Plain Talk

A debate over a bill to implement what supporters call "presumptive minimum" sentences for certain crimes like fleeing or assaulting an officer, or possessing a gun during a grime, has grown surprisingly contentious in the legislature. There has been some bizarre procedural moves around the bill, including the chairman of the judiciary committee undermining his own committee's vote on the bill, and a war of words between state Rep. Shannon Roers Jones, a Fargo Republican, and Attorney General Drew Wrigley. Wrigley has questioned Roers Jones' knowledge on criminal justice matters, while Roers Jones has accused Wrigley of inappropriately injecting a recent Bismarck case involving fleeing, and an officer-involved shooting, into a political debate. "I'm not interested in a feud with the attorney general," Rep. Roers Jones said on this episode of Plain Talk. My co-host Ben Hanson and I also questioned Roers Jones on her feelings about this legislative session. "I feel the least satisfied over all about this session," she said. "On the whole I feel like we have spent entirely too much time and too much political capital on bills that impact tens of North Dakotans," she added, addressing legislation dealing with things like book bans and pronouns. Want to be notified when new episodes of Plain Talk publish? Search for the show on services like Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or Stitcher, or click here to learn how to find it and subscribe on the podcast service of your choice.

Did you know there's such a thing as a fake legislative day? Ok, maybe that's not the official term, but that colloquialism has grown up around a practice at the Legislature in Bismarck which sees lawmakers protracting their session despite the 80-day limit that's in Article IV of the state constitution. You see, if the lawmakers don't gavel in for a floor session, they can still meet in their various committees, and still get paid, without the day counting against their limit. Why are they doing this? And should they be allowed to? My co-host Ben Hanson and I discussed it on this episode of Plain Talk. Also on this episode, Brian Lundeen, a Jamestown resident who is one of the organizers behind the effort to build the Bison World attraction in that city, talks about what the project needs from state lawmakers to make it happen. Want to be notified when new episodes of Plain Talk publish? Search for the show on services like Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or Stitcher, or click here to learn how to subscribe on the podcast platform of your choice.

Russia's bloody invasion of Ukraine has displaced millions of Ukranians, most of whom need a place to go. Meanwhile, North Dakota has a long-enduring workforce shortage that is felt most acutely in the state's oil fields. Now, those two problems are coming together to form what is, if not a solution, is at least a way to mitigate some suffering while simultaneously creating some new opportunities. Former Lt. Gov. Brent Sanford, who stepped down from Gov. Doug Burgum's administration late last year, is now the project manager of what North Dakota's oil industry has dubbed Bakken GROW. The acronym stands for Global Recruitment of Oilfield Workers, and it's precisely what it sounds like. A concerted effort to match Ukranians, who need an escape from their homelands, with jobs in North Dakota's oil industry. "It's not only a workforce recruitment effort, it's a humanitarian effort too," Sanford said on this episode of Plain Talk. "The United States is not good at legal immigration," he added, but hopes this program can make a difference. He says it will begin with Ukranians - there is already a sizable Ukranian community in western North Dakota, and he says they're reaching out to organizations like the Ukranian Catholic Church to help with the effort - but the hope is to target potential refugees and immigrants from other countries and ethnic backgrounds as well. Also on this episode, state Rep. Corey Mock joined co-host Ben Hanson and I to talk about the ongoing debate over North Dakota's public worker pension. We disagreed a lot, but we did find some common ground around the idea that there are no easy solutions to this mess, and that a lot of the lawmakers in Bismarck on both sides of the debate are ignoring some pretty brutal fiscal realities. Want to be notified when new episodes of Plain Talk publish? Search for the show on Spotify, or Apple Podcasts, or Stitcher, or click here to learn how to subscribe on the podcast platform of your choice.

"When I'm in committee, when I'm speaking, nobody ever asks me any questions." That's what Kristie Miller had to say on this episode of Plain Talk. She's the mother of a trans person and has become active in North Dakota politics opposing a legislative agenda in Bismarck she characterizes as an attack on the trans community. The most frustrating aspect of that activism? How hard it is to even get some lawmakers to talk to her. "My experience is...when they found out I'm the mother of a trans child, they won't speak to me." That experience isn't universal. Some lawmakers do speak with her. She credited House Majority Leader Mike Lefor, a Republican from Dickinson, with engaging, though she said that other lawmakers have been something less than pleasant to deal with. She described what she said was a rude interaction with Sen. Keith Boehm, a Republican from District 33 who primaried a Republican incumbent, Jessica Bell, over her vote to sustain Gov. Doug Burgum's veto of a transgender sports bill during the 2021 session. She said that many Republican lawmakers are afraid of opposing the 21 bills dealing with transgender issues at the legislature. "There's a small group out there...when they found out a GOP member voted a certain way they verbally attack them," she said. Want to be notified when new episodes of Plain Talk publish? Search for the show on services like Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or Stitcher, or click here to learn how to subscribe on the podcast platform of your choice.

Drawing capital to North Dakota has been a problem for our state since, well, statehood. Our economy is heavily dependent on commodity-driven industries - energy and agriculture. Generations of political leaders have tried to find a way to diversify, but not much has changed. Which would argue, I think, for some outside-the-box thinking. And that's what Commerce Commissioner Josh Teigen was doing when he invited Kevin O'Leary, the Shark Tank star also known as Mr. Wonderful, to manage a $45 million investment fund for the state of North Dakota. On this episode of Plain Talk, Teigen talked about how that relationship came to be, and responded to criticism of the bidding process around it, as well as recent comments O'Leary made comparing Moorhead, Minnesota, to Cuba. "I think the comments are less about Fargo and Moorhead and more about North Dakota and Minnesota," Teigen said, also describing it as "more of a Bismarck versus St. Paul conversation." "We know the people in Moorhead aren't necessarily driving he policy in Minnesota. That's happening in St. Paul," he added. Asked if he felt O'Leary's comments were helpful to the cause of bringing capital to North Dakota, Teigen didn't defend them, but he wasn't critical either. "We don't get to control every bit of the narrative," he said, adding that having someone like O'Leary, with a national platform, "tell North Dakota's story" has "a lot of upside." Also on this episode, co-host Ben Hanson and I discuss Gov. Doug Burgum's apparent interest in running for president, as well as the Legislature falling just one vote short of passing a bill to expand the state's school lunch program.

