MINOT, N.D. — Traditionally in North Dakota the governor’s executive budget, delivered to lawmakers as an address in December, is introduced as actual spending bills at the beginning of the actual legislative session in January. Last week legislative leaders changed the rules. While Burgum’s budget proposals will be available to lawmakers, the actual legislation introduced…
Print Column: Burgum’s Proposed Pension Bailout Must Be Tied to Real Reforms
MINOT, N.D. — It’s not the sexiest political topic, so you might be forgiven if you’re unaware of North Dakota’s chronic problems with underfunded pensions. But the problems are real, and while Gov. Doug Burgum proposes addressing the issue with a cash infusion from the state’s reserves, that bailout needs to be coupled with real…
Print Column: Public Must Keep a Sharp Eye on Relationship Between Local Politicians, Opioid Lawyers
MINOT, N.D. — More and more local governments in North Dakota are deciding to join themselves to lawsuits against the opioid industry over the objections of Attorney General Wayne Stenehjem. Stenehjem joined North Dakota with several other states in a lawsuit against Oxycontin manufacturer Purdue Pharma, and has warned local governments that joining separate suits…
Print Column: ADHD, August Birthdays and Why I’m a Conservative
MINOT, N.D. — Ideology takes a back seat in modern politics, and that’s not a good thing. People identifying themselves as “conservative” or “progressive” are associating themselves less with a school of thought than with the avatars representing those terms in our national political war. I’m talking about the cults of personality around people like…
Print Column: Burgum Can’t Paint Over the Mold Problem in Higher Education
MINOT, N.D. — I am dubious of a proposal to change the governance structure of the North Dakota University System. The idea comes from a task force Gov. Doug Burgum created to consider the issue, and it would replace our current eight-voting-member State Board of Higher Education with three boards consisting of nearly 40 members.…
Print Column: We Are Regulating Young Families Out of Our State
MINOT, N.D. — Generations of politicians in North Dakota have struggled to address a consistent problem facing our state. How do we get our young people to stay here? How do we get young people to move here to alleviate our chronic workforce shortages? Short of playing host to an oil boom, which did reverse…
Print Column: Heitkamps Feel They’re Entitled to Power, and That’s Exactly Why They Shouldn’t Have It
MINOT, N.D. — Believe it or not, the point of politics isn’t the campaigns. Those are supposed to be nothing more than the means by which we choose who gets to do the much more important job of governing. Sadly, it can seem as though the whole governing thing is just something the politicians do…
Print Column: Measure 1 Should Be Challenged in Court Immediately
MINOT, N.D. — Measure 1, approved by 54 percent of North Dakota voters this last week, is a clear example of the deep flaws in legislating at the ballot box. I don’t blame busy voters, inundated with messaging from a myriad of campaigns, for approving the measure. Most of them probably heard little about it…
Print Column: The Heitkamp Era Has Been Terrible for North Dakota Democrats
Where do North Dakota Democrats go from here? As I write this the vote counts are still coming in. We’ll have time in the days ahead to dissect what happened in the legislative races and with the ballot measures, but there was really only one race this cycle that mattered to Democrats and they lost…
Print Column: Heitkamp Drags North Dakota Through the Mud to the Finish Line
MINOT, N.D. – A dangerous place to be is between U.S. Sen. Heidi Heitkamp and the object of her relentless, overweening ambition. Those of us who have been victims of the incumbent’s ruthless tactics are perhaps more aware of it than most. Earlier this year, when it became clear my criticism was inconvenient for Heitkamp’s…