Plain Talk

Minot, N.D. — It's been a circuitous route to the ballot for a ballot measure implementing term limits for North Dakota's lawmakers and governor. State officials maintain that the signature collection process behind it was riddled with fraud, but the state Supreme Court put it on the ballot on a legal technicality, finding that the Secretary of State lacked the authority to disqualify it. However you or I might feel about how the measure got there, North Dakota's voters will be confronted with a decision about it. Should lawmakers be limited to no more than eight years in a legislative chamber? Should the governor be prohibited from running for more than two four-year terms? Does limiting the amount of time lawmakers can serve create a disparity in balance of power between branches of the state government? And why shouldn't voters get to keep voting for the same candidates over and over again if that's what they really want? We talked about those questions and more on this episode of Plain Talk. Mike Motschenbacher and Dustin Gawrylow, two long-time conservative activists in state politics (the former is currently campaigning for a seat in the state House in District 47 as a Republican), joined to discuss the issue. Gawrylow is for term limits, while Motschenbacher, like me, is against. Want to be notified of new Plain Talk episodes as they're published? Subscribe, for free, on the podcast platform of your choice. Forum Communications Company is proud to be a part of the Trust Project. Learn more at thetrustproject.org.

Work around politics long enough, and you'll hear everything. Including a Democratic candidate for statewide office saying you ought to vote for the Republican. Fintan Dooley, who was endorsed by the North Dakota Democratic-NPL this spring to take on three-term Republican incumbent Doug Goehring for Agriculture Commissioner, says you ought to vote for the incumbent. "I'm not smoking any pot," Dooley said on this episode of Plain Talk, which featured a debate between the two candidates. "He's actually accomplished what he says he's accomplished," adding that he's even gotten permission from Goehring to hunt on his land. But that's not to say that the candidates don't have areas of disagreement. Dooley, who has worked as an attorney in North Dakota since 1976, has been a passionate activist for lands impacted by oil and gas development, including so-called "salted lands" that have been harmed by brine spills. Goehring argued that the spills happened in the past, under old EPA regulations that were predicated on now-outdated science, but Dooley rejected that argument, saying the state has to do a better job of protecting the land going forward, restoring land already harmed. But in many other areas, the two candidates were very much in alignment. Goehring weighed on the controversial sale of farm land to tech industry billionaire Bill Gates, saying he understands some of the consternation given Gates' sometimes hostile attitudes toward production agriculture, but that ultimately private land owners have a the right to sell to who they wish. Goehring says the bigger problem is the number of North Dakota landowners who are selling out to out-of-state buyers who only want to use that land for recreation and take it out of agriculture industry entirely, something Dooley agreed with. Both candidates want North Dakota's corporate farming ban rolled back. At least for animal agriculture. Dooley said he's aware of family-owned dairy operations that may have to close down because the latest generation of the family isn't interested in the business, and it's illegal to bring in outsiders. "They should be able to incorporate" and get investment from non-family members, Dooley said. Both are skeptical of high-profile efforts to bring carbon capture and sequestration to the state. Want to be notified when new episodes of Plain Talk publish? Subscribe, for free, on the podcast platform of your choice. Forum Communications Company is proud to be a part of the Trust Project. Learn more at thetrustproject.org.

When I began my writing career twenty years ago, North Dakota had an aging, shrinking population. Our young people were leaving. New people weren't moving here. When we debated education, much of it was focused on what to do about declining enrollment. School closures and consolidation were a sad reality. Things have improved. Where once our state was among the oldest in the nation, it now consistently ranks among the youngest (our media age of 35.2 years is good for fourth youngest, currently). But there are challenges associated with that turnaround, and among them is how to ensure that North Dakota's child care businesses can keep up with demand for their services. Governor Doug Burgum, who along with a coalition of other state leaders recently announced a policy package to address that issue, spoke about the conundrum on this episode of Plain Talk. Here's one mind-blowing statistic he shared: Of North Dakota's more than 760,000 residents, more than 64,000 are age 5 and under. These children live in more than 42,000 North Dakota households. The high cost, and slim availability, of child care is impacting an enormous chunk of our population. Burgum talked about the need for the state, and the private sector, to step in to help child care businesses start and stay open, to help child care workers find good careers in their industry, and to help North Dakota families pay for childcare services. And this isn't just about helping families with kids. It's about helping North Dakota's entire economy, Burgum says. "We have a trained workforce in North Dakota that we've invested in over their lifetime...and they have to stay home" to take care of kids, he argued. Freeing those workers up by making child care accessible can also help address North Dakota's workforce shortages. What challenges does the governor see in getting this policy passed? He noted that many of North Dakota's elected leaders are from a generation that may not understand that this is a problem. "The state's average age is 35," he said. "That is not the average age of the Legislature." Want to be notified of new episodes of Plain Talk? Subscribe, for free, on the podcast platform of your choice. Forum Communications Company is proud to be a part of the Trust Project. Learn more at thetrustproject.org.

