Episoder
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Are the proponents of Measure 2 "elite and out of touch?" Are they "condescending" and "disrespectful" to the electorate? Or do they view North Dakota's initiated measure process -- particularly when it comes to amending the state constitution -- as flawed and needing reform?
Measure 2 is a constitutional amendment placed on the ballot by the Legislature, which would prohibit people who aren't North Dakota residents from collecting petition signatures for initiated measures. It would limit measures to a single subject. And, for constitutional measures, it would raise the signature requirement from 4% to 5% of the state's population and require that those proposals be approved through two statewide votes: once on the June primary ballot and again on the November general election ballot.
Ellie Shockley, a columnist for the Bismarck Tribune, joined this episode of Plain Talk to make the case against the proposal. It's her words that I'm quoting above. She views this proposed amendment as motivated by a desire among lawmakers to diminish the will of the people in making policy.
Sen. Janne Myrdal, a Republican from Edinburg, also joined this episode, and she argued that it's become too easy for deep-pocketed, often out-of-state interests to hire professional signature gatherers (who themselves are often not North Dakotans) to force a vote on complicated policy proposals that aren't often explained well to the voters.
This point-and-counterpoint conversation at times got heated, because it deals with some of the bedrock assumptions we make about our system of government. The political power in our republic ultimately comes from the people, but as a question of process, is legislating what are often complicated policy proposals at the ballot box where a distracted electorate, already asked to evaluate candidates for everything from weed control boards to president of the United States, really a good way to make sound policy?
The Plain Talk Podcast is the voice of North Dakota politics. To subscribe, search for the show wherever you get your podcasts, like Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or YouTube, or click here for more information.
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In November, North Dakota voters will be asked to decide the fate of Measure 4. If approved, it would amend the state constitution to prohibit taxes on property values. It would also lock in an obligation for the state legislature to replace current property tax revenues to local government with other revenues, but only at 2024 levels, with no mechanism to change that level in the future.
On this episode of Plain Talk, we had a debate about that proposal. Making the affirmative case for it is former Fargo City Commissioner Tony Gehrig. Making the case against it is Robert Harms, a former chair of the North Dakota Republican Party who also served in the administrations of former governors Ed Schafer and John Hoeven.
Former state lawmaker Rick Becker, the chair of the committee sponsoring the measure, declined to participate in the debate, saying the Plain Talk podcast is the only place where he won't speak about the proposal.
Both Harms and Gehrig agree on some key issues. They say that property taxes are a problem in North Dakota in need of a solution. They both also agree that taxing property values is problematic. As property values rise, they drive almost automatic increases in tax burdens that aren't tied to local needs.
Where they differ is the nature of the solution. Harms argues that abolishing property taxes would shift too much power over local spending to lawmakers in Bismarck. He also said that it "freezes some unfairness" in the state constitution by locking in funding for local governments at 2024 levels. A local government that made a big bond payment in 2024 would continue to be compensated for it by state taxpayers well into the future, even after the bond is paid off. A local government that kept property taxes low, on the other hand, would be punished for their conservative budgeting.
For his part, Gehrig argued that eliminating property taxes would be an economic boon to the state, drawing new investment. During his time in office, Gehrig was an outspoken opponent of policies that seek to incent economic development by easing or eliminating property tax burdens, but he used that stance as an argument for Measure 4. "If you believe those policies work, then you have to believe in Measure 4," he said.
The Plain Talk Podcast is the voice of North Dakota politics. To subscribe, search for the show wherever you get your podcasts, like Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or YouTube, or click here for more information.
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Mangler du episoder?
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"The property tax is a good tax," Jared Walczak told Chad Oban and I on this episode of Plain Talk. "You may not love it, but you will not like the alternatives better."
Walczak is the state projects director for the Tax Foundation, a right-of-center think tank that focuses on -- you guessed it -- tax policy. His organization recently published an article critical of Measure 4, a constitutional amendment that would prohibit taxes on property values. Walczak has also presented his group's arguments to state lawmakers.
Walczak's argument is not that North Dakotan's shouldn't feel upset about their property taxes. "There's legitimate frustration," he said. The problem is that eliminating the property tax would produce "real economic upheaval" by shifting tax burdens from a tax that "has very little economic drag" to others, like income taxes or sales taxes, which do.
