Plain Talk

When it comes to regulating air quality - both in terms of health and cosmetic measures like visibility - North Dakota does an excellent job. We have some of the cleanest air in the nation. Ours is one of only four states to have never violated a federal air quality standard protecting health or the environment. We've been building on that excellent record too. "Since 2002, total emissions from coal-powered electricity generation plants in North Dakota were reduced by 102,000 tons of sulfur dioxide, or 72%, and 41,600 tons of nitrogen oxide, down 55%," Patrick Springer reported last month. Despite this, the Biden administration argues that North Dakota's state-level management of regional haze isn't good enough. They want to layer more federal regulations on top through the EPA's Regional Haze Program. Mack McGuffey, an attorney who specializes in this area of environmental policy and is representing North Dakota's Lignite Energy Council, joined this episode of Plain Talk to discuss the issue. He and his client are encouraging the public to provide public comment to the EPA, something you can do through CleanAirND.com, a website set up by the LEC to inform and facilitate that process. Matour Alier, who is running for the Fargo City Commission, also joined this episode. We talked about his objections to a recent column of mine that was critical of him, how a local candidate can stand out in a field of 15 contenders, and his experiences as a refugee who went from living in a camp for a decade to being a home owner in North Dakota. Click here to subscribe to Plain Talk on your favorite podcasting service. "Forum Communications Company is proud to be a part of the Trust Project. Learn more at thetrustproject.org."

Minot, N.D. — Will the U.S. Supreme Court strike down the Roe v. Wade precedent and make bans on abortions constitutional again? Will the federal government create new law regarding abortion, either codifying it as legal or creating national restrictions? And what are the political ramifications for all this? Sen. Kevin Cramer discussed these issues on this episode of Plain Talk. He also reacted to my recent interview with New York Times reporter Jonathan Martin whose new book contains an anecdote about January 6 which includes Cramer. We also discussed the situation in Ukraine, from the potential for food shortages as war ravages one of the world's great agriculture producers, to the increasingly assertive role America is playing in the conflict. Want to be notified of new episodes of Plain Talk when the publish? Subscribe to the podcast via your favorite podcasting app.

On January 6, as rioters were infiltrating the U.S. Capitol building, New York Times reporter Jonathan Martin was in the building with many of our national leaders like Sen. Ted Cruz and Sen. Kevin Cramer. He and co-author Alexander Burns tell that story in a new book, just released this week, called "This Will Not Pass: Trump, Biden, and the Battle for America's Future." Martin spoke with co-host Chad Oban and I about what it was like to watch some of our nation's most recognizable political figures react to the riot in real-time as part of a larger narrative about the transition from the Trump era to Biden's current presidency. I wrote about an excerpt from Martin's book, describing Cramer's response to the riots, in a column earlier this week. Also on this episode, Chad and I discuss the political implications over the U.S. Supreme Court overturning the Roe v. Wade precedent. The debate over abortion is one thing, but the shift of that debate from the judiciary and back into the arena of democracy, where it would be settled by governors and state legislatures across the country has the potential to be one of the most profound turn of events in a generation or two of American politics. Want to follow Plain Talk? Subscribe to the podcast on your favorite platform.

When President Joe Biden, as one of his first moves in office, canceled the Keystone XL pipeline it was "a symbol" for the oil and gas industry that the political situation would be hostile to them in the coming years. That lead them to curtail their investments in new production capacity, something that, per Smith, speaking on this episode of Plain Talk, is now contributing to higher fuel prices and a higher cost of living for Americans. Cheap energy is of enormous interest, not just to Americans but to the whole world, Dr. Smith says. "Cheap energy is the solution to poverty," he said, casting the debates on energy issues as a "conflict between the reduction of poverty and the interest in reducing carbon emissions." Though he says the world can't ignore climate issues, he has a hard time ranking them above the goal of lifting people out of poverty. Dr. Smith has also done extensive research in the role of trust, love, and empathy in a society, and spoke about those issues in the context of our low-trust society and political environment. He will be speaking about these topics more at a Tuesday, May 3, talk sponsored by North Dakota State University's Sheila and Robert Challey Institute for Global Innovation and Growth. If you want to participate in Dr. Smith's lecture, which will be part of the Menard Family Distinguished Speakers Series, visit the Challey Institute's page on the NDSU website.

Carbon capture and storage is a big deal for North Dakota. Not just because our state's economy is dominated by commodity-based industries - energy and agriculture - that emit a lot of carbon, but because the geology under our feet lends itself to storing captured carbon. There are billions in investments lined across several projects to not only capture and store carbon emitted in our state, but to bring carbon from other parts of the world here for storage as well. One of the first major projects is the Midwest Carbon Express pipeline, proposed by Iowa-based Summit Carbon Solutions, which would bring carbon emitted by ethanol plants across the upper midwest to our state for storage. Only, some landowners say the company hasn't been doing a good job at winning them over. On this episode of Plain Talk, Daryl Lies, the president of the North Dakota Farm Bureau, said some landowners had Summit Carbon representatives poking around on their land without permission. Kurt Swenson, himself a landowner who is in the process of negotiating with Summit, says the deals the company wants, and which North Dakota law allows, takes too much from landowners and doesn't compensate nearly high enough. These are important things, both men argue, because the future of the emerging carbon capture and storage industry in North Dakota hinges on how these first deals play out.

Minot, N.D. — Sen. Jessica Bell, a Republican from District 33, has a lengthy track record of reliably conservative policy making in the North Dakota Senate, which includes her consequential work to save a coal-fired power plant that employs, directly and indirectly, thousands of her constituents. Yet the delegates at the NDGOP's local district convention didn't endorse her for re-election. Instead they endorsed a man named Keith Boehm, who campaigned against Bell based on her votes against a bill regulating transgender participation in North Dakota school activities. How did a culture war issue come to be so much more important than jobs and taxes and sound governance? Sen. Bell talked about it on this episode of Plain Talk. "It was a bad bill," she said in explanation of her vote on the transgender activities issue. "It was poorly written." She said North Dakota's elected officials ought to be focused on issues important to North Dakota, and not national culture war issues. "Just because we saw it on Fox News doesn't mean it's appropriate," she said. She added that she does appreciate the challenge, however, in that it gives her the opportunity to talk about her work in the Senate. It is "pushing me to be better," she said. Also on this episode, Wednesday co-host Chad Oban and I talk about the roots of the controversy around the Midwest Carbon Express pipeline, Elon Musk's purchase of Twitter, and Sen. Ray Holmberg resigning from the Senate amid controversy.