If there's one thing we learned from the first debate between North Dakota's candidates for attorney general, it's that they disagree on a lot. Drew Wrigley, a Republican, is the incumbent attorney general, having been appointed to finish his predecessor Wayne Stenehjem's term by Governor Doug Burgum. Wrigley is now running to be elected to a term of his own, and he's being challenged by Democratic-NPL candidate Tim Lamb. One area where the candidates disagree sharply is on crime. Wrigley's office released the most recent iteration of the state's crime report. It illustrated a 10 percent year-over-year increase in violent crime, and a 20 percent increase since 2017. Wrigley says that's significant and invites a response in the form of tougher penalties for violent crimes, tempered with perhaps a lighter touch for non-violent offense. Lamb disagrees with Wrigley that the state has a crime problem. Lamb, meanwhile, is for a measure on the November ballot that would legalize recreational marijuana. Wrigley, for his part, wouldn't say how he'll vote on the measure, but said from a personal perspective that using marijuana is "not healthy." Whether voters pass the measure or not, Wrigley says "we will have issues going forward" with how to handle marijuana in the criminal justice system. The two candidates also were at loggerheads over the handling of the deletion of official state email accounts for Stenehjem, after his death, and former deputy Attorney General Troy Seibel, after his departure from the office. Wrigley said the deletions, ordered by Stenehjem's former executive assistant, were wrong, but didn't rise to the level of a crime. Lamb disagreed, saying they did. Lamb also accused North Dakota's Industrial Commission of mishandling monetary penalties levied against oil industry companies involved in spills. Wrigley accused Lamb of a "false and slanderous statement." The two candidates did agree in one area. Wrigley said that he has no interest in his office enforcing penalties against educators for teaching critical race theory, despite the comments of state Rep. Jim Kasper, a Republican from Fargo, at a recent Department of Public Instruction meeting. Lamb, a long-time member of the Grand Forks School Board, largely agreed with Wrigley's sentiments. Want to be notified of new episodes of Plain Talk? Click here to subscribe, for free, on the podcast platform of your choice. Forum Communications Company is proud to be a part of the Trust Project. Learn more at thetrustproject.org.

Prominent North Dakota Democrats made a real "mess of things" when they took the extraordinary step of jettisoning their U.S. House candidate, Mark Haugen, in favor of independent candidate Cara Mund. "They were very presumptuous about Cara," Cramer added, arguing that they don't know much about her outside of her views on abortion. He also argued that the move may inhibit future efforts to recruit candidates to the Democratic-NPL ticket. "Now all they have to offer is disloyalty," Cramer said. Mund's entrance into North Dakota's U.S. House race against incumbent Republican Kelly Armstrong was just one topic Cramer and I covered on this episode of Plain Talk. We also discussed another independent candidate, Rick Becker, who is challenging incumbent John Hoeven, Cramer's colleague in the Senate. Cramer praised Becker as representing an important part of the NDGOP, but took a dim view of his chances. "I don't think he's going to do as well as he thinks he does," Cramer said. Becker had promised to respect the vote of delegates at the NDGOP convention, where Hoeven won the party's endorsement, but has gone back on that promise to challenge Hoeven in the general election. Cramer said that move has hurt Becker. "I've talked to a number of Republican supporters of Rick Becker and they're disappointed," he said. Cramer also spoke about getting banned by the Russian government, the European energy crisis brought on in no small part by the war in Ukraine and what Americans can do to help, President Joe Biden's student loan forgiveness. Want to get every episode of Plain Talk delivered directly to you? Consider subscribing, for free, on the podcast platform of your choice. Forum Communications Company is proud to be a part of the Trust Project. Learn more at thetrustproject.org.

For the first time, incumbent Republican Rep. Kelly Armstrong and independent challenge Cara Mund faced off in a debate. On this episode of Plain Talk, with questions coming from former Democratic-NPL executive director Chad Oban and myself, the two candidates found areas where they agree, and areas where they disagree. Both Armstrong and Mund oppose President Joe Biden's student loan forgiveness. They also seem to be generally on the same page on energy, outside of Mund's criticism of the Trump-era decision to withdraw from the Paris Accord. In other areas, the two candidates are quite different. Mund was sharply critical of former President Donald Trump, while Armstrong said he'd put Trump in the White House again if the choice were between him and current President Joe Biden. Abortion was also a flashpoint between the candidates. Mund argues that the U.S. Supreme Court, by overturning legal precedent that had been in place for five decades, had taken away an important right from women. Mund also answered questions about her ideology. Asked which party she would caucus with should she be elected to Congress, she said she had initially thought she's caucus with Republicans but that now, "I don't think I have a choice," referring to an NDGOP rule which prohibits candidates who have run as independents from seeking the party's endorsement for six years. She also defended her independence - under admittedly sharp questioning from me - despite the Democratic-NPL taking the extraordinary step of pushing their House candidate out of the race. What voters are left with, after this first debate, is a view of two candidates who differ profoundly on some of the stormiest issues in politics. This was the second in a series of Plain Talk debates between North Dakota's statewide candidates. To be notified of new episodes, including the future debates, subscribe, for free, on the podcasting platform of your choice. Forum Communications Compoany is proud to be a part of the Trust Project. Learn more at thetrustproject.org.

What does the Public Service Commission do in North Dakota? The PSC makes the most headlines over utility rates. They regulate how much utilities can charge us for our power. But the PSC does so much more. They site wind farms. They run a rail safety program. They make sure that the pumps and the scales that measure how much we pay for everything from gasoline to steaks at the butcher shop are fair. Julie Fedorchak, a Republican, has served on the PSC since she was appointed by former Gov. Jack Dalrymple in 2012. She had that appointment confirmed by voters in 2014, and successfully ran for a six-year term in 2016. She's now up for re-election, and joined this episode of Plain Talk for a wide-ranging conversation about her campaign. This is part of a series of hosted conversations we'll be doing on Plain Talk with all of the statewide candidates. Fedorchak's opponent in this race, Democratic-NPL candidate Melanie Moniz, declined to participate. Also on this episode, Wednesday co-host Chad Oban and I talk about the controversy around President Joe Biden's student loan forgiveness program, and independent candidate Cara Mund's event with Democrats. Want to be notified when new episodes of Plain Talk publish? Including the debates with the other statewide candidates? Subscribe on the podcast platform of your choice. It's free! Forum Communications Company is proud to be a part of the Trust Project. Learn more at thetrustproject.org.

Last week a group of Republican leaders from the state's legislative and executive branches got together and announced a new plan to flatten North Dakota's income taxes. The state currently has five tax brackets that obligate every North Dakotan earning income to pay a progressively higher rate based on how large that income is. This new plan would create just two tax brackets, with about 60 percent of North Dakota households paying no income tax at all, and the rest paying a flat rate of just 1.5 percent. Would those paying no tax still have to file a return? How would the state adjust its revenues and spending to account for this tax cut? What of claims from Democratic leaders that this is just another handout for the wealthy? Republican Tax Commissioner Brian Kroshus, and state Rep. Craig Headland, a Republican from Montpelier, joined this episode of Plain Talk to discuss. Want to be notified when new episodes of Plain Talk are published? Subscribe! It's free! Forum Communications Company is proud to be a part of the Trust Project. Learn more at thetrustproject.org.