What's the right legacy for North Dakota's Legacy Fund? It's a perennial question, all the more so when lawmakers are in session in Bismarck, and the answer is seemingly different for everyone. And that's the problem. The Legacy Fund was created two decades ago to store a big chunk of oil tax revenues for the future. Now the fund has billions in principal, and produces hundreds of millions in revenues of its own every cycle from its investments, and we're still debating what to do with it. Former Gov. Ed Schafer, who was a part of the campaign that created the fund, joined this episode of Plain Talk to talk about it. He says our current lawmakers are too spend-happy with the fund, and are foolishly, in his estimation, tying up its revenues, sometimes decades into the future. Also on this episode, co-host Chad Oban and I discuss the debate over school lunch. Should the state be picking up the tab? It would end the headaches schools have with trying to collect past-due lunch payments. It would also make it so that no student would be shamed when they don't get the same school lunch as everyone else because their parents didn't pay. Also, school lunch bills can cost $1,000 or more over the course of the school year. If the state picks up the tab, that's a burden off families with young children. But some lawmakers say it's a handout. A new sort of entitlement. Are they right? If you want to be notified when new episodes of Plain Talk publish, search for it on platforms like Spotify, Apple Podcast, or Stitcher, or click here to learn how to subscribe on the podcast service of your choice.

The American system for insurance and health care is broken. There's no two ways about it. We pay too much, and get too few choices. How much can North Dakota's lawmakers do about it? Not a whole lot, but there are things they can do to keep it from getting worse. House Bill 1416 would stop insurers from using price pressure convince North Dakotans to opt-in to health insurance plans that freeze out independent health care proviers. Dr. Duncan Ackerman, an orthopedic surgeon and a spokesman for North Dakotans for Open Access Health Care, joined this episode of Plain Talk to discuss the issue. Also on this episode, guest co-host Jamie Selzer and I discuss the push in the Legislature to put another term limits option before voters, one that alters the term limits amendment they just approved last year. We also talk about former U.S. House candidate Mark Haugen's decision to leave the Democratic-NPL and join the NDGOP. Haugen's House campaign ended after party big-wigs pressured him to bow out in favor of former Miss America Cara Mund, an independent candidate who was a late entrant to the race. Want to be notified when new episodes of Plain Talk Publish? Search for the show on services like Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or Stitcher, or click here to find out how to subscribe on the podcast platform of your choice.

Minot, N.D. — I have been an outspoken critic of legislation before lawmakers in Bismarck that seeks to implement new content regulations on libraries and private stores open to the general public. So when Sen. Janne Myrdal agreed to come on this episode of Plain Talk, she knew what she was getting into. Kudos to her for coming on anyway to face questioning from myself and guest co-host Chad Oban (who makes a triumphant return to the podcast and predicts that surge in listens will crash our servers. That remains to be seen. As you might imagine, we three didn't find much to agree on, at least when it comes to the book bills. Myrdal, who says she supports librarians, nevertheless alleged that there is a concerted effort to make explicit content, and even pornography, available to children. She also denied that Senate Bill 2360, which has passed the Senate with her vote among those in favor, which she spoke in support of on the Senate floor, would ban books at private bookstores. This despite language that makes a person, "guilty of a class B misdemeanor if the person willfully displays at newsstands or any other business establishment frequented by minors, or where minors are or may be invited as a part of the general public any photograph, book, paperback book, pamphlet, or magazine, the exposed cover or available content of which...contains depictions or written descriptions of nude or partially denuded human figures posed or presented in a manner to exploit sex, lust, or perversion." By my reading, that means romance novels, and even great works of literature by people like Ernest Hemingway and John Steinbeck, would have to be either shrink-wrapped or squirreled away from the public. But Myrdal says that's not so. She says the intent is to protect children. Also on this episode, we asked Myrdal about a recent report noting that she turned her back on a pastor delivering an invocation about "differing colors, genders, races, ethnicities and language." She said she feels the pastor had a political agenda, and that she would have similarly turned her back if an invocation backed a political interest like credit unions. "Prayer should be vertical, not horizontal," she said.

Minot, N.D. — "It's happening," Sen. Scott Meyer, a Republican from Grand Forks, said on this episode of Plain Talk. "We're not stopping it." He's referring to sports gambling, which is one of the topics he says his constituents talk to him about the most. "It's becoming more and more common. It's everywhere," he says. Meyer is backing House Concurrent Resolution 3002, which, if passed, would put the question of sports gambling to voters on the statewide ballot. If they approve it, the lawmakers would be authorized to enact enabling legislation dictating regulation, consumer protection, and taxation. At least for professional sports. The constitutional amendment would leave out other types of sports betting on collegiate or even high school competitions, though Meyer insists that sort of thing is already happening too. "There are already betting lines on those games" available from sports betting services based off-shore that can be accessed online. Meyer says that's a big part of why this resolution should pass. Because these services are offshore, the North Dakotans who are already using them have no protection from fraud, and there is no way to generate revenue from the bets to offset the social impacts of gambling. A similar resolution proposed in the 2021 legislative session passed in the state House, but failed, narrowly, in the state Senate. So far, HCR3002 has followed a similar trajectory, having passed already in the House. Now it's before the Senate, where Meyer hopes his colleagues will let North Dakota voters have a say. Want to be notified when new episodes of Plain Talk publish? Click here to subscribe, or search for the show on Spotify, or Apple Podcasts, or any of the other podcast services.

Minot, N.D. — If Senate Bill 2360, which has already passed North Dakota's Senate by a 38 - 9 vote, were to become law, would Christians and Muslims and other citizens of faith have to buy their holy books in a porn shop? This bill, introduced by Sen. Keith Boehm, a Republican from Mandan, would require that any material having pictures or even "written descriptions of nude or partially denuded human figures posed or presented in a manner to exploit sex, lust, or perversion" be removed from public spaces accessible by children. That means public libraries. School libraries. It means Walmart, Target, and Barnes & Noble, too. Works of art with sexual content - which includes the Christian bible, which has many stories about sex and rape and incest - could only be made available in cordoned-off areas accessible only by adults. Like adult bookstores, I guess, and wouldn't that be weird? If a state law, pushed in no small part by scripture-quoting Christians, required the bible be sold alongside actual porn? This is the stuff we discussed on today's episode of Plain Talk, where my co-host Ben Hanson and I were joined by Cody Schuler, advocacy manager for the local chapter of the ACLU, and Janet Anderson, the director of the Minot Public Library. I'm being facetious when I lump the Christian bible in with porn. Obviously, the bible is not porn, but SB2360, along with House Bill 1205, which seeks to implement similar content restrictions, doesn't make those distinctions. These bills' definitions of what constitutes objectionable materials are so amorphous that most literature sold today would be censored. That's going to invite lawsuits, Schuler pointed out. Meanwhile, Anderson noted that the bills seem to be in pursuit of a problem that doesn't exist. "I challenge you to find anything in our library that has pornography," she said. She's held her position at the Minot library for nearly a decade, and in all that time her institution's process for challenging material has been used just four times, which hardly speaks to there being a problem the Legislature needs to solve. Though, Anderson notes that plenty of people seem convinced that our librarians and educators (and booksellers, apparently, given the scope of one of these bills) are perverts out to get children. "I've been called a groomer," Anderson said. "I've been accused of wanting to teach teenagers about sex education with pornography." Be sure to listen to the entire episode. Want to be notified when new episodes of Plain Talk publish? Search for the show on Spotify or Apple Podcasts, or click here to find out how you can subscribe on the podcast service of your choice.