Eliminating the billions collected locally in property taxes would mean replacing those revenues with tax dollars collected state wide. "You're talking about essentially doubling your other taxes at the state level," Walczak argued.
"No one else has done this for pretty good reasons," he said, and he's not just talking about state governments in America. He said that no other country in the developed world has eliminated its property taxes.
What should North Dakota do to address the genuine public consternation over property taxes? He says state policymakers should look at caps on how much locals can raise through property taxes, coupled with some pressure relief valves that would allow the taxing jurisdictions to exceed those caps in specific circumstances, like if the voters ok the increase on the ballot.
Also on this episode, Chad and I discuss the presidential debate between former President Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris, including everything from Harris's facial expressions to Trump's blood libel attack on immigrants.
The Plain Talk Podcast is the voice of North Dakota politics. To subscribe, search for the show wherever you get your podcasts, like Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or YouTube, or click here for more information.
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North Dakota's gubernatorial race features to affable, well-liked candidates, who clearly like one another as well.
Republican Kelly Armstrong was first elected to the North Dakota Senate in 2012, and served there until the 2018 election cycle, when he campaigned successfully for a seat in the U.S. House of Representatives. That's where he's currently finishing out a term, while also campaigning for governor.
Democratic-NPL candidate Merrill Piepkorn has also served in the state Senate. He's been there since he was elected in 2016, and had a one-session overlap with Armstrong's service.
On this Plain Talk, the two candidates compared and contrasted with one another under questioning from me and my co-host Chad Oban. We covered everything from internet pornography (Armstrong says he'd like to see North Dakota implement an ID requirement to access it), to political accountability (Piepkorn says long-time Republican supermajorities in North Dakota have created an "environment of entitlement"), to property taxes (both candidates oppose Measure 4 on the November ballot which, if passed, would abolish taxes on property values).
To address North Dakota's chronic workforce shortages, Armstrong says "you have to concentrate on cops, teachers, and nurses." Piepkorn, meanwhile, says the state Legislature has been too-focused on the culture war, passing "bad bills that are repelling people."
Armstrong said he's "really glad North Dakota has gotten to where it's at" on mental health issues, but added that if he's "blessed to win, in eight years we will still need more work."
Piepkorn said that to address North Dakota's childcare shortages, he sees a three-pronged strategy: "help parents, help children, help businesses."
These are two candidates who, again, are likable, and like one another, but they have very different visions for how North Dakota should be governed. It was our pleasure to bring their contrasting views to you on Plain Talk.
Want to follow Plain Talk and be kept up to date on all of these debates? Click here for an archive of past shows and for information on how to subscribe, or just search for the show wherever you get your podcasts, including on YouTube.
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We all know the old saying. You don't talk about religion and politics in polite company. Only, does that advice make sense in a society like ours, where we practice self-governance?
How can we govern ourselves if we can't talk to one another about politics? And, more pertinent to this episode of Plain Talk, how do we teach our kids how to participate in discourse over challenging issues like abortion or gun control if teachers are afraid to tackle politics in the classroom?
Lindsey Galvao is a long-time educator -- the social studies curriculum specialist at GBH and a multiplatform creator for public media, and curriculum writer for the Civics Collection on PBS LearningMedia.
Ben Klutsey is the executive director of the Mercatus Center at George Mason University whose work is featured in the documentary "Undivide US."
They recently co-authored an op-ed about politics in the classroom, and joined my cohost Chad Oban and I to talk about that very conundrum.
"We disagree and that's ok," Klutsey told us. The problem, he argues, is that so many people say "we disagree and you're a threat to my existence."
Both Klutsey and Galvao say that teachers need to be unafraid to host discussions about even fraught social and political questions, but that their focus should be on listening and encouraging students to understand one another.
But how do we deal with misinformation? Kids who might have gotten the idea that the Sandy Hook school shooting didn't really happen, as right-wing talk radio host Alex Jones has claimed, or that the world is flat?
Galvao said she would encourage teachers to ask those kids, "How do you know what you know?" They should be encouraged to explore the basis for their point of view.
"We have to think about abiding by certain core principles," Klutsey said, identifying them as respect, authenticity, and curiosity. Which is to say that we need to respect those who disagree with us, represent our own views authentically, and be curious about why others disagree with us.