Minot, N.D. — NDGOP party chairman Perrie Schafer says he's looking into the controversy around the use of homophobic slurs and other bigoted language in a messaging group organized by the North Dakota Young Republicans, and there may be consequences for Republican candidates who were a part of it. "This is an organization," he said of his party on this episode of Plain Talk. "We get to choose who we're associated with." He said he wants to be fair to the members of the group, which is affiliated with the NDGOP and has a non-voting seat on the party's governing committee, but that some of the people who participated in the group may find themselves out in the cold. "We have a right to choose who is in our group," Schafer said. "Personal responsibility and accountability are apparently not what these people want," he added, noting that some members of the group, including Carter Eisenberger, a Republican candidate for the state House in District 11, indicated that they were proud of the slurs being used. Schafer also weighed in on outgoing state Rep. Rick Becker choosing to launch an independent U.S. Senate campaign against endorsed Republican incumbent John Hoeven. "He gave up his right to run as a Republican," Schafer said of Becker's decision. "The man can't be trusted," he added, noting that Becker had previously promised to respect the vote of Republican delegates to the NDGOP's state convention. Also on this episode, Wednesday co-host Chad Oban and I discuss the NDYR controversy, Cara Mund's independent bid for the House of Representatives, and more. To be notified when new episodes of Plain Talk publish, consider subscribing. Plain Talk is available on all major podcast services, and subscribing is free! Forum Communications Company is proud to be a part of the Trust Project. Learn more at thetrustproject.org.

Now that the U.S. Supreme Court has overturned its precedents finding a right to an abortion in the U.S. Constitution, the nature of the debate over abortion has changed. On this episode of Plain Talk Cody Schuler, the advocacy manager for the ACLU of North Dakota, talks about how that debate has changed, and how pro-life and pro-choice Americans are going to have to work together to figure out what our policies on abortion will be going forward. Also on this episode Kim Hegvik, an assistant state's attorney in Cass County who is running to be elected to replace current state's attorney Birch Burdick, talks about her campaign. "My vision for the office is not centered around the courtroom," she said, which is an odd thing to hear from a lawyer running to be the top prosecutor in our state's most populous county, but she says she sees her job as beginning before matters reach the courtroom. She talked about criminal justice reform, the perception of rising crime in Cass County, as well as some controversy over one of her fellow Cass County prosecutors beginning a romantic relationship with a member of the Fargo Police Department. Want to be notified when new episodes of Plain Talk publish? Subscribe, for free! Forum Communications Company is proud to be a part of the Trust Project. Learn more at thetrustproject.org.

Minot, N.D. — When outgoing state Rep. Rick Becker announced that he would be challenging incumbent U.S. Senator John Hoeven in the general election as an independent, after having the NDGOP's endorsement to Hoeven this spring, state Republican party chairman Perrie Schafer described Becker as having "left the party." "I think he's got a point," Senator Kevin Cramer said of Schafer's remark on this episode of Plain Talk. Becker is the founder of the Bastiat Caucus of Trump-aligned state lawmakers and activists, though has disputed the idea that he is anything but a member of the NDGOP. "This move to run as an independent...it surprised me," Cramer continued, referring to Becker's announcement. He noted that Becker had spoken about respecting the vote of Republican delegates at the state party's convention. "This really is a violation of that." "If he's the leader of a party, it's a third party," Cramer continued. "I think it isolates him." Cramer and I also discussed Rep. Liz Cheney's primary loss in Wyoming - Cramer accused her of "myopia" - as well as some elements controversial Inflation Reduction Act that he likes and feels may be beneficial to North Dakota. Want to be notified when new episodes of Plain Talk publish? Consider subscribing, for free! Forum Communications Company is proud to be a part of the Trust Project. Learn more at thetrustproject.org.

North Dakota's general election got a lot more interesting over the last couple of weeks. First, Cara Mund, a former Miss America, jumped into the U.S. House race as an independent to take on Republican incumbent Kelly Armstrong and Democratic-NPL challenger Mark Haugen. Then state Rep. Rick Becker went back on his statements in support of the decision of Republican delegates at the NDGOP state convention, which chose incumbent Senator John Hoeven over him, and re-entered the U.S. Senate race. Then the Secretary of State approved the signatures for a ballot measure legalizing medical marijuana. That's a lot of things to talk about, but on this episode of Plain Talk, fill-in co-host Jamie Selzler and I tackle them all. David Owen, a representative of New Approach North Dakota, the group backing the marijuana measure, joined to talk about how they were able to run a successful petition campaign, and they'll win over North Dakota voters to their cause. Also, Jamie and I discuss Mund, Becker, and Rep. Liz Cheney's defeat in the Wyoming primary. Want to be notified of new episodes of Plain Talk? Subscribe, for free! Forum Communications Company is proud to be a part of the Trust Project. Learn more at thetrustproject.org.

Kansas, a very red, very Republican state, just voted, in a landslide, to maintain status quo protections for abortion. Meanwhile, in Congress, there was a vicious debate over the last week over who hates veterans. In Michigan, Democrats backed a pro-Trump, election conspiracy Republican in a primary against a GOP incumbent that voted to impeach Trump. Wednesday co-host Chad Oban and I discuss these topics, and more, on this episode of Plain Talk.