Minot, N.D. — There aren't a lot of Republicans in the United States Senate willing to praise President Joe Biden for his trip to Kyiv, in Ukraine, which is a war zone. That's what Senator Kevin Cramer told me on this episode of Plain Talk. But Cramer himself? He thinks the president did good. He called the trip "gutsy" and "appropriate." Staying on the national security topic, we discussed the Chinese spy balloon situation, which is where Cramer did have some criticism for the Biden administration. He said a lack of communication from the public drove an overreaction to the balloons, making many Americans, and people in the international community, feel as though our military and intelligence agencies were less prepared to handle the balloons than they really were. Also on this episode: Why is the Biden administration's EPA so hostile to carbon capture and pipeline projects when the infrastructure bill Congress passed before the midterms, one President Biden himself championed, did a great deal to fund and facilitate those projects? And are we classifying too many documents? Cramer says yes. Want to be notified when new episodes of Plain Talk publish? Search for the show on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or click here to find out how to subscribe on any of the other podcast services. It's free!

Minot, N.D. — A war of words between state Auditor Josh Gallion, a Republican, and members of his own party in the state legislature has made a lot of headlines of late. Gallion has accused lawmakers of being "corrupt" for allegedly targeting a member of his office for specific termination and for legislation he says undermines his ability to do his job. Lawmakers say it was actually Gallion who requested that the employee be fired, and that they're responding from complaints from local government entities, including a western North Dakota ambulance service which has now filed an ethics complaint against the auditor's office, who say that Gallion isn't doing his job right. On this episode of Plain Talk Gordy Smith, a 36-year veteran of the state auditor's office under Gallion's predecessors, weighs in on the controversy. Was it appropriate for Gallion to write an op-ed for the state's media outlets blasting lawmakers as corrupt? "Absolutely not," Smith said. "When I read the op-ed, the first two words that came to mind were 'unprofessional' and 'disrespectful,'" Smith said. As for the legislature targeting a specific employee in the auditor's office, Smith says he believes the lawmakers and not Gallion. "There's no doubt in my mind," he said, adding that he spoke to both Gallion and legislative leaders about the issue in 2017 when it happened. Want to be notified when new episodes of Plain Talk publish? Search for it on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or click here to subscribe on one of the other podcast services. It's free!

"She's right." That's what Chris Jones, the director of North Dakota's Department of Human Services, had to say on this episode of Plain Talk about many of the complaints of one of our previous guests. Specifically Robin Nelson, the CEO of the Boys & Girls Clubs of the Red River Valley, who said that child care operations like her are "drowning" thanks to difficulties with hiring and red tape. "I don't disagree that they're drowning," Jones said in an interview that addressed everything from delays in the background check process to a new web portal for licensing that hasn't worked as well as it could have. Also on this episode, co-host Ben Hanson and I discuss state Auditor Josh Gallion's bomb-throwing toward the legislature, accusing them of attacking his office, and of being corrupt, after advancing a bill that would limit what his office can charge for audits and require that someone holding his office be a certified public accounting, something Gallion is not. Gallion's words are unbecoming for someone in his position, we concluded, and even counterproductive to the goal of holding state government accountable. An auditor should be level-headed and trustworthy. Gallion's audits, and the press campaigns he orchestrates around them, have become so exaggerated, so theatrical, that a reasonable observer must take them with a grain of salt. Want to be notified when new episodes of Plain Talk publish? You can find us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or any of the other podcast platforms available. And remember, subscribing to the podcast is free!

Minot, N.D. — You've heard just about every elected official in the state talk about it. Access to childcare, and as importantly, access to childcare that's affordable, is a real problem in North Dakota. So much so that it's contributing mightily, to our critical workforce shortages. People who can't find a place to send their kids during the day, or who can't afford it, can't go to work. But Robin Nelson, the CEO of the Boys and Girls Clubs of the Red River Valley, which provides childcare services to some 700 families, says the state is making it difficult for them to operate. "We're drowning out here," she said on this episode of Plain Talk. She says that an online licensing portal to make the hiring process for child care workers easier has, in fact, made things more difficult because the system "continues to crash" when they try to upload documents. "We are receiving late fees because we're missing deadlines," Nelson says. Background checks for those same workers are also a problem. Nelson says there are "major backlogs," particularly in the area of fingerprinting. She says it can take up to three weeks for a prospective hire to get an appointment to have their fingerprints taken, and even once they're sent in, Nelson says state workers have told her that it might take 11 business days for them even begin to process them. All told, Nelson says it can take as long as 4 to 6 weeks to get a childcare worker licensed and ready to work, which is an eternity, all the more so when you consider we're talking about workers taking jobs at what are, quite frankly, entry-level wages. How many of them can afford to wait for a month and a half before they can begin working and collecting a paycheck? Especially when there are so many other job opportunities available? Also on this episode, my co-host Ben Hanson and I discuss my story about the familial connections between a freshman state lawmaker and a racist church in MIssouri, as well as some bills that are advancing to hopefully address North Dakota's workforce shortages. Want to be notified when new episodes of Plain Talk publish? Consider subscribing - it's free! - through your favorite podcast service.

The Fufeng project, a controversial corn milling plant planned for the Grand Forks by the China-based company, is officially defunct now this week. City officials pulled the plug after the Department of the Air Force announced that the plant was a security threat to the nearby Grand Forks Air Force Base. I've long expressed sympathy for Grand Forks city officials who got caught in the crossfire between the economic interests of their region - it's undeniable that a plant like the one Fufeng planned would be beneficial - and concerns over national security that were far beyond their purview to analyze. But when I put it that way to Sen. Kevin Cramer who, along with Sen. John Hoeven was responsible for getting an answer on the national security question from the Air Force, he disagreed with me. He used an analogy about Santa Claus to illustrate his point. "When you're five years old, you believe in Santa because you think he's real. When you're ten you're old, you believe because you want to," he said on this episode of Plain Talk. "They kept hoping for someone to tell them this was ok," he continued, arguing that city officials should have gotten out of the project earlier. Cramer did acknowledge that the federal government "let down" local officials by taking so long to answer questions about the national security implications of the plant, but he said the case against it was obvious long before the Air Force finally weighed in. Asked if he was worried about local officials taking it upon themselves to make decisions about national security threats, Cramer said he fears more "is a federal government making local decisions." Still, he sees the process Grand Forks went through, as tortured as it was," as a "great gift" to the nation as it comes to terms with how it does business with other countries that are often belligerent to our own. "No one else has sounded the alarm like Grand Forks did," he said. Want to be notified when new episodes of Plain Talk publish? Subscribe - for free! - on the podcast platform of your choice.