Though, he acknowledged, that doesn't mean making room for false information. "Facts are facts," he said, "and you have to engage on facts as an educator."
Want to follow Plain Talk and be kept up to date on all of these debates? Click here for an archive of past shows and for information on how to subscribe, or just search for the show wherever you get your podcasts, including on YouTube.
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When U.S. House candidates Julie Fedorchak (a Republican) and Trygve Hammer (a Democrat) sat down for a debate on the Plain Talk podcast with me and my co-host Chad Oban, one of the first questions I asked them was why they wanted to be elected to Congress.
Hammer, a Marine Corps veteran, said it's because less than 80 of the current 435 members of the House of Representatives have served in the military. He also said he wants to promote an atmosphere where leaders talk to one another instead of past one another.
Fedorchak wants to focus on issues like border security, "record high inflation," and energy policy.
One of the last questions I asked them was about their top priorities if elected. Hammer said a new farm bill and the national debt, as well as "talking to North Dakotans continuously" and taking his cues from the people. For her answer, Fedorchak said constituent services, arguing that, even if progress on making policy is stalled, members of Congress can still "be a force" for individual North Dakotans.
Our debate covered a myriad of issues, from campaign promises made by national candidates to eliminating taxes on tips and Social Security benefits (Fedorchak wouldn't commit to supporting either, Hammer said he supports both with some caveats), to the national debt, to civility in politics, to America's foreign policy in Ukraine and Gaza.
One area where the candidates agreed very closely was the need for a new farm bill. Both acknowledged that American agriculture has been operating under an old and badly out-of-date farm bill.
An area where the candidates disagreed sharply was on the issue of abortion. Asked about her support for a national abortion ban -- something presidential candidate Donald Trump has come out against -- Fedorchak described her position as wanting a national "gestational limit" on abortions after around 15 or 16 weeks, with exceptions for the life of the mother and rape or incest. This "would allow states within that framework to be a little stricter," she argued that it would put the United States in line with "every civilized country in the world."
Hammer said he does not support a national abortion ban and argued that even state-level bans are often "unnecessarily cruel." He pointed to the failure of a pro-life ballot measure in 2014 as evidence that North Dakotans don't want government interference in the abortion issue "at any level."
Our intent with the Plain Talk debates is to foster conversations where the candidates can compare and contrast with one another on the issues. As with our previous U.S. Senate debate between Democrat Katrina Christiansen and Republican incumbent Kevin Cramer, Hammer and Fedorchak engaged civilly, providing robust answers while disagreeing without being disagreeable.
Want to follow Plain Talk and be kept up to date on all of these debates? Click here for an archive of past shows and for information on how to subscribe, or just search for the show wherever you get your podcasts, including on YouTube.
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"This is the best job I could ever imagine," North Dakota U.S. Attorney Mac Schneider said on this episode of Plain Talk.
Schneider was appointed to that position by President Joe Biden. Later this year, when America elects a new president, he may be out of a job, depending on how the country casts its ballots. A Republican president isn't likely to keep a Democratic appointee, but if Vice President Kamala Harris wins, would Schneider want another term in the office?
He says yes. "I'm grateful for every minute I have in this job."
My co-host Chad Oban and I asked Schneider about whether his office has seen any local blowback from national politics, where the FBI and the Department of Justice have, in recent years, been accused of political bias by both Republicans and Democrats. FBI Director Christopher Wray, who has rejected demands to resign from former President Donald Trump, the man who appointed him, and who recently visited North Dakota, has frequently been at the center of interparty food fights.
Schneider says national-level drama has had little impact on federal law enforcement operations in North Dakota. "Not at all," was his reply to our question.
"In North Dakota, the FBI is, rightly so, seen as law enforcement," he said.
"I don't pick that up at all that there's any distrust of federal law enforcement here in North Dakota," he continued.
We also asked Schneider about the recent federal prosecution of former Republican state Sen. Ray Holmberg, which resulted in a guilty plea to crimes related to traveling to Europe to pay for sex with minors. Schneider was recused from the case by the Department of Justice because he, like Holmberg, served the Grand Forks community in the state Senate. "You can just about imagine how I feel," he said when asked what it was like to watch someone he worked closely with plead guilty to those crimes.