The ESG movement in venture capitalism - the acronym stands for "environment, social, and governance" - is a threat to North Dakota's economic well-being, but not just in the way you might be imagining. Our state's primary industries - energy and agriculture - are also carbon-heavy industries, which is why our state runs afoul of the "environment" part of ESG. Our state is investing big money into improving the environmental impact of our industries - we created, for example, the clean and sustainable energy fund which is driving money into things like carbon capture projects - but the ESG movement isn't terribly pragmatic. It's very ideological, viewing only certain types of renewable energy as satisfying the "environmental" component of it the platform. Which is why the credit rating energy Standard & Poor just gave North Dakota a "moderately negative" (their term) rating, tabbing our state as a "climate transaction risk." That's bad for North Dakota, and in more ways than one, as Treasurer Thomas Beadle explained on this episode of Plain Talk. He points out that this sort of rating doesn't just deter capital investment into our biggest and most important industries, it can also drive up the cost of bonding for the state. It works like this: since our primary industries are rated a risk, and our state government gets most of its revenues, directly or indirectly, from those industries, then our bonds to build things like highways are seen as a riskier investment. Thus, we have to pay more to borrow that money. What can our state do about it? Beadle points to things like the state-owned Bank of North Dakota, and the aforementioned sustainable energy fund (other states are calling this sort of thing a "green bank"), as factors that help, but until national, and international, banks and governments come to realize that market manipulations do not obviate our need for baseload energy, we're stuck with things as they are. Want to be notified when new episodes of Plain Talk publish? Subscribe on your favorite podcast service. Forum Communications Company is proud to be a part of the Trust Project. Learn more at thetrustproject.org.

As the controversy over a corn milling plant near Grand Forks, and the Grand Forks Air Force Base, to be built by a Chinese company whose leader is a member of the Chinese Communist Party, continues to unfold, Sen. Kevin Cramer sees the need for legislation to address the matter. Federal officials are in the process of reviewing the land purchase and potential development for national security threats, but on this episode of Plain Talk, Cramer said more needs to be done. "Agricultural investments are largely exempt. That needs to change," he said. Cramer also addressed the controversy over the PACT Act, which would provide medical benefits for soldiers exposed to toxic burn pits while deployed in Iraq and Afghanistan. Supporters of the bill, including comedian Jon Stewart, ripped Republican Senators who changed their vote from "yes" to "no" after the bill came back from the House. Cramer says the reason he changed his vote is because House Democrats added a "technical glitch" that turns almost a half-trillion dollars of spending into non-discretionary spending. "Democrats have played politics with the lives of veterans, Cramer says. "At the end of the day, the bill will pass," he said, calling his "no" vote "procedural." Cramer also addressed the Respect for Marriage Act, which would codify same-sex marriage in federal law. He says he doesn't begrudge his colleague, Republican Congressman Kelly Armstrong, for voting for the bill in the House, but he doesn't believe it goes far enough to protect religious liberty. And even if it's tweaked, Cramer said it would be unlikely he'd vote for it. As for the Inflation Reduction Act, which just came out of negotiations between Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and Sen. Joe Manchin, a West Virginia Democrat, Cramer called it "a disaster." He said the permitting reforms that Manchin won as a concession from Schumer are unlikely to accomplish much. Want to be notified when new episodes of Plain Talk are published? Subscribe, for free, on the podcast platform of your choice. Forum Communications Compoany is proud to be a part of the Trust Project. Learn more at thetrustproject.org.

Minot, N.D. — Last week the North Dakota Democratic-NPL saw some internecine conflict over their U.S. House candidate, Mark Haugen, who is pro-life and supports the overturn of Roe v. Wade. Patrick Hart, the chairman of the North Dakota Democratic-NPL, joined this episode of Plain Talk to discuss the challenges of managing the disparate points of view in his party. We also spoke about what his party is do to find its way in a state where Republicans are seeing historic levels of dominance, and where he sees some opportunities for Democratic-NPL candidates in the 2022 election and beyond. Also on this episode, Wednesday co-host Chad Oban and I discuss the strategy of Democrats promoting extreme Republican candidates in primaries with the hope of defeating that candidate in the general. Given the fraught times we're living in, should anyone be supporting extremism, even if the calculation is to defeat it? We also discussed Congressman Kelly Armstrong's vote to codify same-sex marriage in federal law, and Attorney General Drew Wrigley's decision not to seek an external investigation of a scandal over deleted email accounts in his office. Want to be notified when new episodes of Plain Talk drop? Subscribe, for free, by way of your favorite podcast platform. Forum Communications Company is proud to be a part of the Trust Project. Learn more at thetrustproject.org.

I suspect that many in the general public, when they hear about carbon capture, think of it as some pie-in-the-sky thing. Something that's being developed. That's in the work. Not really something that is, as yet, a practical part of modern industry. Except, the State of North Dakota just permitted its first carbon capture project under state primacy. Which is to say, that state officials reviewed and permitted the project, not the feds. It's the first time that's ever happened in the United States. That state control made all the difference. That's what Gerald Bachmeier, the chief executive officer of Red Trail Energy, said on this episode of Plain Talk. His company just added carbon capture to their ethanol facility near Richardton, North Dakota. It officially began capturing carbon on June 16, 2022, and they expect to store underground 100 percent of the 180,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide emitted annually from its fermentation process. That's a big deal, but the regulatory process leading up to it may be the bigger deal. According to Bachmeier, it took North Dakota officials less than a year to permit their project. He compared that to the experience of another ethanol plant in Iowa which waited more than six years to get their permit from the feds at the EPA. He expects North Dakota will be able to permit future projects even faster. "Ours took a little longer because we were the first one," he said. Going forward, his company expects to add to their capture operations. He says the next phase is to capture the carbon coming off their heating systems, at which point their facility will be nearly carbon zero. He also said a part of their business in the future may be selling access to their storage well to other carbon-emitting businesses. And that's a key factor in all of this. For Red Trail, capturing this carbon wasn't just a good environmental decision, but a good business decision as well. While the cost of developing this project was around $38 million, he expects his company will bring in upwards of $9 million per year in revenues from 45Q tax credits from the federal government, as well as commanding $0.15 cents per gallon more for their ethanol thanks to a better carbon rating. Bachmeier sees a bright future for carbon capture. "For North Dakota's industries, I think we have a huge opportunity." Forum Communications Company is proud to be a part of the Trust Project. Learn more at thetrustproject.org.

