A recent poll released from Morning Consult indicated U.S. Senator Heidi Heitkamp has earned approval from 60% of North Dakota voters. The results place Heitkamp in the top seventeen regarding favorability of the nation’s Senators according to their constituents. North Dakota’s U.S. Senator John Hoeven earned 65% from North Dakota voters, placing him at number ten. I can’t […]
It must not get lost on anyone what the Legislature tried this week. The leadership in the North Dakota House used 250 nursing students as leverage to place themselves in an agreement they didn’t like. Placing professional development of our state’s youth in jeopardy with a power grab by legislators is an outrage. Diplomacy be […]
An amendment to the Higher Education budget in the House Appropriations Committee has caused quite a controversy over the past twelve hours. The amendment to SB 2003 would close the NDSU Nursing Program in Bismarck. The program, an approved partnership since 2014 between NDSU and Sanford Health, was created to address the nursing shortage our […]
In a series of public responses to a press conference held by Democratic legislators, House Majority Leader Al Carlson, Republican of Fargo, admitted the budget situation is his party’s responsibility and the minority was not welcome to be involved in crafting a solution. If you’ve followed the news at all over the last year, you […]
Efforts to combat human trafficking have taken a more visible role in public policy discussions over the passed few years. U.S. Senator Heidi Heitkamp has been a strong leader in this anti-trafficking effort, holding numerous roundtables across the state and sponsoring federal legislation to combat this horrendous industry. However, federal efforts alone will not stomp […]
During the State of the State address to a joint session of the Legislature, newly elected Governor Doug Burgum declared the state will no longer pursue the 12% property tax buy-down. Legislative leadership was open to the shift in policy because they said, they would provide permanent property tax reform through a state takeover of […]
During the State of the State address to a joint session of the Legislature, newly elected Governor Doug Burgum declared the state will no longer pursue the 12% property tax buy-down. Legislative leadership was open to the shift in policy because they said, they would provide permanent property tax reform through a state takeover of […]
The Legislature is trying to force the sovereign Three Affiliated Tribes into adhering to the legislative oil tax rates after they cut the tax in 2015. To accomplish this, they are amending the oil and gas tax agreement structure. The move adopted by the Senate on March 27th would place the Legislature between the Governor […]
Governor Doug Burgum has decided to finally show there are some areas he disagrees with the Legislature. Today, Burgum sent the Speaker of the House, Rep. Larry Bellew, a letter declaring he has vetoed HB 1153. The bill would have limited the dollar amount of bonuses the Governor is allowed to give his staff or members he […]
At my request, I received the following public document from the North Dakota Tax Department. The column on the far right titled, “Amount reduced if limited to $3.5 million” shows how much every county would be denied each year from Rep. Craig Headland’s amendment to SB 2273. The total state breakdown appears at the bottom. […]