MINOT, N.D. — Recently Joel Heitkamp, brother of former U.S. Sen. Heidi Heitkamp, has been begging the question about whether or not his sister will run for governor. It’s a business move. Anyone who has seen the numbers knows Heitkamp’s radio audience is so old it’s shrinking due to death. He’s trying to wring the…
Just Admit You Made a Mistake Governor Burgum
“This is only an issue with a couple hundred people on social media.” That’s what Governor Doug Burgum reportedly told the Bismarck Tribune’s editorial board when the issue of the last-minute gutting of the powers of the Auditor’s Office came up. The exchange was mentioned in a column by Tribune publisher Gary Adkisson, who promises…
Plain Talk: “Governor Burgum Has Proven Himself to Be a Member of the Good Old Boys Club”
Riley Kuntz is an organizer behind Audit the Swamp. A campaign which, among other things, aims to refer legislation limiting the state Auditor’s powers by requiring permission from a Legislative committee before performance audits can be conducted. Governor Doug Burgum signed that legislation into law, and Kuntz sees it as a repudiation of his 2016…
Print Column: Lawmakers Should Come Back Into Session to Fix Their Shameful Auditor Mistake
MINOT, N.D. — During the waning days of the 2019 legislative session the budget for the state auditor’s office was sneakily amended to severely limit the autonomy of that office. The amendment requires the auditor to go begging to the Legislature for permission to conduct performance audits. The Legislature, essentially, gave themselves a veto over…
Don’t Let Them Fool You, Lawmakers Knew Exactly What They Were Doing to the Auditor’s Authority
Now that there has been some public blow back over legislation gutting the autonomy of the state Auditor, certain state lawmakers are in full walk-back mode. There is even some talk of calling the Legislature back into session to address the issue, which was likely prompted by news of a nascent referendum campaign. I hope…
Referendum Campaign Forming to Put Question of Auditor’s Power on the Ballot
There has been a lot of controversy over legislation, sneaked into the budget for the Auditor’s office during the closing days of this year’s legislative session, which limits the powers of the state Auditor. Per that legislation, which was signed by Governor Doug Burgum (with feeble justification), the Auditor must now go begging to a legislative…
Lawmaker Admits They Gutted Auditor’s Powers Because He Isn’t “Supposed to Embarrass People”
When news first broke that the Legislature had snuck some last minute language into a budget bill to remove the bulk of state Auditor Josh Gallion’s autonomy supporters of the move insisted that it wasn’t retribution. Only now, as Associated Press reporter James MacPherson reports, one lawmaker is confirming that’s exactly what it was: Backers…
The New Census Could Change North Dakota’s Political Landscape Thanks to Western Population Growth
This week Governor Doug Burgum issued an executive order creating an initiative, called the Complete Count Task Force, aimed at ensuring an accurate census count in North Dakota. The national decennial population count is upon us, and it’s important for states like North Dakota to ensure accurate counts as the numbers will be used for…
Print Column: Heidi Heitkamp Is Probably Running for Governor in 2020
MINOT, N.D. — Here’s a bold prediction: Former U.S. Sen. Heidi Heitkamp is probably going to run for governor. I don’t think she wants to be president of the University of North Dakota. Her name has been thrown around a bit for that job, and while she’s played coy when asked if she’d take the gig, that’s probably more…
Governor Burgum Is Right to Continue Calling Out Legislature Over Revenue Transparency
We see debates over spending in politics all the time. How much should we spend? Where should we spend it? It’s about 90 percent of what our government does. More rare are debates over how the government accounts for its revenues, yet that’s a topic Governor Doug Burgum dug into this legislative session (I’m sorry,…