Last week, in response to an open record request filed by myself and others for emails, Attorney General Drew Wrigley announced that his office wouldn't be able to satisfy those requests in full. An employee, who was not a supervisor or attorney in his office and who had no authority to do so, ordered the deletion of former Attorney General Wayne Stenehjem's email account. Stenehjem passed away earlier this year. Wrigley, who had already announced a campaign for the office, was appointed his replacement by Governor Doug Burgum. Subsequent to the deletion of Stenehjem's account, the employee also ordered the deletion of Deputy Attorney General Troy Seibel's account. Seibel left the office earlier this year after Wrigley informed him that he would be bringing in his own personnel for that position. The original records requests were part of investigations into controversy over a cost overrun for newly-constructed office space for employees of the AG's office, but these deletions have become a controversy in their own right. Wrigley addressed the matter on this episode of Plain Talk. He declined to name the employee during our interview, but indicated that afterward his office would be releasing the communication in which the account deletions were ordered, and that this would identify the employee. He also declined to discuss what disciplinary actions his office would take with regard to this employee, saying they're an "internal personnel" matter. He added that he'd received at least one "plea" not to identify this person publicly, but said he had no legal authority to keep that information from the public. There is "no way to ascertain" the number of emails that were deleted. Wrigley also said that while he wasn't aware of any situation where records that needed to be retained for on-going matters of litigation, "the timeline was very rapid" for the removal of the accounts. Wrigley said that he assumes a "vast" number of the emails in those accounts were also sent to other state employees, and so are maintained as records in those accounts, but with the accounts now gone, and with the state's IT personnel assuring him there's no way to get them back, there's also no way to measure how much information is now lost. Forum Communications Company is proud to be a part of the Trust Project. Learn more at thetrustproject.org.

Governor Doug Burgum's administration is on the path to proposing some very significant policy to address North Dakota's child care process in the upcoming legislative session. It will be "something different from what you usually see from our administration," Lt. Governor Brent Sanford said on this issue of Plain Talk. Child care has been talked about as an urgent public policy need for, well, about a generation now, most recently at a Chamber of Commerce event in Fargo, yet there hasn't been much in the way of substantial progress on the issue. Part of the problem is politics. "Our legislator's eyes glass over" when this issue gets brought up in the context of early childhood education. "They'll say 'we don't want to back the school bus up to the maternity ward'," Sanford says. He thinks a more persuasive approach will be to talk about the need for childcare policy in the context of the economy. Ensuring access to affordable child care "is what we have to do to retain and recruit," Sanford says, especially because the private sector can't seem to provide that. "The daycare model is uneconomic," Sanford argues. "It doesn't work." In fact, he says, it only works to the extent it is now because of low-wage workers. He pointed out that ratio policies, which dictate the number of children per daycare worker a facility can have, were "built when we still had minimum wage workers. Who still has minimum wage workers?" Sanford says the administration is still working on a policy proposal, but that it may include revenue from the state's Legacy fund to make things work.

President Joe Biden is putting the blame for high gas prices on gas station owners. "My message to the companies running gas stations and setting prices at the pump is simple: this is a time of war and global peril," he wrote in a tweet posted before Independence Day. "Bring down the price you are charging at the pump to reflect the cost you're paying for the product. And do it now." How does an actual gas station owner feel about that? "He seem to think we can drop the price twenty cents to be patriotic," Kent Satrang said on this episode of Plain Talk. Satrang is the owner of Petroserve USA, which has several locations in North Dakota and Minnesota. He said doesn't really get to choose his prices. They're set by a very competitive market. A station that is selling fuel at a price that's significantly higher than competing stations simply won't see business. And besides, Satrang argues, companies like his don't make much on the fuel anyway. Satrang says his margin amounts to a "few cents a gallon." "The actual credit card company makes more off our fuel for their fees than we do," he said, adding that most of his profits come from the food, drinks, and other items sold in his convenience stores. Also on this episode, Wednesday co-host Chad Oban and I discuss the unhappy state of America as another Independence Day comes and goes.

America's industry, from power production to agriculture to manufacturing, needs "to be governed by policymakers not lawsuits." That's what Jason Boherer, president of the North Dakota Lignite Energy Council, said on this episode of Plain Talk. He sees the recent Supreme Court decision in North Dakota v. EPA as a boon not just for his industry, but for American democracy in that it will require Congress and other legislative bodies to actually make a decision on what it wants emissions policy to be, instead of punting the question to regulators and judges. That's a more transparent process, he argues. A more predictable one. That, in the end, will serve America better. And while some are arguing that the Supreme Court's finding that the EPA didn't have authority from Congress to regulate emissions in the way it was will endanger the environment, Bohrer sees it as helping. He argues that projects such as carbon capture, of which there are many here in North Dakota, will be more viable now that they don't have to match pace with a timeline from the EPA that seemed calculated, on a political basis, to be "impossible to meet," according to Bohrer. This ruling "increases the odds that you're going to see carbon capture on some of our projects," he claims, and that seems likely. Which is good news for North Dakota. Want to be notified when new episodes of Plain Talk drop? Subscribe, for free, on the podcast platform of your choice. Forum Communications Company is proud to be a part of the Trust Project. Learn more at thetrustproject.org.

