Legislative Leadership is Using Loophole to Extend Session

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If you were looking for the floor session schedules of the North Dakota House and Senate today, your search would come up empty. If you were curious about tomorrow’s, I’ll save you the trouble and tell you it won’t be there. Rather than business as usual, the members of the 65th session will push through […]

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What Was Covered and What Was Absent in the Governor’s Address

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Governor Burgum struck the right note when he spoke about the need to stop utilizing our jails and prisons as mental health and addiction treatment centers. The state’s corrections budget has exploded, and our new jails are full. The last stat I heard, it costs taxpayers over $30,000 per inmate per year. Meanwhile, in speaking […]

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Governor Burgum Should Pursue Oil & Gas Audit

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Here is one of the many action items I want to hear in Governor Burgum’s address to the 65th Legislative Session: “As I said I’d do in my campaign to become the Governor of the Great State of North Dakota, I will support a full performance audit of the Oil and Gas Division of the […]

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Culture of Intimidation (Part 3: Lawmakers)

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The most baffling group of decision makers who succumb to intimidation are the lawmakers themselves. It doesn’t come from the voters either; it is from their ranks in the Capitol. Legislators tend to forget that it is the people of their district, constituents, who are their boss, not some person they elect as their caucus […]

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The Culture of Intimidation (Part 1: Lobbyists)

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If you were to walk around the Capitol when lawmakers were around you’d maybe get a sense of cordialness. Smiles followed by a greeting are common and expected. You may not notice the underlying stress for some individuals as they’re being pressured to keep certain lawmakers happy but also do the right thing for the people they represent. […]

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