North Dakota's initiated measure process has become a venue for deep-pocketed special interests to hire local fronts, pay mercenaries to collect signatures, and then pound their issues into the heads of voters with big-money marketing campaigns. What was intended to empower grassroots activists to keep state government honest has turned into a shortcut for political professionals to pretty much bypass the rigors and scrutiny of the legislative process. It is in this context that a new ballot measure, which seeks to reform the initiated measure process, enters the debate. The organizers have just submitted their signatures to Secretary of State Al Jaeger's office, and they're waiting on approval, but if passed by voters this measure would require that constitutional amendments get 60 percent of the statewide vote instead of a mere simple majority. It would also require that proposed amendments be limited to just one subject. It's an idea that "resonates with North Dakotans," Jeff Zarling from Protect North Dakota's Constitution, the group behind the measure, said on this episode of Plain Talk. Zarling, along with former North Dakota Adj. General Mike Haugen, is leading the group. He's spent the last year gathering signatures for his group's measure. "People were appalled that it takes a simple majority to amend the constitution," he told me. "Why should the constitution not have more respect than statutory law?" Zarling also made the point that, in these polarized times, a requirement that a proposed amendment to our state constitution garner a greater degree of consensus before becoming law isn't such a bad idea. "This isn't a partisan issue. This is a North Dakota issue. People want more moderation," he said.

Minot, N.D. — Ves Marinov serves the state of North Dakota as a member of the Highway Patrol. He's also a citizen of Fargo who is running for a city on the city's commission. He's campaigning on a platform of addressing crime, eliminating special assessments, moving the city to a ward system for its elected leaders, and making the city more efficient. But it's that first issue, given his day job, that Marinov, a new American from Bulgaria who immigrated in 2003, is most passionate about. "Crime has been rising," he said on this episode of Plain Talk. "We can't solve that by turning our police departments into another social services department." Recently I wrote a story about Fargo Mayor Tim Mahoney, who holds the portfolio for policing issues for the city commission, emailing with Fargo Police Department detectives regarding what authorities describe as a robbery incident in which the mayor's son was the victim. In his emails, Mahoney told detectives not to follow a particular lead and suggested other leads to follow as if he were a member of the investigation team. Mahoney defended his actions to me, and Fargo Police Chief Dave Zibolski didn't see a problem either, but Marinov says that crossed a line. He said it's a "clear example" of one person having too much power over the city's law enforcement. "All the oversight is coming from the mayor," Marinov said. With regard to the investigation involving the mayor's son, "I feel that some ethical boundaries were crossed." Also on this episode, Fahad Nazer, the spokesman for the Saudi Arabian embassy in Washington D.C., joins to talk about something North Dakota, America, and Saudi Arabia all care about, which is promoting stable oil markets.

Medical marijuana is legal in North Dakota, having been approved by voters by way of a ballot measure. Recreational marijuana, however, has taken a rockier road. Multiple ballot measure campaigns have failed in the past. House Bill 1420, considered during the last legislative session, and which would have also implemented legalization of non-medical use of marijuana, also failed. But the proponents of legalization are giving it another shot, and this time they're perhaps more organized than they have been before. On this episode of Plain Talk, state Rep. Matt Ruby (R-Minot) as well as Fargo-based attorney Mark Friese of the Vogel Law Firm, join to talk about their proposed measure. Their campaign is called New Approach North Dakota, and they have until July to get the requisite number of signatures to put it on the ballot. Also on this episode, my Wednesday co-host Chad Oban and I discuss a draft bill that would prohibit lawmakers from leading property to the state, as well as the intrigues of the upcoming June primaries, particularly in the legislative races.

Ben Hanson made an interesting point on this episode of Plain Talk. He's a former state lawmaker and candidate for the Cass County Commission, facing off against Tony Grindberg, who is another former state lawmaker. His race won't be settled by approval voting, but he lives in Fargo where approval voting is used for local races. Fargo has a lot of candidates running for mayor and the city commission, and Hanson wonders if approval voting, where voters cast a ballot for multiple preferred candidates, might have drawn more people into those races. He compares Fargo to West Fargo, where there are far fewer competitive races. Does he have a point? Maybe, though, as we talked about during his interview, Fargo isn't the only place where there are a lot of candidates for local offices. In Grand Forks, which doesn't use approval voting, there are something like 23 candidates for the school board. Whatever is happening, there is a lot for voters to pay attention to in local races this cycle. Hanson talked about his own races, and the challenges attendant to running for local office in general. Also on this episode, Sen. John Hoeven talks about winning the NDGOP's endorsement at the recent state convention, what's driving the rancor in politics both in the Republican party and across the political spectrum, and what he'll focus on as he begins his general election campaign.

"We all take it for granted," says Sheri Haugen-Hoffart, talking about energy that's reliably available and cost effective. She's running for the Public Service Commission, and she's the incumbent, only not really. She was appointed to the PSC by Gov. Doug Burgum a couple of months ago to replace Brian Kroshus who is now the Tax Commissioner. She's new to the job, in other words, though not to the area of public policy the PSC deals with. She was the first female board chair in history for both Capital Electric Co-Op and Central Power Co-Op. She's been on the Capital Electric board for about a decade. What will she bring to the PSC? "Innovation over regulation," she said on this episode of Plain Talk.

I'm a baseball nerd. And a political nerd. And as a person with a foot in both of those worlds, I can say that there's a lot of overlap between the two. There's just something about baseball that appeals to people who are also deeply interested in politics. Anyway, today is opening day for baseball, so on this episode of Plain Talk, three political nerds - Congressman Kelly Armstrong, my frequent co-host Chad Oban, and me, of course - take off their political hats and put on their baseball hats. We talk about our favorite teams (the Mets, the Dodgers, and the Yankees, respectively), our favorite baseball moments, and how we feel about the ways the game is changing. If you're a baseball nerd, or aspire to be one, this episode is for you.

