Legislative Session is Over. What Now for ND xPlains?

I’ve had a number of readers reach out to me with the same basic question. Now that the North Dakota Legislative Session is over, what’s next for ND xPlains? Rather than answer each individually, I decided to go this route and lay out my intentions for this platform and what you can expect in the months ahead.

First, we recognize that just because legislators aren’t in Bismarck for the time doesn’t mean their presence isn’t felt throughout the state. The decisions they made from January through May of this year will have impacts for the next two years. We will push back on the descriptions written and told through rose colored glasses but, we’ll also give credit where and when it is due. Acknowledgment that the cuts and transfers in budgets have a real human impact will be at the core of some of our content. It will be a deep dive into the impacts from this session and sessions past (think oil tax cut) where real numbers and narratives will be presented.

Of course we’ll follow elections, candidates, political parties and platforms, and those positioning themselves for appointed government jobs (do we really want people campaigning for U.S. Attorney in the opinion pages of our newspapers?) People have been floating their names around for high office in both parties whether they think it is public or not. North Dakota is a small state, word travels. Watching candidates navigate an electorate upset with politics in general will keep us busy.

You’ll also get a pulse of the prairie when we take the conversation to you. New Happy Hour in the Heartland podcasts will be coming soon. Happy Hour went on hiatus as I filled in on regular radio and wrote on the rapid developments in the legislative session. The podcast will bring the real conversations had by average people in an open, honest, and judgment-free environment. The conversations are unfiltered, unscripted, and at times may move you out of your comfort zone.

Providing analysis on policy decisions and political maneuvering in an attempt to inform sprinkled with commentary. That’s our goal. We will work to remind you not to settle, that you deserve the best government and decision makers available whether they’re Democrat, Republican, or Independent. We can and will debate on government’s role and who the best decision makers are for the times we face.

Finally, I want to thank you for your support over the first six months of ND xPlains. Whether it has been a private message, stopping me in public for a quick word, making a contribution, signing up for the free subscription, or asking me to speak to your group it has all been very appreciated. The rate of which you accepted this page into your reading and source for information was humbling. I look forward to continuing our journey of talking North Dakota Politics. Plain. Simple. Direct.

Tyler Axness
Creator and Writer