Grand Forks Mayor Brandon Bochenski said his city first asked officials at the Grand Forks Air Force Base about the potential security risks of a corn milling plant to be built by Fufeng, a Chinese company, some 16 months ago. The Air Force has finally given an answer, in the form of a letter to North Dakota Senators John Hoeven and Kevin Cramer, but should it have taken that long? Bochenski joined this episode of Plain Talk to discuss the Air Force's letter, which indicated that Fufeng's project would represent a significant security threat, thus ending the city's participation in the development. He expressed some frustration with how long it took for his community to get an answer. "We expected more out of the federal government," he said. Mayor Bochenski also spoke about how heated the debate came at times, saying that University of North Dakota President Andrew Armacost had called him to communicate that some of the students and faculty on his campus of Chinese heritage were feeling "uncomfortable" thanks to anti-Chinese blowback against the project. Also joining this episode of Plain Talk was Dr. Charlie Bahnson, a wildlife veterinarian with the North Dakota Game and Fish Department, who addressed legislation that would remove his agency's ability to regulate deer baiting. House Bill 1151, introduced by Rep. Paul Thomas, a Republican from Velva, is the legislation in question. Bahnson said his department needs that authority to protect North Dakota's deer herd for future generations of hunters, and to protect animal agriculture. "We use restricting that practice as a way to slow down the spread of disease," he said. Deer baiting restrictions are not in any way intended to be a commentary from the department on the practice itself. "We're not in the business of regulating ethics around hunting." "I'd like nothing more than to never talk about baiting again," he added. "I don't like to stir the pot." Want to be notified when new episodes of Plain Talk publish? Subscribe - it's free! - on the podcast service of your choice.

Minot, N.D. — Drew Wrigley is asking a lot from state lawmakers in his first time before them as Attorney General. He wants a $24 million increase in his office's budget to recruit and retain attorneys, hire more Bureau of Criminal Investigation agents, oversee the exploding growth in North Dakota's charitable gaming industry, and address backlogs at the state crime lab. He wants new mandatory minimum sentencing requirements for gun-related crimes. One thing he's giving up, though, is his call to re-arrange his office's organization chart and put the crime lab under the administration of law enforcement officials. "You were wrong," Wrigley told me on this episode of Plain Talk, referring to my past reporting on the proposal, "and you won." In support of his push for new mandatory minimums, Wrigley pushed back against a massive fiscal note attached to the bill prepared by state corrections officials. They're estimating that Wrigley's bill would cost the state an additional $28 million per biennium, something Wrigley said is "completely false and ignoring the situation." "I'm not going to be backed off on this with some phony fiscal note," he said. Asked if his office had done a fiscal analysis of the bill's impact, he said no. "Our analysis is this is just a re-prioritization," he said, arguing that state corrections officials can offset the cost of keeping more violent offenders in prison by reducing incarceration rates among non-violent offenders. Also on this episode, state Senator Sean Cleary, a Republican from Bismarck, weighs in on the competing proposals to address North Dakota's pension fund for public workers. A proposal backed by Gov. Doug Burgum, and House Majority Leader Mike Lefor, seeks to transition the state away from a defined-benefit pension. Cleary argues in favor of keeping the defined-benefit pension. Want to be notified when new episodes of Plain Talk publish? Click here to subscribe on the podcast platform of your choice. It's free!

For about a century, North Dakota has had a ban on corporate farming. This is to say that if you want to run a farming or ranching business in our state, you can only do it with family members who are no more distant in relation to you than first cousins. But there has been a push, in recent years, to ease up on the ban, particularly in the area of animal agriculture. The argument is that allowing business structures that aren't just between family members would open up new worlds of capital for investment in agriculture businesses here. Rep. Paul Thomas, a Republican from Velva who is a fourth-generation farmer, is backing House Bill 1371 in the current legislative session in Bismarck, and it would corporate farming in animal agriculture such as swine, dairy, and poultry. Yet in 2015, the legislature passed a similar bill. The North Dakota Farmer's Union successfully referred it to the ballot where it died with more than 75 percent of North Dakotans voting it down. What's changed between now and then to make Thomas think his bill has a chance? "The biggest landscape change is the development of soybean crush plants," he said on this episode of Plain Talk. Thomas says. Soybean plants will be a big source of animal feed, which will increase interest in animal agriculture in our state. He also argues that the current corporate farming ban isn't doing much to protect farming in North Dakota. "If we want to be a food desert let's keep doing what we're doing," he said. Responding to criticism of his bill coming from NDFU President Mark Watne, who argues HB1371 would hurt family farms, Thomas says the decline in the number of dairy farms in North Dakota is "the only argument I need to make." He notes that in 2009 there were 193 dairy farms operating in th e state. Today, he claims, there are only 37. Want to be notified when new episodes of Plain Talk are published? Subscribe - it's free! - on the podcast service of your choice.

Two state officials joined this episode of Plain Talk to discuss a couple of the more complicated and political thorny issues North Dakota's legislature is taking up this session. Rep. Zac Ista, a Democrat from Grand Forks, talked about his opposition to an income tax plan being touted by Gov. Doug Burgum and Republican lawmakers. He said the plan may pull revenues away from needed spending areas, like child care and mental health, and also argued that the cut is a "giveaway" to the wealthy. It's that last point I wanted to debate with him and my co-host Ben Hanson. Also, a bill under consideration would start a pilot program aimed at capping prescription drug prices in North Dakota, using prices set in Canada as a reference point. The bill would put this program under the administration of the Insurance Commissioner's office. Jon Godfread, a Republican and our current commissioner, said that would be like trying to "force a square peg into a round hole." He expressed skepticism that this bill would be effective, and he's also concerned about the tax dollars the state would spend defending it in court. Want to be notified when new episodes of Plain Talk publish? Subscribe - it's free! - on the podcast platform of your choice.

The Republican majority in the U.S. House of Representatives is an exceeding slim majority. All the more so because, in many ways, the members of that majority are divide against themselves. Can these House Republicans govern effectively? Congressman Kelly Armstrong joined this episode of Plain Talk to answer that question. "We all have to talk to one another a lot more," he said. He also pointed out that many of the Republicans in the majority are finding themselves in a position they haven't been in before. "Just about half of the Republican majority has never been in the majority," he said. "They've never seen regular order," he added, referring to the traditional way bills were introduced, worked in committee, and then brought to the floor for a vote in years past. Armstrong also answered questions about his priorities in the new Congress, how the House can fulfill its oversight role without it getting lost in salacious politics, and his potential committee assignements. Want to be notified when new episodes of Plain Talk publish? Click here to subscribe - for free! - by way of your preferred podcast service.