Minot, N.D. — "I would not vote for Nancy Pelosi" to be Speaker of the House. So says Mark Haugen, who received the North Dakota Democratic-NPL's endorsement at their state convention in Minot last month, and is currently running unopposed in the primary. He's far from a cookie-cutter progressive candidate for the Dems. He's pro-life, for one, at a time when it's hard to find any Democrats anywhere who aren't categorically in favor of abortion. He's also like to see more moderate and pragmatic Democratic leadership. "We can't win as the old Democratic party of the past," he said on this episode of Plain Talk. Also on this episode, Chad and I talk more about the aftermath of the NDGOP's state convention, as well as some surprises in a couple of local district conventions that have happened since, including one in District 3 (Minot) where newcomers were locked out, and one in District 13 (West Fargo) where long-time lawmaker, and current Speaker of the House, Rep. Kim Koppelman, didn't receive the convention endorsement.

After all the Sturm und Drang, all the attack ads and recriminations, incumbent Senator John Hoeven bested Rick Becker in the North Dakota Republican Party's Senate primary. On this Plain Talk, Chad Oban and I wrap up what happened, and talked about what it might mean for the NDGOP and North Dakota politics going forward.

"The problem we've gotten into are the tactics being used," says former North Dakota Governor Ed Schafer. Schafer will be delivering a speech at what is expected to be an NDGOP state convention marked by factionalism and resentments, and his hope is to inspire delegates to find a sense of unity. This year marks the 30 year anniversary of Schafer's election, which ushered in the era of Republican dominance that thousands and thousands of North Dakotans grew up with. On this episode of Plain Talk, Schafer says he intends to tell that story, and talk about how Republicans found so much success in North Dakota. It was about optimism, he says, and competent policymaking, which is distinct from the "incendiary things" modern politicians say and do to "get on Facebook and Tiktok." "It gives Republicans a black eye," Schafer says. "I think it creates a shallowness." One cause of the infighting in the NDGOP is a lot of new people getting involved in party politics. They're angry and they want change, Schafer says, and that's not necessarily a bad thing, but he argues that some "have been able to take advantage of that" and point the energy toward some unproductive initiatives.

"There are some problems within the Democratic party in North Dakota that we need to fix." That's according to Trygve Hammer, a Marine veteran from Velva who just accepted the Democratic-NPL's endorsement to campaign for a seat on the Public Service Commission. He spoke about his candidacy on this episode of Plain Talk - he'll be running against Republican Sheri Haugen-Hoffart who was just appointed by Gov. Doug Burgum - and he doesn't sound like your typical Democratic candidate. He's pro-oil, pro-coal, and he's not afraid to be critical of his own party, which he says needs to "get over" the years of dominance the NDGOP has accrued and start "showing up." Why is he running for the PSC? "The party asked me. The party needed me," he said, noting that he was first recruited for a 2022 campaign in February. But it wasn't until this month that he decided to campaign for the PSC specifically. He said he wished he had more time to prepare for the campaign, and he admitted, when I asked him if there were specific policies the PSC has implemented that he could cite as reasons for a change in leadership, that he still has to get up to speed. Still, Hammer has the skills and the personality to connect with North Dakota voters in ways that Democratic candidates in the recent past have struggled to achieve. Also on this episode, Wednesday co-host Chad Oban and I discuss the upcoming NDGOP convention, and some of the potential shenanigans which may play out there.

The Sierra Club in other states, such as Iowa, is opposed to the Carbon Express pipeline, but not in North Dakota. They're not against it. They're also not for it. "If we voted, we would probably vote to oppose it," Dr. Dexter Perkins, a member of the North Dakota chapter of the high-profile environmental activist group, told me on this Plain Talk. Perkins, who is also a geologist at the University of North Dakota, says he's skeptical that the pipeline will work, but he and his group are hoping it does. "We're hoping we're wrong," he said, noting that the clubs refusal to condemn the project "puts us in the minority among environmental groups." That's not exactly a ringing endorsement of the pipeline, which would bring carbon emissions from ethanol plants across the upper midwest to North Dakota where they would be pumped underground, but given the intensity of environmental politics, but given the polarizing nature of environmental politics in America, the reticence to be opposed seems like a breakthrough for pragmatism. Perkins agrees. "We're a pretty practical bunch of people," he said of his Sierra Club chapter. Want more Plain Talk? Consider subscribing via your favorite podcasting service: https://www.inforum.com/podcasts/plain-talk-with-rob-port Want to support Plain Talk? Get a subscription, for a low introductory rate of just $0.99 per month, which also buys you access to great news, sports, and analysis across our dozens of publications: https://inforum.news/port

It's over folks. The North Dakota Democrats have selected candidates for two Public Service Commission seats, Attorney General, U.S. House and U.S. Senate. They left campaigns for Tax Commissioner and Secretary of State unfilled. On this episode of Plain Talk, I talk with my regular co-host Chad Oban, a former executive director of the party, about the good, the bad, and the ugly.

Minot, N.D. — It was a busy episode of Plain Talk today. Sen. Kevin Cramer joined to discuss everything from the reason why he endorsed incumbent Sen. John Hoeven over challenger Rick Becker (he said Hoeven was not only his colleague but also his "mentor), the war in Ukraine (he says Biden is doing many of the right things, only he's doing them too late), energy (there's "nothing moral" about exporting our climate guilt), and the Supreme Court nomination battle. On that last issue, Cramer said he hasn't made up his mind yet. He said he's reviewed the Senate Judiciary Committee's hearings, but still has a meeting coming up with Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson which he'd like to honor. "If I make a hard decision before that I'll probably cut her loose," he said, but as of now he intends to talk with her privately first. He said one thing he'd like to discuss with her, which hasn't gotten a lot of attention, are her views on the right of states and what Cramer calls "cooperative federalism."

A ballot measure aimed at implementing term limits in North Dakota for the governor and members of the legislature hit the skids when the Secretary of State's office disqualified tens of thousands of signatures. How did a political campaign screw up an issue that, all else aside, is almost certainly popular with most North Dakotans? My co-host Chad Oban and I talked about it on this episode of Plain Talk with House Minority Leader Josh Boschee, a Democrat from Fargo. Boschee said he's against term limits, but is more disappointed in what this ballot measure campaign has done to the credibility of the initiated measure process. Boschee also talked about his party's upcoming state convention and what the next legislative session might look like. Boschee is the only one of the legislature's four leaders who is returning. House Majority Leader Chet Pollert, Senate Majority Leader Rich Wardner, and Senate Minority Leader Joan Heckaman are all retiring. "I don't know who I'll be working with," Boschee said. He gave credit to past Republican leadership in the legislature, noting that they were pragmatic and often willing to work with the Democratic minority, but expressed concerns over that sort of approach to legislating taking a back seat as the NDGOP grows more extreme. Want to support this podcast? Consider a subscription to access all of the great Forum Communications news, sports, and opinion content at a low introductory rate of just $0.99 per month: https://inforum.news/port