Also on this episode, Oban and I discussed school schedules, and how their complexities can make things hard for parents, and also the on-going struggles of the North Dakota High School Activities Association to deal with terrible, often bigoted behavior at sporting events.
Want to follow Plain Talk and be kept up to date on all of these debates? Click here for an archive of past shows and for information on how to subscribe, or just search for the show wherever you get your podcasts, including on YouTube.
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When we organize candidate debates on the Plain Talk podcast, our intent is to foster a competition that's not bogged down by a lot of rules and restrictive formatting, nor plagued by shouting and candidates talking over one another.
We don't really even want a competition. We want a conversation. A thoughtful discussion between two candidates on important issues of interest to the voters.
I think we achieved that with the debate my co-host Chad Oban and I hosted between incumbent U.S. Sen. Kevin Cramer, a Republican, and his Democratic challenger Katrina Christiansen.
Our conversation covered everything from partisanship, to social security, the national debt, the state of the farm bill and Congress's inability to pass an updated iteration of it, the wars in Ukraine and Israel, and the role of government in our lives.
The candidates found places where they agree. Both say they're committed to America's continued backing of Ukraine against Russia's war of aggression. Both support Israel's right to defend itself against terrorism. Both described border security as a crisis for our country.
In other areas, however, there was sharp disagreement. Christiansen hit Cramer for voting against a bipartisan border bill negotiated in part by Sen. James Lankford, one of the most conservative members of the Senate and, Cramer revealed, a roommate of the incumbent. Cramer, for his part, pointed out that while Christiansen may be more moderate than some of her national Demcoratic counterparts, her presence in the Senate is a vote toward liberal Democrats leading the chamber.
Overall, it was precisely the conversation we were hoping to get. Specifically, a back and forth between two engaged, well-informed candidates.
We will have more debates upcoming on Plain Talk.
On August 30, the U.S. House candidates, Republican Julie Fedorchak and Democrat Trygve Hammer, will face off.
On September 6 we'll host the gubernatorial candidates, Republican Kelly Armstrong and Democrat Merrill Piepkorn.
On September 13, supporters and opponents of the Measure 4, the property tax proposal, will make their cases.
We also have a preliminary agreement between the candidates for Superintendent of Public Schools, incumbent Kirsten Baesler and former state Sen. Jason Heitkamp. I'll have more on that once it's confirmed.
Want to follow Plain Talk and be kept up to date on all of these debates? Click here for an archive of past shows and for information on how to subscribe, or just search for the show wherever you get your podcasts, including on YouTube.
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"Every law enforcement officer I've spoken to has said this has been hard on our state and hard on law enforcement."
That's what Burleigh County Sheriff Kelly Leben had to say on this episode of Plain Talk. He's referring to Measure 5 on North Dakota's November ballot which, if passed, would legalize the recreational use of marijuana.
"I'm very big on personal freedom," Sheriff Leben told co-host Chad Oban and I, but added that those liberties have to be balanced with the needs of public safety. He rejected the oft-made argument from marijuana supporters that legalization will make less work for law enforcement, arguing that "prices" for illicit marijuana will still "entice the black market."
Leben did credit the backers of Measure 5 with taking a thoughtful approach to the issue. "I would have to concede that they're trying to get it right," he said, but added that the costs of legalization outweigh the benefits.
Also on this episode, Jamie Selzler, a North Dakota delegate to the Democratic National Committee, spoke to us from his party's national convention in Chicago. He reflected on the speeches, the security and protests, and the heartbreak he felt when actor Mark Hamil, of Luke Skywalker fame, was too tired to pose with him for a selfie.
Want to follow Plain Talk? Click here for an archive of past shows and for information on how to subscribe, or just search for the show wherever you get your podcasts, including on YouTube.
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"Let's take valuations away."
That's what state Rep. Ben Koppelman proposed on this episode of Plain Talk. He's referring to a plan for property tax reform that he's proposed should Measure 4 -- a constitutional ban on taxing property values -- fail on the statewide ballot in November. Koppelman would like to see property taxed on size, not value.
His plan would levy mills on the square footage of properties, and the structures on those properties, with residential property owners seeing their bill defrayed by credits akin to the state's existing Homestead Tax Credit.