Should sports betting be legal in North Dakota? Should a lawmaker who works for a company that also has a huge health insurance contract with the state also be on a board that approves the contract? And is it a good idea to require that some small school districts share superintendents? We talk about all those issues on this episode of Plain Talk. Rep. Matt Ruby, a Republican from Minot, talks about the superintendent issue. It's his bill that would require districts with low enrollments to share superintendents. He says that the small districts make up just 40 percent of total K-12 enrollment, but are paying 90 percent of the superintendent's salaries. In this interview, he responds to some of the common criticisms of the bill. Also. Rep. Greg Stemen, a Republican from Fargo, talks about his proposal to legalize sports wagering in the state. He says he'd like North Dakotans to weigh on this one way or another - his resolution would lead to a statewide vote - at which point the legislature can, if voters approve, work on implementing it. Stemen also responds to criticisms he received from Sen. Kyle Davison, another Fargo Republican, over his appointment to the PERS Board. Stemen works for Sanford Health, which also has a contract to provide health insurance to tens of thousands of state employees that's worth hundreds of millions of dollars. The PERS Board oversees that contract. Stemen says he's talked to Davison about his concerns, and would recuse himself from any vote concerning Sanford, but has confidence he can serve public employees, and his constituents, well on the board. Finally, co-host Ben Hanson and I discuss the debate over an income tax proposal that would eliminate the tax for most North Dakotans. Is it a good idea? Or just a handout to the wealthy? If you want to be notified when new episodes of Plain Talk publish, please click here to subscribe - it's free! - on your favorite podcast platform.

Tammy Miller went from being the CEO of a major, Fargo-based corporation, to the COO of Governor Doug Burgum's administration, and now to Burgum's Lt. Governor, tasked with presiding over the state senate this legislative session. She joined this episode of Plain Talk to discuss that transition, her past asperations for public office, and how she can serve the state of North Dakota and Burgum's administration. Also on this episode, co-host Ben Hanson and I discuss Burgum's state of the state address from earlier this week, the early intrigues of the legislative session, and the headaches surrounding the rapid growth of charitable gaming in North Dakota. Want to be notified when new episodes of Plain Talk publish? Click here to subscribe - it's free! - on the podcast platform of your choice.

For the first time in decades, the North Dakota Senate has a new chairman of its appropriations committee. Why does that matter? The chairs of the appropriations committees in the House and the Senate are in charge of reconciling all the spending the legislature is trying to do in the next two-year budget cycle with the amount of revenue the state expects to collect. The two people who hold those positions are probably the most powerful politicians in North Dakota that you've never heard of. In the Senate, third-term Sen. Brad Bekkedahl, a Republican from the Williston area, is taking over the job from Sen. Ray Holmberg, one of the longest-serving public servants in national history, who opted not to run for re-election this cycle. On this episode of Plain Talk, Bekkedahl spoke with co-host Ben Hanson and me about taking over that job. One of the most pressing issues before this session is a choice lawmakers will have between yet another property tax reduction plan, and a big income tax cut - an elimination of the tax for most North Dakotans - that has been touted by Governor Doug Burgum. Burgum "makes a very compelling case" that his tax plan is "a better way to get relief into the hands of the taxpayers," Bekkedahl said, though he added that most taxpayers probably feel more burdened by their property tax bills than the income tax. What his committee makes of those proposals will be up to the committee. Bekkedahl is also taking over this job after voters approved eight-year term limits for state lawmakers. "We'll live through this," Bekkedahl said, though he added t hat he doesn't "think it's going to be good for the state." He praised Holmberg and other long-time lawmakers for the institutional knowledge they brought to the legislature, and he also pointed out that the voters were already doing a pretty good job of sending new people to the legislative chambers every election cycle. What does Bekkedahl make of North Dakota getting a new lieutenant governor just as a new legislative session is going to begin? "I was surprised by the timing of the announcement," he said, noting that outgoing Lt. Governor Brent Sanford worked well with the legislature, but he was very positive about incoming Lt. Governor Tammy Miller too, noting that she's "proved herself well' both as a member of Burgum's cabinet and a businesswoman. Want to be notified when new episodes of Plain Talk publish? Click here to subscribe - it's free! - on your favorite podcast platform.

Should children in North Dakota have access to surgery and other types of treatment that can change their birth gender? If a bill that will be introduced in the 2023 session of the legislature is passed, such treatments would be prohibited. State Rep. Brandon Prichard, a Republican from District 8 who is sponsoring that bill, joined this episode of Plain Talk to discuss it. The bill doesn't make these treatments a crime. Rather, it allows civil lawsuits from children or their parents who feel the law was violated. Prichard said a separate bill he hopes to co-sponsor, which he expects will be introduced by Rep. Lori Vanwinkle of District 3, would provide a criminal penalty. Why both? A criminal penalty is "very reliant on the state's attorney prosecuting it." He said that "bias among prosecutors" may lead to the law not being enforced, so he wanted to provide a civil remedy. Why the need to prohibit this sort of gender-affirming treatment for children at all? Prichard spoke of a drive to "corrode the innocence of children," though he wasn't clear about how often this sort of thing is happening in North Dakota. The "ability to access those records is very limited," but said the information is irrelevant to him. "Even if there isn't a single example of the surgeries happening in North Dakota, it wouldn't change my strategy," he said. Also on this episode, co-host Ben Hanson and I discuss the on-going controversy over the Fufeng corn milling plant in Grand Forks, and the recent efforts (or, more accurately, lack there of) by the federal government to bring clarity to the matter. Want to be notified when new episodes of Plain Talk drop? Click here to subscribe on your favorite podcast service. It's free!

North Dakota legislators begin writing budgets and making law in January, but first the meet in December for an organizational session. New lawmakers get sworn in, committee assignments are doled out, and lawmakers get some training on how the legislative process works. Part of the organizational session is also a budget address from Governor Doug Burgum. On this episode of Plain Talk, Burgum joined me, and my new Wednesday co-host Ben Hanson, a former lawmaker himself, to discuss the executive budget he just delivered to lawmakers. Burgum answered questions about a flat-tax proposal he's made for the state's income taxes, which would eliminate the tax entirely for most North Dakotans, and discussed why he didn't propose a total elimination. Also discussed were ways his budget seeks to address one of the state's most chronic economic challenges, which is workforce shortages. Burgum is proposing to address that, in part, with investments in increasing access to child care, an expense that keeps many North Dakotans at home with their kids instead of seeking a career in the labor markets. Want to be notified when new episodes of Plain Talk publish? Consider subscribing - it's free! - on your favorite podcast service.