Thanks to Vladimir Putin's war in Ukraine, and politics that are largely hostile to oil and gas development here in America, our energy prices are skyrocketing. You know it. You've been to a fuel pump lately. You've seen the prices at the grocery store. Oil touches nearly every part of our lives, and when its price goes up, our lives get more expensive a lot faster than most of us can make more money. On this episode of Plain Talk the president of North Dakota's oil industry group argues that American energy policies have had been "exporting our guilt" to other parts of the world. From political activism to litigation to government regulation, we've made producing oil and gas in America harder even as demand for those products has continued to climb. This has been great for countries like Russia and Venezuela even as it drives up prices for Americans. Even worse, Ness notes, this trend is bad for the environment. Russia's regulation of oil and gas development is not as responsible as America's. Oil and gas produced in America is going to be cleaner oil and gas. North Dakota oil, specifically, can be "the cleanest barrel of oil in the world," Ness says, but points out that domestic policies, such as the Biden administration's moratorium on leases on federal lands as well as its insistence on running up the price of production by tacking on so-called "social costs," are making it harder to produce that barrel. Ness also discusses North Dakota's oil tax policy, saying a trigger that kicks in a higher tax rate at high oil prices should go away in favor of a flat tax.

In 2020, Shelley Lenz ran for governor, and received the endorsement of the North Dakota Democratic-NPL to do so. But in 2022, Lenz is running for the state Senate, only she's doing so as an independent. Why the switch? Neither party is doing right by the people, Lenz argued on this episode of Plain Talk. Lenz is hoping to be elected to the legislature in Dickinson-area District 37, where Republican Senate Majority Leader Rich Wardner is retiring. She says the issues around the Legacy Fund's investments, some of which have gone to not-so-great places like Russia and China, is an example of what she's talking about. Though lawmakers have already created a program to divert as much as 20 percent of the Legacy Fund's investments to North Dakota, Lenz says she wants more, as much as 50 or 60 percent. Will that message resonate with voters? And can someone who isn't a Republican win in western North Dakota? That's why we hold the elections, folks.

During their 2021 regular session, North Dakota's lawmakers did something they hadn't ever done before in state history. They expelled one of their own. Luke Simons, then an elected member of the House from Dickinson, was expelled after my reporting exposed documents detailing years of harassment of people who work in and around the Legislature, including two of his fellow lawmakers, Rep. Emily O'Brien from Grand Forks and Rep. Brandy Pyle of Casselton. Now, during their interim between sessions, lawmakers are looking at how their harassment policies might be strengthened. O'Brien joined this episode of Plain Talk to discuss just how tall an order that is. She noted that implementing these policies is difficult because they apply to elected officials who aren't really anyone's employees outside of the voters. Also complicating the work is that many in the public are fine with this sort of behavior from their elected officials. Simons, a member of the controversial Bastiat Caucus of Trump-aligned Republican lawmakers, still enjoys support to this day. Several lawmakers who voted for his expulsion have been censured over it at meetings of their district party committees. It's very possible that Simons could run for, and win, a seat in the Legislature in the future. What then? There don't seem to be any good answers. Also on this episode, Wednesday co-host Chad Oban and I talk about the Democratic-NPL denying me media credentials for their upcoming state party as well as the debate over energy policy that's erupted in America since Russia's invasion of Ukraine and the resulting disruptions it provoked in international energy markets. Want to know when new episodes of Plain Talk come out? Subscribe, for free, on your favorite podcasting platform. Want to support Plain Talk and get access to a lot of other great local news content? Consider subscribing for a low introductory rate of just $0.99 per month.

The politics around local development were already a fraught exercise before the cloud of geopolitical issues cast a shadow over them. Things like economic incentives, zoning ordinances, traffic, smells, noise, and infrastructure loads have never been easy to navigate. But add in growing concerns over the presence, in our local economies, of businesses based in places like China? The process becomes positively byzantine. The Fufeng Group would like to build a corn milling plant near Grand Forks, North Dakota, and all the usual concerns are around it. Are they getting too much taxpayer support? Is the project palatable to those who have to live or work near it? But then there's also the fact that Fufeng is based in China which is ruled by an oppressive Communist government that, among other sins against basic human decency, has millions of ethnic minorities confined in forced labor camps. Grand Forks Mayor Brandon Bochenski joins this episode of Plain Talk to discuss the Fufeng project debate which has roiled his community so much that one person tried to make a citizen's arrest of the city council at a recent meeting. Bochenski acknowledges that concerns about China are valid, all the more so after Russia's invasion of Ukraine elevated the question of our nation's economic ties to these regimes, but argued that a local city council is ill-prepared to take the lead on them. Subscribe to Plain Talk on your favorite podcasting platform: https://www.inforum.com/podcasts/plain-talk-with-rob-port Support Plain Talk with a subscription that unlocks great content from news outlets across the region: https://inforum.news/port

In 1977, Jimmy Carter was taking over the White House. Art Link was governor of North Dakota. "You Light Up My Life" by Debbie Boon was at the top of the charts, and movies like "Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope," "Close Encounters of the Third Kind," and "Smokey and the Bandit" were drawing audiences to theaters. Also, Sen. Ray Holmberg also took his seat in North Dakota's legislature for the first time. Now, 46 years later, this constant in our state's politics is calling it a career. On this episode of Plain Talk, he reflects on his proudest accomplishment (promoting the UAV industry in his hometown of Grand Forks), his favorite governor (Jack Dalrymple), and the biggest challenges facing North Dakota in the future, including the growing acrimony in the NDGOP, its dominant political party, and the uncertainty of the oil, gas, and coal industries. About the rancor in the NDGOP, Holmberg said many voters are turned off by local meetings where attendees "listen to people scream 'point of order, point of order, point of order' for an hour." He said he expects incumbent Senator John Hoeven to win on the June ballot, but that the Donald Trump-aligned wing of the party is "very skilled" at organizing for the convention process, and more moderate Republicans need to get better at it. What's changed from the beginning of his almost five decades in the legislature to the end? Holmberg says more people than ever are engaged in a process that's also more open and accessible than before. When he started, he said the only way most North Dakotans could reach their lawmakers during the session, other than traveling to Bismarck, was by sending a letter or calling a toll-free telephone number and leaving them a message. Now the public can watch floor sessions and committee hearings and email or even text their lawmakers in real-time. Something that's both good and bad, Holmberg says. Want to know when new episodes of Plain Talk publish? Consider subscribing on your favorite podcast app. Want to support Plain Talk? Get a subscription for all of the great Forum Communications content for a low introductory rate of just $0.99 per month: https://inforum.news/port