Believe it or not, there is such a thing as a pro-life Democrat. There are pro-choice Republicans too, of course, but on this episode of Plain Talk, it was Mark Haugen, the Democratic-NPL candidate for the U.S. House of Representatives, who is staunchly pro-life, who we were speaking to. Haugen's party leaders have described the U.S. Supreme Court decision overturning Roe v. Wade as "evil," but Haugen isn't too worried about that. "Pat's a good friend of mine," he said, referring to party chairman Patrick Hart, and adding that they'd discussed the matter. Still, Haugen feels it's important to remember that pro-life Democrats are a part of the party. "Are we the minority? Absolutely. But that's democracy," he said. "I have to work hard at explaining my position. Haugen describes that position as being "whole life," arguing that Democrats should focus on social assistance policies to help mothers and children. Wednesday co-host Chad Oban and I also discussed the political ramifications of overturning Roe v. Wade, both locally and nationally, as well as the latest revelations of the January 6 committee. Want to be notified of new episodes of Plain Talk? Subscribe, for free, on the podcast platform of your choice. Forum Communications Company is proud to be a part of the Trust Project. Learn more at thetrustproject.org

Minot, N.D. — You couldn't possibly have missed the news that the U.S. Supreme Court has overturned the Roe v. Wade precedent which held that it was unconstitutional for state governments to ban abortion. The ruling was unambiguous. "The Constitution does not prohibit the citizens of each State from regulating or prohibiting abortion," the court ruled. "Roe and Casey arrogated that authority. We now overrule those decisions and return that authority to the people and their elected representatives." North Dakota, like many other states, has legislation regulating abortion which was written so that it would take effect should the Roe precedent be overturned. On this episode of Plain Talk, the state official responsible for making that determination, Attorney General Drew Wrigley, says we can expect his decision imminently. "I expect to be announcing that decision in a matter...of hours not days," he said, adding that he doesn't expect to make the announcement today, but it's coming soon. That's not surprising given how clear the Supreme Court was in their opinion. Wrigley noted that while researching the issue, he was surprised to see that the 2007 "trigger bill" banning abortion was bipartisan. It was "even sponsored by a Democrat," he noticed. The bill in question was House Bill 1466, and its primary sponsor was former Rep. James Kerzman, a Democrat. The other House co-sponsor was Rep. Ralph Metcalf, who was also a Democrat. Rep. Merle Boucher (a gubernatorial candidate in 2004), Rep. Bill Amerman, Sen. Joan Heckaman (the current Minority Leader), Sen. Richard Marcellais, and Sen. Tim Mathern were other notable Democrats who voted to pass the bill. In addition to the 2007 law, there is also a 2019 trigger bill that banned the most common type of surgical abortion, though Wrigley said that bill was largely moot given the 2007 law. Once these certifications are completed, Wrigley's office will focus on other bills regulating abortion that haven't been enforced because they've been enjoined by the courts based on the Roe decision. Among these are a ban on abortions after a heartbeat is detected, regulation of the disposal of aborted babies, and a bill regulating hospital admissions for abortions. Wrigley also addressed the status of his inquiry into a land purchase made by a trust associated with billionaire Bill Gates. His office has sought information on the transaction, and the trust. If it's found to be in violation of a state prohibition on corporate farming, Wrigley says the trust will be required to divest itself of the property.

Sen. Kevin Cramer and I will never agree about former President Donald Trump. I think the man was a disgrace to his office. Cramer would be fine if we elected him president again. But one thing we agree on, as we discussed the on-going hearings of the congressional committee investigating the January 6 riot, is that Vice President Mike Pence was the hero of that story. He held his oath to the constitution higher than his loyalty to Trump, and that was a heroic act. Though I still can't fathom why Cramer, who sees Pence as the hero, can't recognize that Trump is the villain. But you'll have to listen to this episode of Plain Talk to hear him explain that. As to gas prices, the roots of our problems lay in the unwillingness of the American left to recognize that we still need oil, Our world runs on it. It's unavoidable. The efforts to put the oil industry out of business have only hamstrung its ability to deliver us a product that is vital to our economy and our quality of life. Gas prices are higher than they need to be because they're fighting a Sisyphean struggle against anti-oil politics. Cramer also discussed the gun control issue, which is much on the minds of Americans after shootings in Uvalde, Texas, and Buffalo, New York. Cramer's not a fan of red flag laws - he responded to some recent criticism of his argument that Republicans are more interested in winning "red wave" elections than in passing red flag laws - but he is open to steps that can be taken to address the potential for violent shooters. One idea he supports is allowing juvenile records to be used as disqualifiers in background checks for gun purchases. Want to be notified of new episodes of Plain Talk? Subscribe on the platform of your choice.

The North Dakota Republican Party, the dominant force in our state's politics, is deeply divided. If anyone was hoping that primary night, which saw that divide driving the debate in legislative competitions across the state, was going to resolve things they're in for a disappointment. Republicans across the state voted, and the NDGOP remains about as divided as ever. We talked about it on this episode of Plain Talk. First Jim Poolman, former insurance commissioner and former vice chairman of the NDGOP, joined Wednesday co-host Chad Oban and I, then Pat Finken, a long-time veteran of state politics and head of the Brighter Future Alliance, chimed in. Want to be notified when new episodes of Plain Talk drop? Subscribe, for free, on the podcasting platform of your choice. Forum Communications Company is proud to be a part of the Trust Project. Learn more at thetrustproject.org.

Minot, N.D. — Shannon Roers Jones is a state lawmaker who is currently halfway through her second term representing Fargo-area District 46. She's also a candidate for mayor of Fargo, and she has been, arguably, the most visible candidate thanks in no small part to a political mugging her father got from the Fargo's city commissioners, including two of her opponents in the mayoral race. On this episode of Plain Talk, Roers Jones talks about what it would be like serving as a mayor and lawmaker (she hasn't decided if she'd do both if elected mayor), the claims that her mayoral duties, if elected, would clash with her career duties (she works for the family business, Roers Construction, as her day job), and what she describes as "media bias" in the local coverage of this race. "The Forum has chosen to publish only negative stories and only negative letters," Roers Jones claims, referring to the Forum of Fargo-Moorhead, the flagship newspaper for Forum Communications, my employers. Want to be notified when new episodes of Plain Talk drop? Click here to subscribe, for free, on your favorite podcasting service. Forum Communications Company is proud to be a part of the Trust Project. Learn more at thetrustproject.org.