Retro hockey jerseys featuring "NODAK" emblazoned on the front have become a hot item for the University of North Dakota's hockey team. Fans love it when head coach Brad Berry tells his players to wear them, and they've been buying related merchandise at a brisk pace. But it turned out that UND didn't own the trademark to 'NODAK." A business entity associated with Coach Berry's daughter did, and that created the appearance of a conflict of interest. The business entity has since transferred ownership of the trademark to the school, but is that really the end of this issue? UND President Andrew Armacost joined this episode of Plain Talk to discuss the situation. He said that the trademark was transferred to UND, and that no money or other inducements were part of the deal. He said he first learned about the issue through a fraud hotline tip to the North Dakota University System head office, though the issue gained public notoriety after I wrote about it earlier this week. Armacost said he hasn't spoken to Coach Berry about his involvement, if any, in the formation of the business entity or the registration of the trademark. Asked if UND planned any further review of the matter to ensure that policies promoting ethics, and prohibiting conflicts of interest, had been followed, Armacost said the matter was "resolved" by transferring the trademark. That ended the conflict, he argued. He also said that he wouldn't call on Coach Berry to address the public about what participation he had, if any, saying that he would do the same with any other university employee in similar circumstances. "That'll be for Coach Berry to make a determination," he said. As for why the university didn't trademark "NODAK" previously, Armacost said it was the opinion of their legal counsel that the schools prior use of "NODAK" established their rights to it, but admitted that in "hindsight" the school should have acted. "We could have protected it and avoided this altogether," he said. If you'd like to be alerted when new episodes of Plain Talk, click here to subscribe (it's free!) or search for Plain Talk on your favorite podcast service.

In 2007, a bipartisan majority of North Dakota lawmakers passed a near-total ban on abortions that was introduced by two Democratic legislators. It was written so that it would only take effect should the courts overturn Roe v. Wade and other legal precedents that created a right to an abortion. Those precedents have been overturned, and while there's still legal wrangling around the law in North Dakota courts - our state Supreme court held oral arguments about an injunction currently blocking it this week - it's clear that the legislature, in its upcoming session, will have some clean-up to do on the abortion issue. State Senator Janne Myrdal, a Republican who has worked as an activist in the pro-life movement for more than 30 years, joined this episode of Plain Talk to talk about what that debate might look like. Myrdal told co-host Chad Oban and I that while she intends to "stand behind" North Dakota's existing laws, she does see the need for some tweaks, such as the "affirmative defense" exceptions in the law which would allow medical professionals to defend themselves against felony charges should they perform an abortion in the instance of something like rape or incest. Myrdal said she's not interested in hauling doctors into court. She also said she's not interested in, nor has she heard of any bills coming forward, that would put restrictions on things like storing embryos, but she did say she believes Republicans can't just focus on banning abortion. Myrdal said she plans to support laws to make the adoption process easier, and to provide better care for mothers and children around a pregnancy. The new legislative session begins in January. If you'd like to be notified when new episodes of Plain Talk publish, click here to subscribe - it's free! - or search for Plain Talk on your favorite podcast platform.

Election day has come and gone, and in North Dakota, that means a new session of the state legislature is looming. There will be an organizational meeting and a budget address from Gov. Doug Burgum in December, and then the regular session commences in January, tasked with tackling issues ranging from income tax and property tax relief to child care and water needs. And the legislature will go about its business with new leaders. Two long-time chairs of the House and Senate appropriations committees are no longer in the legislature. Two long-serving lawmakers who served as majority leaders last session have retired. Their replacements - Sen. David Hogue of Minot and Rep. Mike Lefor of Dickinson, now the Senate and House majority leaders, respectively - joined this episode of Plain Talk to discuss the upcoming session. They talked about the challenges a newly-approved term limits amendment to the state constitution poses when it comes to recruiting competent lawmakers and mentoring legislative leadership. They also discussed how they'll approach their relationship with Gov. Burgum, who had a sometimes rocky tenure with their predecessors, and how they'll manage sprawling caucus that make up almost the entirety of the chambers they serve in. Lefor, specifically, said he's focused on taking "the wind out of politics" in the House. "There are a big number of legislators who are tired of the politics," he continued, saying he'd like to tamp down the theatrics and get focused on policy debates. Hogue agreed, saying he'd like members of his caucus to take up "portfolios" of policy areas where they can serve as experts for their fellow lawmakers, though time will tell how well that works in a Republican supermajority that, in many ways, is divided against itself. Want to be notified when new episodes of Plain Talk publish? Click here to subscribe - for free! - on the podcast platform of your choice.

Nationally, Republicans didn't perform as well in the midterm elections as expected. The "red wave" was more of a "red mist." North Dakota Republicans bucked that trend, though, and Congressman Kelly Armstrong's re-election was a part of that. On this episode of Plain Talk, he argued that, despite Republicans not living up to "red wave" expectations, they've gained ground in the legislative chamber he serves in for three straight election cycles. As for why the NDGOP did better than Republicans nationally? Armstrong said a part of it is because our state's chief industries, agriculture and energy, were a bigger priority than some of the hot-button issues, like abortion, that dominated campaign messaging. Also, he argued, it didn't help Democratic turnout that the party axed their own House candidate in the middle of the election year. Armstrong also discussed why he supported Rep. Kevin McCarthy as Speaker of the House for what will presumably be a narrow GOP majority, what Republicans need to do in the next two years to expand on those majorities, and how Congress should handle the war between Ukraine and Russia. Want to be notified when new episodes of Plain Talk publish? Click here to subscribe - it's free! - on the platform of your choice.

Is there any question that disgraced former President Donald Trump had a big hand in the failure of Republicans to fulfill expectations in last night's midterms? In Pennsylvania Doug Mastriano, a Trump-endorsed MAGA candidate who fully embraced 2020 election conspiracy theories, lost big in the gubernatorial race. In that state's Senate race, Dr. Mehemet Oz lost to John Fetterman, the Democratic candidate who had a stroke and is, by an objective measure, not fit to serve in office. In George, Trump-backed Senate candidate Herschel Walker is currently behind the Democratic candidate, and headed for a runoff, even though the Republican gubernatorial candidate, Brian Kemp, a Trump enemy, won his election handily. In Arizona, Trump-backed Senate candidate Blake Masters lost, and Trump-backed gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake appears to be losing a very close race. But perhaps the best example is in Grand Rapids, Michigan, where Republicans chose a Trump-backed candidate, John Gibbs, over the incumbent, Peter Meijer, who had voted to impeach Trump. Now Gibbs has lost that race, allowing a Democrat to hold that seat for the first time in 50 years. On this episode of Plain Talk, Chad Oban and I discuss all of these national election results, and we get very local too. Rick Becker lost big in North Dakota's Senate race. What will he do next? Former Miss America Cara Mund also lost in a landslide to Republican U.S. House incumbent Kelly Armstrong, though she outperformed the Democratic candidates on the ballot by about 10 points. Will she run again? And the North Dakota Democratic-NPL has lost ground in the legislature, again, turning a super-minority in the state assembly into, what, a super-super-minority? Click to listen, and if you'd like to be alerted when new episodes of Plain Talk drop, be sure to subscribe - it's free! - on the podcast service of your choice.