How do you report the news, and in particular political news, fairly and faithfully in an environment where so many people can find sources on social media and talk radio and cable news who are willing to tell them only what they want to hear? Matthew von Pinnon, the editor of the Forum of Fargo-Moorhead, talks about that on this issue of Plain Talk. He says the bias many imagine, where newspaper editors and publishers sit around a table in a smoky room to decide what the news will be, simply doesn't happen. Von Pinnon also weighs in on North Dakota's interesting 2022 election cycle, including the in-fighting in the North Dakota Republican Party, and why the Democratic-NPL can't seem to find the energy to take advantage. Subscribe to Plain Talk on your favorite podcasting platform: https://www.inforum.com/podcasts/plain-talk-with-rob-port Want to support Plain Talk and other great news and opinion content? Consider subscribing for a low introductory rate of just $0.99 per month: https://inforum.news/port

The North Dakota Republican Party has had a dominant, three-decades-long run in state politics, but former Governor Ed Schafer, whose election in 1992 was the dawn of that era of success, says the sunset could be upon us. It doesn't have to be, he said on this episode of Plain Talk. Things can still be corrected. But the path the party is on right now isn't one that leads to sustained success, he argues. That was part of the reason why he endorsed incumbent U.S. Senator John Hoeven. "A lot of it was the nastiness," he said. Hoeven is facing a challenge for the NDGOP nomination from state Rep. Rick Becker, who has burnished appeal to a very Trumpy, very online faction of Republicans who have no problem being confrontational, disruptive, and often just plain mean. "It's distributing to me," Schafer said. He's worried that if Becker's approach to politics becomes the norm in the NDGOP, North Dakota voters will lose faith in a party whose candidates they've been consistently voting for over generations.

The officials overseeing North Dakota's investments are acting quickly to divest from investments in Russia in the wake of the terrible invasion of Ukraine. Already about 37 percent of the investments overseen by the State Investment Board have been pulled. It will take some time to pull the rest out - the investments are complicated, and officials are trying to limit the financial hit North Dakotans will take - but there's a plan in place to make it happen. But should our strategy about investing in countries with not-so-great political leadership change going forward? "I think it has to," Thomas Beadle said on this episode of Plain Talk. Beadle was elected as North Dakota's Treasurer last year, and by law is a member of the SIB. He said officials at the SIB, as well as other state boards, such as the Land Board, which oversees the investment of North Dakota's funds, are having a debate about that shift in policy now. But it can be complicated. Investing in state-owned companies is one thing, but what about American companies that do businesses in places like China or Russia? Also, is there danger in setting a precedent for reactionary investing? Do we want to open the door to pulling investments in companies based in other states because North Dakotans don't like the politics there? Beadle says we have to find a balance, and state investment officials are working to find out what looks like. Subscribe to Plain Talk on your favorite podcasting platform: https://www.inforum.com/podcasts/plain-talk-with-rob-port Support Plain Talk with a subscription to the Forum Communications network of publications for an introductory rate of just $0.99 per month: https://inforum.news/port

Is U.S. Senator John Hoeven too wealthy to be in touch with North Dakota voters? Katrina Christiansen, a candidate for the Democratic-NPL's endorsement in North Dakota's Senate race, made that argument on this episode of Plain Talk. Joining Wednesday co-host Chad Oban and I, Christiansen said Hoeven is too busy living up to Republican talking points from Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell to focus on North Dakota's values. On this episode Oban and I also talk about the theatrics at President Joe Biden's State of the Union address. Is it a good thing for members of Congress to heckle the President of the United States? No, it's not. Is it a savvy move for a politician who wants to get attention and raise money? Yes, sadly, it is. Subscribe to Plain Talk on your favorite podcasting platform: https://www.inforum.com/podcasts/plain-talk-with-rob-port Support the podcast and get access to a lot of great content by subscribing to the Fargo Forum at an introductory price of just $0.99 per month: https://inforum.news/port/

If there is any lesson to be learned from the last few years of tumultuous international politics, and the crippling pandemic, it's that we need our supply lines to get shorter. For a long time, Americans have been content to see industry, from value-added agriculture to mining and manufacturing - move out of sight and out of mind. It's clear that we need to bring that stuff back to the United States. That's not always as easy as it seems. There is a local political fight in Cass County over a soybean crushing facility. It's exactly the sort of project we need built in America, and in North Dakota, which grows some of the best soybeans in the world, but some critics, adopting a not-in-my-back-yard attitude, don't want it. Rep. Jared Hagrit, a Republican from District 20, a soybean grower himself, and a past chairman of the United States Soybean Board, joined this episode of Plain Talk to talk about the Casselton project and why it's important.

In an development I wouldn't have predicted a year ago, popular incumbent Senator John Hoeven, facing a primary challenge from state Rep. Rick Becker, may skip the NDGOP's endorsing convention. Why? Because it's not a sure thing that he'll win the endorsement, despite never receiving less than 70 percent in any statewide election since 2000. He also may be afraid that the turbulence within the NDGOP could manifest itself at the convention in embarrassing ways. Can you imagine the headlines if Hoeven were to be booed while addressing his own state party? Would Hoeven skipping the convention be a good idea? Chad Oban and I play political consultant on this episode of Plain Talk. Also, Superintendent Kirsten Baesler stops by to chat about the on-going challenges the state is facing when it comes to not just recruiting new teachers, but keeping existing teachers on the job. In a society where respect for so many of our cultural institutions - from the news media to law enforcement, government and education - is eroding our educators are taking it on the chin. How can we fix that?

North Dakota's oil production has "matured." Another term for it might be "plateaued." That's the estimate of Lynn Helms, who is the director of the oil and gas division of North Dakota's Department of Mineral Resources. On this episode of Plain Talk, he said the state has about a decade of steady production driving plenty of revenue - "this is a great time" for tax revenues from oil production, Helms says - but that we shouldn't expect a lot of growth. That might sound like sobering news in a state where oil activity drives an outsized portion of state tax revenues and commerce, but Helms isn't striking a dour note. Oil production may be plateauing, but gas production is not. The state is still very much in a growth phase when it comes to that commodity, and it can create a lot of other opportunities. Also, the state's emerging carbon capture industry could be key in the development of enhanced oil production techniques that could put the state's oil production back into the growth column.

