“Our view: Put online sellers on equal footing,” is the headline over a Grand Forks Herald editorial today, making the point that the U.S. Supreme Court should back South Dakota’s law instituting a 4.5 percent sales tax on online sales of retailers doing more than $100,000 in annual business. It’s a case with national implications because…
Rick Olson: Does North Dakota Need a Law to Protect the Jobs of People Serving in the Legislature?
Although we are more than a year away from the next general election in November of 2018; many people at the local and state levels of the political parties in North Dakota use this time to try and find candidates for office. During the last election cycle in 2016, for example, many legislative races across…
Let’s Face It: Marsy’s Law Is a Mess, and Initiated Measures Are Dumb
Earlier this week I wrote about law enforcement authorities in South Dakota deciding that they can no longer report the locations of crimes because of amendments to their state constitution from Marsy’s Law. That state’s voters cast their ballots for that law the same as North Dakota’s voters. A further complication is that, apparently, the…
Marsy’s Law Creating Havoc in South Dakota as Cops Say They’ll Stop Reporting Locations of Crimes
The Marsy’s Law constitutional amendment – which passed here in North Dakota earlier this month by a wide margin – is a terrible, misguided, poorly-thought-out piece of policy. The billionaire who funded the ballot measure promoted it in other states as well, including South Dakota where it also passed. But in that state state provisions…
South Dakota Wants You To Use The Bathroom Corresponding With Your Biological Gender, And That Makes Sense
I’m not sure I understand the controversy over this legislation. “The South Dakota Senate on Tuesday followed earlier approval by the House to pass a bill that would require public school students to use the bathroom, shower and locker room that correspond to their biological sex,” the Forum News Service Reports. “If Republican Gov. Dennis…
The Dakotas Are An Unfriendly Place For Democrats
This Roll Call piece from yesterday about South Dakota Republican Senator John Thune’s re-election bid will sound awfully familiar to Republicans in North Dakota. Thune, you might remember, made national headlines when he unseated Democrat Tom Daschle, then the Senate Minority Leader, in 2004. In 2010 he went on to re-election without facing an opponent. And,…
Jack Seaman: Libertarians Of North And South Dakota To Meet In Mandan
The Libertarian Party of North Dakota (LPND) and South Dakota (LPSD) will be holding a joint meeting this Saturday, Nov. 7th at the Baymont Inn and Suites in Mandan from 1-5 p.m. In addition to general socializing and various speeches, on the agenda for the LPND will be the election of party officers and nomination…
South Dakota Lowers Minimum Wage For Young Workers
Maybe it is time to recognize that raising the minimum wage is bad for young and low-wage workers: PIERRE, S.D. — Gov. Dennis Daugaard has signed a bill to lower the minimum wage for youth in South Dakota to $7.50 per hour, his office announced Friday. This is despite approval last fall by voters of…
On Television: Why Is North Dakota Spending Twice As Much As South Dakota?
On my weekly segment with Chris Berg on Valley News Live last night we discussed this recent SAB post from Mike Marcil comparing South Dakota’s government with North Dakota’s. In his post, Marcil points out that South Dakota’s government is a lot more lean than North Dakota’s, and taxes are significantly lower. In fact, Berg…
Mike Marcil: Should North Dakota Be Following South Dakota's Lead?
At a high level North and South Dakota appear to be two states that look nearly identical. Both were admitted to the union on November 2nd 1889. Both share a similar immigration history with the majority of current residents tracing their ancestry back to German and Norwegian roots. Both have comparable GDP, household incomes and…