Minot, N.D. — A controversial decision to move departments of North Dakota's Attorney General's office to a new building started with an informal discussion between a state lawmaker and the director of the state Bureau of Criminal Investigation. An audit report has found multiple red flags in that transaction, from questions about billing to licensing to whether the taxpayers really came out on top in the deal. Now the lawmaker who made the deal in the first place, state Rep. Jason Dockter, a Republican from Bismarck, is blasting the auditor's office for what he says was an incomplete and inaccurate report. "I think we have a trust issue with the state auditor's office," Dockter said on this episode of Plain Talk, referring to the report auditor Josh Gallion presented to lawmakers last month as a "gotcha audit." Dockter repeatedly made references to controversial audit reports of the State Library and the Commerce Department which drew criticism for Gallion. Still, Dockter admits there are reasons for raised eyebrows on this deal. For one, the more than 800-page report (see below) his attorney sent to state officials and the news media in response to the audit indicates that the "informal conversation" between Dockter and an official from the Attorney General's office happened in the state capitol building during the legislative session in which Dockter was serving. "I have to make a living," Dockter said when asked if he felt it was appropriate for a lawmaker to do business that way. He also downplayed the access to state government that being an elected legislator gives him, saying that he often does business with people he knows personally. "I'm a lifelong resident of Bismarck," he said. Another red flag was the nearly $250,000 in overpayments made by the State of North Dakota to Dockter's companies. Dockter, who admits that this was not a typical way of doing business, now says his companies will reimburse the taxpayers for those payments, which he said were based on estimates that came in too high. Asked if what he would do differently if he could go back to the beginning of this deal, he said he would ensure that the invoicing from his companies to the state was less confusing. He also said he was open to legislation that would require that lawmakers recuse themselves from votes that impact their private business dealings. "I have no problem" with that sort of legislation, he said. Also on this episode, Wednesday co-host Chad Oban and I discuss our predictions for next week's midterm elections. Will ballot measures implementing term limits and legal marijuana pass or fail? Can independent candidates Rick Becker and Cara Mund win in the Senate and House races, respectively? Listen to find out our thoughts. If you'd like to be notified when new episodes of Plain Talk publish, click here to subscribe - it's free! - on the podcast service of your choice.

A national anti-marijuana group that is organizing the opposition to Measure 2, which, if passed by North Dakota voters, would legalize recreational marijuana, has been touting support from several law enforcement groups. These organizations say legalizing marijuana will hurt public safety. There will be more crime. More inebriated driving. But that's not so says Diane Goldstein. She's a 21-year veteran of the Redondo Beach Police Department, who retired as a lieutenant, and has spent her post-law enforcement career researching drug policy and advocating for reforms. She joined this episode of Plain Talk, along with pro-Measure 2 campaigner and Fargo-based defense attorney Mark Friese, to rebut the argument coming from some in North Dakota law enforcement. Goldstein says it's a mistake to compare North Dakota's measure to what happened in California, which decided to open the legal marijuana market up with little in the way of regulation. She said North Dakota's measure contains prudent protections that California didn't contemplate when that state first legalized marijuana more than two decades ago. Both Friese and Goldstein also pointed out that legalizing marijuana isn't some social experiment anymore. Many states have legalized marijuana now, and have lived with legalization for years, and the evidence shows little in the way of a crime surge. That's not to say that legalizing marijuana in North Dakota will be a panacea for public safety, Goldstein warned. "We'll never get rid of the black market," she said. But, legalization can mitigate the public safety threat that comes from the marijuana black market and the criminal gangs who serve it. To be notified when new episodes of Plain Talk drop, subscribe - it's free! - on the podcast platform of your choice.

North Dakota has three candidates running for the United States Senate. Incumbent Senator John Hoeven, who was first elected to that office in 2010, is facing a challenge from Democratic-NPL candidate Katrina Christiansen and independent candidate Rick Becker. On this episode of Plain Talk, all three candidates met for the first time to debate issues ranging from spending and abortion to carbon capture and support for Ukraine. My Wednesday co-host, former Democratic-NPL executive director Chad Oban, moderated the debate along with me. The candidates differed sharply on the issues. Christiansen accused Becker and Hoeven of belittling the importance of the abortion issue for women. Becker accused both Hoeven and Christiansen of being supporters of big government and big spending. Hoeven, for his part, defended his track record in the Senate and argued that both Becker and Christiansen have distorted it. Click above to listen to the full debate, or subscribe to Plain Talk on your favorite podcast platform to listen on another device.

Minot, N.D. — Members of North Dakota's Public Service Commission serve staggered six-year terms, meaning that one of the three members of the commission is on the ballot every two years. This year, however, there are two PSC seats up for grabs. Commissioner Julie Fedorchak is running for re-election at the end of her six-year term, while Sheri Haugen-Hoffart, a Republican who was appointed by Gov. Doug Burgum to finish an unexpired term, is running per state law to have that appointment confirmed by the voters. Challenging Haugen-Hoffart is Democratic-NPL candidate Trygve Hammer. Both Hammer and Haugen-Hoffart joined this episode of Plain Talk to debate the issues in their race, from grid reliability and climate change to rail safety and pipelines. I moderated the debate, and asked the questions, along with my co-host Chad Oban, a former executive director of the Democratic-NPL. Want to be notified when new episodes of Plain Talk publish? Click here to subscribe - it's free! - on the podcast platform of your choice.

An opposition group has formed with the mission to defeat a ballot measure on North Dakota's ballot which would legalize recreational marijuana. This group is making a number of claims about the ill that would befall our state if legal pot is the law of the land. They're talking about increased crime. Increased addiction. Easy access to the drug for children. On this episode of Plain Talk, Fargo-based defense attorney Mark Friese, who is the treasurer for the pro-marijuana campaign, and who had a hand in drafting the measure itself, spoke to some of those criticisms. Also, guest co-host Jamie Selzler and I talk about a recent incident where Bismarck School Board member Emily Eckroth allegedly urinated in the back of a police car, and what that incident says about how willing the public is to tolerate bad behavior from elected officials. We also discussed the controversy around U.S. Senate candidate Herschel Walker, and the emerging opposition to a term limits ballot measure that's also on the statewide ballot. Want to be alerted when new episodes of Plain Talk are published? Click here to subscribe listen - for free! - on the podcast platform of your choice.

Last week North Dakota's two largest agriculture groups, the North Dakota Farm Bureau and the North Dakota Farmer's Union, came out against a term limits proposal that's on the statewide ballot. On this episode of Plain Talk the president of one of those groups, Mark Watne from the North Dakota Farm Bureau, joined to discuss why his group is opposed to the proposal. Watne argued that it would diminish the amount of experience and seniority in the legislature, leaving the state's law-writing body more susceptible to influence from lobbyists and the bureaucracy. He also noted that, in some complex areas of policy making, arriving at the right decision for the state can be the work of multiple legislative sessions. An example he cited was the tension between farmers and ranchers and the hunters who want to access their lands. State officials have grappled with that divide between hunting interests and property rights for years, with several key lawmakers working closely with both sides to find an accord. If we had term limits, some of the lawmakers working on the issue may have left office before they had a chance to see the issue through to the end. Watne also said his organization has opposed term limits for some time, and that the position comes from the group's rank-and-file membership which includes farmers from around the state. Click above to listen to the full interview! Want to be notified when new episodes of Plain Talk publish? Subscribe - for free! - on the podcast platform of your choice.