Since Governor Doug Burgum announced a goal of making North Dakota's economy carbon neutral by the year 2030, the state has seen about $30 billion worth of investment in things like carbon capture project. James Leiman, who serves in Burgum's administration as commerce commissioner, said on this episode of Plain Talk that these investments can "add to every single sector of our economy." "We are going to grow every single one of these things," Leiman said, referring to agriculture, coal, oil, gas, wind power, and more. Plus, carbon capture has the very real chance to become a burgeoning industry in the state in its own right. Leiman says North Dakota is a special place that can make it happen. "This is one of the last places in the world where the American dream still exists," he said. Also on this episode, Attorney General Drew Wrigley talks about what it's been like to take over that office since the passing of Wayne Stenehjem, as well as how he plans to campaign for a term of his own.

Since Governor Doug Burgum announced a goal of making North Dakota's economy carbon neutral by the year 2030, the state has seen about $30 billion worth of investment in things like carbon capture project. James Leiman, who serves in Burgum's administration as commerce commissioner, said on this episode of Plain Talk that these investments can "add to every single sector of our economy." "We are going to grow every single one of these things," Leiman said, referring to agriculture, coal, oil, gas, wind power, and more. Plus, carbon capture has the very real chance to become a burgeoning industry in the state in its own right. Leiman says North Dakota is a special place that can make it happen. "This is one of the last places in the world where the American dream still exists," he said. Also on this episode, Attorney General Drew Wrigley talks about what it's been like to take over that office since the passing of Wayne Stenehjem, as well as how he plans to campaign for a term of his own.

On this episode of Plain Talk, we spent more time talking about gazpacho than I ever imagined I would on an episode of a politically-themed podcast. Columnist Tony Bender joined Wednesday co-host Chad Oban and I talking about the struggle North Dakota's Democrats have recruiting candidates, the term limits ballot measure which will almost certainly be on the November ballot, the initiated measure process, and the U.S. Senate primary race between state Rep. Rick Becker and incumbent Senator John Hoeven. Oh, and lots and lots of jokes about gazpacho. Subscribe to Plain Talk on your favorite podcasting network: https://www.inforum.com/podcasts/plain-talk-with-rob-port Support Plain Talk, and get access to Rob's columns as well as a lot of other great content, with a subscription: https://www.inforum.com/rob-port

Minot, N.D. — There is only one Democrat elected to public office in western North Dakota, and she's retiring. State Senator Erin Oban announced last year that she won't be running for another term in office. Two Republican candidates, Ryan Eckroth and Sean Cleary, have announced campaigns for that seat. Tracy Potter, who served a term in that Senate seat previously after getting elected in 2006, has also announced his candidacy as a Democrat. He joined this episode of Plain Talk to discuss what he sees as an arrogant legislature, the importance of protecting the initiated measure process, and term limits, among other issues. Subscribe to Plain Talk on your favorite podcasting service: https://www.inforum.com/podcasts/Plain-Talk-With-Rob-Port Subscribe to Inforum.com to support the podcast and access news content from across our region: https://www.inforum.com/subscribe

What started as a small protest of truckers upset about the Canadian government's vaccine mandates has turned into a full-on international movement. Now demonstrators have blocked multiple crossings between the United States and Canada, and it's having a deleterious impact on commerce between our nations at a time when we hardly need it. Not one of us needs prices to go any higher, do we? On this episode of Plain Talk, Senator Kevin Cramer talks about the protests, why they're happening, and how they could be stopped. "What they're asking for is so simple," Cramer said, noting that all the Canadian government would have to do to end the demonstrations is lift the mandate. He's got a point. Over 251 million Americans, or about 87.4 percent of adults, have at least one shot of the COVID-19 vaccine. In Canada, 88.3 percent of citizens over the age of 5 have been vaccinated. Among the truckers, about 90 percent of those who regularly cross the border are vaccinated according to the Canadian Trucking Alliance. Is this really still about public health? Or is it about different factions with entrenched positions being unwilling to give an inch? Sen. Cramer also talks about trucking regulations taking effect in the United States which have the potential to cause more problems for our national supply lines, and the on-going Olympic Games in China.

State Rep. Rick Becker, the founder of the Bastiat Caucus in the North Dakota legislature which claims that they, and not the much larger majority of their Republican colleagues, represent actual Republicanism, has announced a primary challenge to incumbent U.S. Senator John Hoeven. What does Hoeven think about it? He answered questions about that on today's Plain Talk, co-hosted Chad Oban who joins the show on Wednesdays. He said that he'll campaign against Becker the same way he campaigns every time he's on the ballot, which is by focusing on the things he's done in office. "It's a lot more than just voting no all the time," he said, touting his work across the aisle with people like Senator Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota and Senator Joe Manchin of West Virginia. I'm not usually one for meme-based political arguments, but a friend shared this one after Becker announced his candidacy, and it seems apt: Hoeven also talked about the food fight which has erupted within the GOP about the Republican National Committee's decision to censure to sitting House members, Rep. Liz Cheney and Rep. Adam Kinzinger, over their participation in congressional inquiries into the January 6 riot. "I'm not a fan of censures," Hoeven said of the move. Hoeven also said the January 6 riot was not legitimate political discourse as the RNC resolution claimed. "For people that broke the law, they need to be held accountable," he said. He agreed that the RNC resolution is a distraction. "Clearly we need to focus on winning in 2022," he said.

What is 30 by 30? It's an agreement, pushed by the global environmental movement, that would see participating countries place 30 percent of their land mass and controlled waters into conservation by the year 2030. For some, this is setting off alarm bells. On this episode of Plain Talk, radio host, farming/ranching activist, and 6th generation Nebraska farmer Trent Loos talks about the proposal and what he sees as a risk to food security. To be clear, the government already controls a lot of American land. The feds control over 28 percent, and that increases to well over 30 percent when you include state lands. Loos says further push to take land out of agricultural production would exacerbate a problem that already exists. Every year millions of acres of arable farm land are lost to urbanization as our communities grow.