Inflation is a real problem. It's making us poorer. Your wages aren't being cut, but the cost of living your life is growing faster than what you earn. Fuel prices are up. Utility bills are going higher. Groceries cost more. Hell, everything costs more. But the subject of inflation is a lot more complicated than what's presented by the politicians and the pundits. On this episode of Plain Talk, Dr. David Flynn, a professor of economics at the University of North Dakota, discussed what's causing inflation, and what can do about it. One of the hardest parts of talking about this subject is that there's many different causes that necessitate many solutions. Interest rates are part of the solution, but then so is trade policy. How can we ease supply line snaggles? How can we shorten supply lines? How can we make our economy more nimble so that it can respond to change without necessarily driving up prices? And how do we drive the wage-price spiral? Where higher cost wages drive higher-cost goods and services which in turn creates demand for higher wages again? Earning more money is good, except it doesn't mean much when the cost of living is growing about as fast. Want to be notified when new episodes of Plain Talk drop? Subscribe, for free, on just about any podcast service you can think of. Forum Communications Company is proud to be a part of the Trust Project. Learn more at thetrustproject.org.

In 2019, state Rep. Karla Rose Hanson, a Democrat from Fargo, introduced a red flag bill. It would have created a judicial process through which guns could be taken away from people exhibiting troubling behavior. I was among the many critics of the bill, and it failed decisively, early in the session, in the House. But is there merit to the idea, if not Hanson's specific bill? She joined this episode of Plain Talk to discuss it with me along with Wednesday co-host Chad Oban. We talked about how we can set up a process to get guns out of the hands of dangerous people while simultaneously ensuring the process isn't abused, or that it doesn't deny responsible gun owners their rights. We also had a lengthy discussion about gun politics, which like so many hot-button political issues are another front in America's endless culture wars. Chad and I also discussed the threats made against myself and my family recently, which I've written about, and our predictions for the outcome of the state's upcoming June primary vote. Want to be notified when new episodes of Plain Talk drop? Subscribe, for free, on any podcast service you choose. Forum Communications Company is proud to be a part of the Trust Project. Learn more at thetrustproject.org.

We live in a political environment where it seems everyone is trying to undermine the public's trust in our election laws. From the right are baseless claims that the 2020 election was stolen. From the left are claims, such as the one made by Democratic Sec. of State candidate Jeffre Powell, that when politicians talk about election integrity it's a "code word for voter suppression." State Rep. Michael Howe is seeking the NDGOP's nomination for Secretary of State, and he argues that he way through this food fight is transparency. "People want to know more about their elections. And rightfully so," he said on this episode of Plain Talk. There is "a lot of misinformation out there," and the way to combat it is to be "open and transparency." Asked about the election conspiracies promoted by former President Donald Trump, Howe, who said he voted for Trump in both 2016 and 2020, said that Joe Biden won the election and that he's confident votes in North Dakota were counted accurately, though he said he couldn't speak for what happened in other states. Howe also discussed claims from his primary opponent, Marvin Lepp, that North Dakota's voting machines are outdated and insecure. He expressed support for enhancing reporting requirements for political candidates and committees in North Dakota. He talked about improving the aspects of the Secretary of State's job that have to do with business filings and land management. Want to be notified with new episodes of Plain Talk release? Subscribe, for free, on your favorite podcast service. Forum Communications Company is proud to be a part of the Trust Project. Learn more at thetrustproject.org.

"We can't get enough school counselors." That's what Congressman Kelly Armstrong had to say on this episode of Plain Talk. We've all be talking about how we can make our school after in the wake of another horrific tragedy in Uvalde, Texas, and much of that has been focused on proposals that would make our schools seem like prisons, with more law enforcement on campus and more restrictions on building access. Armstrong mentioned that he recently had the opportunity to spend some time in Israel. "I don't want our children to have to go to school like they have to," he said. While saying he wouldn't support any new restrictions on gun sales or ownership, he said there are things we can do to help. Like hiring more school counselors. Or making some reforms to the juvenile court system that continue to protect the privacy of juvenile criminal records but don't restrict their utility in background checks for gun transactions. Also on this episode, Mike Hopkins, the CEO of Bakken Energy, gives an update on his company's hydrogen hub project. They're in the process of obtaining asserts from the Dakota Synfuels Plant, which processed coal into fuel, and once they have possession they're going to get to work using North Dakota natural gas to make hydrogen while using the state's advantageous geology to store the carbon that process produces. Bakken Energy has entered into an agreement with the tribal government of the MHA Nation to get gas from oil development on their lands, which would help mitigate North Dakota's lingering problems with flaring, an issue that's been particularly acute on tribal lands. In addition to the supply side of his business, Hopkins also spoke about the emerging markets for hydrogen, and how his business will serve them. Want to be notified of new episodes of Plain Talk when they're released? Subscribe - for free! - on the podcast service of your choice. Forum Communications Company is proud to be a part of the Trust Project. Learn more at thetrustproject.org.

Governor Doug Burgum is spending big to influence the North Dakota Republican Party's legislative primaries. The people on the pointy end of that stick, namely the Bastiat Caucus wing of Trumpy populist candidates, don't like that so much, and they've even come up with some dubious legal arguments claiming it may be illegal. Are they right? Almost certainly not. But even beyond the legalities, is what Burgum doing kosher from just an ethical point of view? I discussed it on this episode of Plain Talk with my Wednesday co-host Chad Oban. We also hit on the state of some of those legislative races around the state - it's not looking so good for the Bastiats but District 8 is still a battleground - and touched on some upcoming conversations about gun control we're going to have on the show. Also on this episode, Cody Schuler, the new advocacy manager for the ACLU of North Dakota, joins to talk about his job and what issues his organization will be prioritizing going forward, with abortion being a big one given that the U.S. Supreme Court is expected to overturn the Roe v. Wade precedent. Want to be notified of new episodes of Plain Talk? Consider subscribing, for free, on the podcasting platform of your choice! Forum Communications Company is proud to be a part of the Trust Project. Learn more at thetrustproject.org.