You can't really talk about the history of North Dakota's initiated measure process without talking about Kent French. The Bismarck-based businessman was legendary in the 1980s and 1990s for his many initiated measures and referenda targeting issues like taxes. And, yes, term limits. We're debating term limits again this election cycle - there's a ballot measure that would prohibit lawmakers and governors from serving more than 8 years - but you may not realize that North Dakota already has term limits law on the books. That's thanks to Mr. French, who backed an initiated measure to limit the amount of time North Dakota's congressional delegation could serve in office. That law isn't in force, because the Supreme Court ruled that state-based term limits for members of Congress aren't constitutional, but it was supported by a strong majority of North Dakota voters at the time. But it may surprise you to learn that French doesn't back this current term limits proposal for state-level elected officials. He joined this episode of Plain Talk to discuss his objections. "You always want to be on the right side of an issue," he told me. "Not just the winning side, the right side." He mentioned polling, released by the term limits campaign, which shows a strong majority of North Dakotans backing their proposal, but French thinks the more voters learn about it the less they like it. "They have that until the people of North Dakota learn what this does." French says he sees a distinction between people who hold state-level elected office, and those who serve in Congress. "We have the right of referral" in North Dakota, French noted, referencing a law that allows voters to collect signatures to put a law the legislature doesn't like on the ballot for a possible veto by the people. He also noted that voters could recall to the ballot any state-level elected official voters don't like. "I think that's the route people should take," as opposed to term limits. He described this term limits proposal as "anti-North Dakota" and promoted by people who are just seeking chaos. "I don't know that this gives the state the stability it has had in the past," French said. Listen to the full interview. If you'd like to be notified of future episodes of Plain Talk consider subscribing - it's free! - on the podcast platform of your choice.

We're all in campaign mode right now, but just a couple of months after election day North Dakota will have a new legislative session. Lawmakers at that session will be hearing about two competing tax cut plans. One would flatten the state's income tax brackets, and eliminate the tax for most of the state's filers. The other would leverage interest revenues from the state's Legacy Fund to buy down the portion of your property taxes that goes for schools. Rep. Craig Headland, and Tax Commissioner Brian Kroshus, appeared on a previous episode of Plain Talk to make the case for the income tax proposal. On this episode, Rep. Mike Nathe joined to make the case for the property tax plan. Nathe, who serves on the legislature's audit committee, also responded to questions about the scandal over a lease for office space for departments within the attorney general's office that went to a building owned by a state lawmaker. Nathe said he wants to hear the lawmaker's side of the story - that's Rep. Jason Dockter, a Republican from the Bismarck area - but his view of how that deal went down is far from positive. Asked if he could describe what benefit accrued to the taxpayers from moving parts of the AG's office to that office space, he said he couldn't. Also on this episode, Wednesday co-host Chad Oban and I discuss the congressional races. We talked about the four polls that have been released in the House race between incumbent Republican Kelly Armstrong and independent challenger Cara Mund, as well as the dynamics in the U.S. Senate race between Republican incumbent John Hoeven, Democratic challenger Katrina Christiansen, and independent Rick Becker. Want to be notified when new episodes of Plain Talk drop? Subscribe - it's free! - on your favorite podcasting platform.

In North Dakota, we elect a lot of people. That's not a bad thing, but sometimes once you get down to the bottom of your ballot, past higher-profile candidates for state and federal office, you begin to see some names you might not be very familiar with. Names that are often all alone in their races, representing candidates are facing no opposition. One of those names this cycle is Ben Hanson. He's a former state lawmaker, and a Democrat, though he's now seeking a non-partisan office on the Cass County Commisison. He is facing some opposition - former Republican state Senator Tony Grindberg is running against him - but he has an interesting story to tell about the struggle to get the public interested local races. It's a paradox, given popular ideas like "local control" are. Local officials handle policy and appropriations that intersect with many of the electorate's top priorities - from the economy and jobs to mental health and crime - yet these races are often not competitive and overlooked. Also on this episode, Sen. Kevin Cramer joined to talk about the recent headlines over text messages sent to him about the 2020 election from current Attorney General, and then U.S. Attorney, Drew Wrigley. He also talked about the Senate passing a spending bill to avoid a government shutdown, the importance of permitting reform here in America in the context of Russia using its energy market share to bully the rest of the world, and the financial industry's efforts to try and track gun purchases. Want to be notified when new episodes of Plain Talk publish? Click here to subscribe.

Election integrity is a hot-button issue. Rancor continues around the outcome of the 2020 election, with many claiming that, at least nationally, former President Donald Trump was cheated out of another term in the White House by fraud. North Dakota election officials have been flooded with open records requests from people seeking information to prove conspiracy theories about the election. As it happens, North Dakota's top election official is on the ballot this cycle. Long-serving incumbent Republican Al Jaeger isn't running for another seat. State Rep. Michael Howe, a Republican, and Mayville State University administration Jeffrey Powell, a Democrat, are running to replace him. They joined this episode of Plain Talk for a debate about the issues in this campaign, along with my co-host, former Democratic-NPL executive director Chad Oban. An independent candidate, Charles Tuttle, has filed signatures to be on the ballot in this race. I made the decision not to include him in this discussion because it's my feeling, given his long history of erratic behavior, and the probability that he'll draw a very low number of votes, his participation wouldn't have been a productive use of our time. "We haven't seen any problems with the integrity of our elections" in North Dakota, Howe said during the debate, though he said that whoever wins this election needs to "gain the public's trust back." "People get caught up in the cable news cycle. They see things that aren't related to North Dakota," Howe added. Powell agreed though he pressed Howe on the fact that much of the questioning of election outcomes is coming from the right. Howe responded by pointing out that Democrats have questioned election results in the past as well. Both candidates agreed that many aspects of the Secretary of State's online services - from accessing campaign finance reports to making business filings - need to be modernized and made more user-friendly. Powell said that while much of the information on things like voting and running for office on the Secretary of State's website currently was accurate, it's presented in an out-dated way. Asked if they would support more rigorous reporting requirements for candidates, Powell said he would require that candidates leverage online tools to make reports almost real-time. "I want it to be live and accurate," he said. Howe was more non-committal. "I don't know if it's going to solve any problems or if we're going to glean any new information, but sure," he said. The candidates also discussed what it's like to campaign in a very angry, divided political environment, the controversy over a term limits ballot measure that was dismissed from the ballot by the incumbent before being restored by the state Supreme Court, and some of the Secretary of State's other duties, such as serving on the Land Board and the Emergency Commission. Want to be notified when new episodes of Plain Talk publish? Consider subscribing on the podcast platform of your choice.

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.