Senator Kevin Cramer, one of former President Donald Trump's earliest and most consistent supporters, does not support the RNC's censure of Rep. Liz Cheney and Rep. Adam Kinzinger. Trump supporters in the RNC are pushing the censure because Cheney and Kinzinger have been critical of Trump and have participated in the congressional inquiry into the January 6th riot. "We don't have the luxury of kicking people out of our party," Cramer said of the resolution. That doesn't mean he's supportive of the position Cheney and Kinzinger have taken on Trump and the January 6 inquiry. On this episode of Plain Talk, he said he likely agrees with much of what the resolution says, but he doesn't believe the RNC ought to be focusing on this issue. "I think it's unnecessary and unproductive," he said. Cramer also discussed how we're facing our entanglements with China, from the Winter Olympics to the debate over the Fufeng corn milling facility to be built near Grand Forks, as well as the situation in Ukraine, and our evolving debate about energy. Want to be notified of new episodes of Plain Talk? Subscribe for free on your favorite podcasting platform: https://www.inforum.com/podcasts/plain-talk-with-rob-port Want to read Rob's columns? Subscribe for just $10 per month: HTTP://inforum.com/subscribe

In any sufficiently large group of people, you're going to have some undesirables. Whether it's a church congregation or a political party or a sports team fan base, if you look hard enough you'll find some people who just aren't very good people. But what happens when a certain type of behavior becomes the defining characteristic of a group of people? Robert Wheeler as a representative of the very Trumpy Bastiat Caucus faction of North Dakota Republicans, ran for chairman of the NDGOP last year. This week he was involved in what law enforcement alleges was a felony DUI accident, severely injuring his wife. He is also facing charges for disorderly conduct and preventing arrest because officers say he physically resisted them when they tried to arrest him. If these charges are upheld - Mr. Wheeler certainly has a right to his day in court - they're just the latest examples of problematic behavior from people in the Bastiat Caucus movement. Sen. Jason Heitkamp showed up to the special session of the state legislature in a truck with the words "f*** Joe Biden* on them. Prior to that, he was fond of calling for former President Barack Obama to be lynched. Former Rep. Luke Simons was expelled from last year's regular session over accusations of sexual harassment. His local party district chairman, who has since been ousted from that position, decried the expulsion as an "atrocity." Rep. Jeff Hoverson insulted his own majority leader during the special session, and prior to that was barred from a flight after getting into an altercation with a security agent. Rep. Jeff Magrum, who after redistricting will be seeking the District 8 Senate seat in the current election cycle, got so angry with a fellow lawmaker at a public meeting that law enforcement had to intervene and tell him to settle down. I could go on with more examples, but I think you get the point. It's a common political tactic to try and discredit a group of people by focusing on the behavior of a few fringe elements of that group. But how about when a certain type of unacceptable behavior becomes de rigueur for the group? On this episode of Plain Talk, Chad Oban and I talk about how the North Dakota Republican Party is dealing with that very problem, where a not-small faction of its membership regularly participates in behavior that's simply unaccetable. Also on this episode, Dr. Jeremy Jackson, a professor of economics at North Dakota State University, talks about school choice policies.

When the Capstone Classical Academy project was announced for Fargo, some people immediately looked at it through a political lens. It was called "Trumpy," by some. But is it? On this episode of Plain Talk, headmaster Paul Q. Fisher describes the philosophy behind the school's mission. They're hoping to provide the people of the region with an education rooted in classical education. That means the Greeks. The Romans. And, yes, the kids will be learning Latin. But Fisher stresses that it's not about promoting a certain ideology, but rather helping kids learn how to process information and think with reason and logic. Capstone is accepting enrollments now for the fall 2022 school year for pre-kindergarten through 6th-grade students. Fisher says they're at about 30 enrolled students so far, in the roughly three weeks since they've started, and they'll be holding classes regardless of how may students they get. The long-term goal is to build a campus on property that's already been secured, and begin adding grades to the school in future years. Subscribe to Plain Talk on your favorite podcasting app: https://www.inforum.com/podcasts/plain-talk-with-rob-port Subscribe to read Rob's writing: https://www.inforum.com/subscribe

This week Governor Doug Burgum helped announce a nearly $2 billion investment in developing a datacenter in western North Dakota that would primarily be used to mine cryptocurrency. But that announcement was overshadowed, somewhat, by the extensive criminal record of the man who heads up the construction company that would build it. Jamie Selzler, the former executive director of the North Dakota Democrat Party, who has spent years working in online commerce, joins this episode of Plain Talk to discuss whether Burgum deserves criticism for being involved in the announcement, and if cryptocurrency mining is really a viable industry for North Dakota. Also on this episode, Jamie and I talk about the looming fight over a new appointment to the U.S. Supreme Court. Subscribe to Plain Talk on your favorite podcast service: https://www.inforum.com/podcasts/plain-talk-with-rob-port Subscribe to read Rob's columns: https://inforum.com/subscribe

A new survey from North Dakota United, the state's combined public worker and teacher union, finds strong evidence that teachers are feeling burned out. Why? A lot of the same reasons many of us are feeling burned out. It's politics and the pandemic and shifting attitudes about compensation levels. On this episode of Plain Talk, co-host Chad Oban and I interview Nick Archuleta, the president of North Dakota United, about the survey's findings. And, as Fargo looks to become home to a new private school affiliated with ideologically conservative Hillsdale College, we talk about the push for school choice policy. Should North Dakota taxpayers get to use taxpayer dollars to send their kids to a non-public school? Or even homeschool them? Archuleta joins Chad and I in that discussion as well. (Full disclosure: Oban's day job is at North Dakota United.)

I'll admit, I wanted to use this interview to push Congressman Kelly Armstrong, a fellow baseball nut, to pass legislation to end Major League Baseball's ongoing lockout. But I controlled myself. After all, what kind of conservative would I be if I was pushing for that sort of federal intervention? Principle must trump emotion. What Armstrong and I did talk about was President Joe Biden's first year in office. As you might expect, this Republican congressman isn't impressed. He's also not impressed with Biden's leadership with Russia. Armstrong told me he hopes Biden is successful in handling the crisis in Ukraine, but he's afraid we're in for another debacle like the one Biden presided over in Afghanistan. We also talked about why it's important for America to counter the influence of countries like China and Russia, even when it's not always economically important to do so.