Minot, N.D. — In 2021 the Atlanta Braves won the World Series. Among those receiving a ring? Scott Davis from right here in North Dakota. Davis spent years serving our state as the Commissioner of Indian Affairs. He's in the private sector now, helping private organizations with their outreach to Native American communities, and some of that work has been for the Atlanta Braves. That team has a Native American-themed nickname, and those have been controversial. Davis has been working with the team to find common ground and support from Indian Country, and for that work the team gave him a ring. Davis talked about what it was like to receive that honor on this episode of Plain Talk. He also spoke about a major new initiative he helped broker between the Braves and the 7G Foundation, an organization that works to mold the next "seven generations" (that's where the name comes from) of Native American leaders through education and sports. The Braves will be hosting the Native American All-Star Baseball Showcase at Truist Park from July 16 - 17. High school baseball players of Native American descent from around the country will participate. Davis says it's a way for baseball to find new talent, and fun opportunity for Native American players. He thinks the major league teams, including the Braves, are going to find some prospects at the game. Players interested in participating can register at the 7G Foundation website. You can read the full press release for the game here. Want to be notified of new episodes of Plain Talk? Click here to subscribe, for free, on your favorite podcasting platform. Forum Communications Company is proud to be a part of the Trust Project. Learn more at thetrustproject.org.

MINOT, N.D. — Terrible news from Texas. Another mass shooting, this one taking the lives of 21 people, 19 of them school children. My Wednesday co-host Chad Oban and I discuss the shooting, the reaction, and the exhausting debate we have after every one of these incidents on this episode of Plain Talk. Also, Roscoe Streyle, a Republican primary candidate for the state House in District 3, discusses an idea he has to cut the state's property taxes in half. Would it be permanent relief? How do we keep local governments from back-filling the state's relief with new tax hikes? How do we ensure that our schools and other local services continue to be adequately funded? Streyle answers those questions, and also discusses what it's like to be running in a contested legislative primary in a divided North Dakota Republican Party. Want to be notified about new episodes of Plain Talk? Subscribe, for free, on your favorite podcasting platform. Forum Communications Company is proud to be a part of the Trust Project. Learn more at thetrustproject.org

Minot, N.D. — Marvin Lepp would like to be North Dakota's next secretary of state. He's running as a Republican, though he said on this episode of Plain Talk that the office "really ought to be nonpartisan, and he's running on election integrity. He said he got more involved in politics in recent years during the debates over pandemic-era policies like business closings and mask mandates, and when he was thinking about running for office, decided secretary of state seemed like a good fit. He didn't seek the NDGOP's endorsement at the party's state convention earlier this year because he said his is a single-family home - he works in auto service and his wife is a homemaker - and it was a decision that was a difficult one to make. How can our elections be better? Lepp says North Dakota's election machines are running on antiquated software. He said there are questions about the mobile hotspots election workers use. He also said he's spoken to poll workers who told him that the company which manages North Dakota's election machines was able to remotely log into them to fix a firmware issue, something he feels raises security concerns, though he admitted he hadn't verified this claim. Does he think President Joe Biden won the 2020 election? Former President Donald Trump and his movement have made that a litmus test question for Republicans nationally. "He won in North Dakota," Lepp told me, referring to Trump. As for elsewhere, Lepp said he's "not sure" because there are "too many" questions lingering. Lepp also spoke about the non-election portions of the secretary of state job, including managing business filings and serving on important state boards such as the State Industrial Commission and the Land Board. Want to be alerted to new episodes of Plain Talk? Subscribe to the podcast on your favorite pocasting platform.

Jeffrey Powell is an administrator at Mayville State University and the Democratic-NPL candidate for Secretary of State. He was endorsed by the party's executive committee (he made a late decision to run so didn't attend the party's state convention in Minot) and in November will be facing off against one of two potential Republican candidates. State Rep. Michael Howe is squaring off with Bismarck mechanic Marvin Lepp in the NDGOP primary. Powell has been watching that race, and on this episode of Plain Talk, said it frustrates him when the Republican candidates talk about "election integrity," arguing that's a "code word for voter suppression." He said the primary job of a Secretary of State is to protect the right of the people to vote, and accused Republican lawmakers of enacting laws to suppress votes in past legislative sessions. Powell also spoke about running as a Democrat in a state that has become deeply Republican over the last couple of decades. He said there is a "sense of fear" among Democrats who think about running for office in North Dakota. He acknowledged that both Republicans and Democrats have become more extreme in recent years, but that the alleged danger is "more keenly felt by people who are more likely to be Democrats." Powell said he hasn't personally felt any danger in running for office. Also on this episode, Dickinson-based oil worker Riley Kuntz, who is challenging incumbent U.S. Senator John Hoeven for the NDGOP's primary nomination, spoke about why he decided to mount what he admits is a long-shot bid to defeat one of North Dakota's most popular political figures. He said he was disappointed state Rep. Rick Becker, who challenged Hoeven at the NDGOP's state convention, wasn't successful and felt he had to continue the challenge to Hoeven. Want to be notified when new episodes of Plain Talk publish? Consider subscribing on your favorite podcast platform. Forum Communications Company is proud to be a part of the Trust Project. Learn more at thetrustproject.org.

This year's primaries, from local legislative races to the national midterms, are in many ways a referendum on the influence of disgraced former President Donald Trump and his movement's on-going influence on the GOP. What did we learn after this week's primary elections? And the fundraising numbers we're seeing in North Dakota's Republican legislative primaries so far? We talked about it on this episode of Plain Talk. Matt Lewis, senior columnist for the Daily Beast and host of the Matt Lewis and the News podcast, joined to discuss the national races. Wednesday co-host Chad Oban and I discussed the more local races, where traditional or "establishment" legislative candidates seem to have an edge. Want to be notified of new episodes? 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.

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.