional Carry Legislation Had Strong Bipartisan Support
There has been an angry response from some factions of North Dakota politics over Governor Doug Burgum signing into law HB1169, sponsored by Rep. Rick Becker (R-Bismarck), which institutes so-called “constitutional carry” in our state. One trope I’ve been seeing on social media is about how this is just another example of our state’s crazy…