Why are so many judicial races in North Dakota uncompetitive? And not uncompetitive because the winning candidates dominate, but because they're usually running unopposed? Part of the problem is the pay Justice Daniel Crothers said on this episode of Plain Talk. He's served on the North Dakota Supreme Court since he was appointed in 2005. He ran for election to the unexpired four-year term he was appointed to fill, and for re-election to a new term in 2012, and now he's running for another decade-long term on the 2022 ballot. With history as our guide, he probably won't have an opponent. Since 1990 there have been just five competitive Supreme Court races on the statewide ballot. Crothers says that lawyers make a lot of money but judges, comparatively, do not. North Dakota already has a relatively small legal community, and finding people in that community who want to abandon their private practice, and it's pay, to become a judge. Crothers also talked about the on-going efforts to get court records online, what it's like to campaign for an office like judge, and the process behind how the state Supreme Court works. Also on this episode, co-host Chad Oban and I talk about the calls to pull the medical license of state Rep. Rick Becker. Becker works as a plastic surgeon outside of his political career, and some of his fellow doctors find his comments about COVID-19 and treatments for it to be unethical. They're calling for him to either stop these statements or face discipline. Subscribe to the Plain Talk podcast on your favorite podcasting service: https://www.inforum.com/podcasts/plain-talk-with-rob-port Get a Forum Communications subscription to read Rob's columns: https://www.inforum.com/subscribe

"I've largely stayed out of that stuff," says Grand Forks Mayor Brandon Bochenski, speaking about national hot-button issues. He says he's tried to focus on local issues like public safety and infrastructure. But when the University of North Dakota announced they were pursuing a new policy that could punish people for using the wrong pronouns, and would allow access to even sensitive campus facilities like locker rooms based on the gender a given student or university employee identifies with, Bochenski felt he had to speak out. "I felt like there was a lack of transparency" in the way the rule was being developed, Bochenski said on this episode of Plain Talk. "Compelling speech and forcing ideology on our students, our children and our community is abhorrent," he wrote in a Facebook post touting a letter from the North Dakota Catholic Conference objecting to the policy. How have people responded to his public statements? "It's been mean on both sides," he said. Also on this episode, Jim Hobart, a pollster with Public Opinion Strategies, talks about a new survey of North Dakotans showing strong support for coal mining, coal-fired power, and carbon capture. Hobart says that despite the often divisive national debate about energy and carbon capture, North Dakotans show strong consensus support for coal and carbon capture projects, even across partisan lines. Read the polling memo here: https://www.scribd.com/document/553440998/North-Dakota-Energy-Key-Findings-Memo Subscribe to the Plain Talk podcast on your favorite podcasting service: https://www.inforum.com/podcasts/plain-talk-with-rob-port Get a Forum Communications subscription to read Rob's columns: https://www.inforum.com/subscribe

"We have opportunities that are being missed," says Shannon Roers Jones. Roes Jones is currently a state representative, having been elected to the House from District 26 in 2016. She was just re-elected to that seat by a small but comfortable margin in 2020, and now she'd like to be mayor of Fargo. On this episode of Plain Talk, she talks about why she'd be better for that job than incumbent Tim Mahoney, what the biggest challenges facing Fargo are, what it's like to campaign in Fargo's relatively new approval voting process, and what she'll do with her legislative seat if she wins this election. Subscribe to Plain Talk on your favorite podcasting platform: https://www.inforum.com/podcasts/plain-talk-with-rob-port Subscribe to Rob's writing and get all of the great Forum Communications content from news sites across the upper midwest: https://www.inforum.com/subscribe

After more than two decades in the North Dakota legislature, having served in some consequential ways, as an influential appropriator and eventually leader the majority Republican caucus, Rep. Chet Pollert is calling it a career. On this episode of Plain Talk, he talked about that decision, as well as what changed during his tenure in office, and what challenges North Dakota might face in the future. "There was a decorum," Pollert said of politics when he first got started in the legislature. "There was a process...and we seem to have gotten away from that a little more." He said modern politics have become more personal, and more divisive. "I want us to be able to fight like cats and dogs but also be able to respect one another," he said. He has some personal experience with how personal state politics has gotten. Under Pollert's leadership last year, the state House took the extraordinary step of expelling a member for the first time in state history. Luke Simons, at the time a Representative from a Dickinson-area district, was voted out of his seat after being accused by multiple women, including two fellow Republican lawmakers, in a landslide vote that included a 2-1 majority among his fellow Republicans. "I felt it had to be done," Pollert said of the vote, though he added that it was "a very unpleasant time" during which both he and his wife received ugly phone calls and messages from Simons supporters. Pollert said his proudest accomplishment as a lawmaker was showing his children the importance of public service. As for what challenges face North Dakota's leaders going forward? Protecting baseload energy production, and the reliability of the power grid, are at the top of his list as well as managing the Legacy Fund so that it can be a resource for funding the state's needs as oil activity, and thus oil revenues, decline in future decades. Rep. Michael Howe, a Republican from West Fargo, also joined the show to talk about his interest in running for Secretary of State. The incumbent, Al Jaeger, has held that office since 1992. "I was in kindergarten then," Howe said. Now that Jaeger has announced he's retiring, Howe said it's time for some new leadership. He'd like the office to get better at handling business filings, which has been a recurring theme of Secretary of State campaigns for years now. He also spoke about how he'd rebuild trust in elections, at a time when many Americans have lost it. Subscribe to the Plain Talk podcast on your favorite podcasting app: https://www.inforum.com/podcasts/plain-talk-with-rob-port Subscribe to read Rob's columns and other great content from Forum Communications: https://www.inforum.com/subscribe

I make a living writing and talking about politics, and I divide the topics I cover up into two categories. First, there's the sexy stuff. The hot-button stuff. Topics that immediately stir up interest from the audience. It's the stuff we spend most of our time talking about. How big should the government be, and how much should it cost us? Stuff like that. Then there's the unsexy stuff. Like blockchain. What is blockchain? North Dakota Chief Information Officer Shawn Riley knows. He's an advocate for it. He tried to explain it to this humble political wonk on this episode of Plain Talk, and what he said makes a lot of sense. Blockchain is a way of recording transactions in a way that's simultaneously secure and transparent. He believes it could be used in everything from recording title histories for property to tracking mineral rights and, yes, even voting. Nerd stuff, I know, but the impact could be very sexy in terms of that thing we all care about, which is how much government is costing us. Riley estimates that North Dakota has something like $1.2 billion in what he calls "tech debt," which is to say investments in dated technology that needs to be upgraded. There's no holding back the rapid advance of technology, but Riley argues that if we implement blockchain for the information our government is built around - all the little transactions and data the state records and keeps - upgrading that technology could be a lot cheaper in the future.