"For many years the locals have blamed the Legislature" for the property tax problem, Koppelman said, arguing that, whatever happens with Measure 4, it's time for the Legislature to implement some more dramatic property tax reform to address what is a perennial source of consternation for North Dakota's voters.
Koppelman said he's not for or against Measure 4, saying he's got his personal feelings but doesn't want to "twist the arm of voters." However, in the 2023 session, he did oppose Legislation that would have abolished property taxes.
Also on this episode, co-host Chad Oban and I discuss the politics around the Measure 4 debate, recent polling in North Dakota's U.S. Senate race that shows Democratic candidate Katrina Christiansen putting up strong numbers, and some of the upcoming debates we have scheduled for the podcast.
Want to follow Plain Talk? Click here for an archive of past shows and for information on how to subscribe, or just search for the show wherever you get your podcasts, including on YouTube.
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Even if North Dakota voters approve Measure 4, a constitutional amendment that would disallow taxes on real estate values, our state and its elected leaders will still need to figure out how to replace the roughly $2.4 billion in revenues those taxes generate very budget cycle.
We're going to pay for it. The question is how.
Neal Messer, a farmer, businessman, and commissioner in Stark County, joined this episode of Plain Talk to discuss what that problem might look like from a local level.
One upshot? Property owners may still be stuck with a property tax. "It does open the door where we could tax property based on square footage," Messer told us, though he added that the measure itself is "not very well written."
"The challenge is five years from now," he added, pointing out that Measure 4 obligates state lawmakers to replace the revenues from property value taxes, but only at four years from now. Messer argues that, thanks to things like inflation, the cost of something like paving a road is going to cost more in five years than it does today, and yet Measure 4 would pin the Legislature's obligation for paying for local government eternally in 2024.
Messer also says he's worried about giving big companies and out-of-state landowners a big tax break by eliminating the tax on property values. He pointed to Marathon Oil, which pays a big tax bill in his county that in turn does a lot to fund local schools, but would be able to keep that money in their out of state headquarters should Measure 4 pass.
There are also wealthy, out-of-state landowners who would benefit as well, he argues. "Bill Gates doesn't need another tax break."
Also on this episode, my co-host Chad Oban and I discuss why I was wrong about Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz being bad pick as runningmate for Vice President Kamala Harris.
Want to follow Plain Talk? Click here for an archive of past shows and for information on how to subscribe, or just search for the show wherever you get your podcasts, including on YouTube.
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The emergence of Vice President Kamala Harris as the top-of-the-ticket candidate for Democrats, nationally, has created an undeniable wave of enthusiasm among our liberal friends.
North Dakota's Democrats are no different. "There's a new pep in our step," state Rep. Zac Ista told my co-host Chad Oban and I on this episode of Plain Talk.
Ista is a Democrat from Grand Forks and the House Minority Leader, and he had some very pragmatic things to say about the chances Democratic legislative candidates have on the ballot this year.
Ista pointed out that Democrats already elected to the Legislature have been punching above their weight. They have only 16 seats in the state Legislature, but saw over 50 bills sponsored by Democratic lawmakers passed.
He also praised his party's candidate recruitment efforts. Acknowledging that Democrats have struggled to fill all of the legislative races in past cycles, particularly in western North Dakota, he said his party has filled 80% of the races this cycle. Still, even if Democrats win every race they have a candidate in, they couldn't take a majority in either chamber of the Legislature.
It's not mathematically possible. "We don't have enough candidates on the ballot," Ista said, but he does see an opportunity for Democrats to make up some ground.
But that will require those candidates to get out into their communities and prove they're something more than "someone with a D in parentheses behind their name" on the ballot.
Ista also said he's opposed to a constitutional measure that would abolish property taxes, which will almost certainly be on the ballot in November. Asked why voters should trust lawmakers to address the property tax problem meaningfully, given that it's an issue that has rankled voters for decades, Ista said that while dangling "carrots" in front of local governments to inspire them to lower property tax burdens, "we have to get more serious about talking about sticks," he said, referencing possible caps on property tax increases.
Also on this episode, Oban and I talk about the controversy former President Donald Trump has created around Kamala Harris's racial background, and who Harris might choose as vice president.
Want to follow Plain Talk? Click here for an archive of past shows and for information on how to subscribe, or just search for the show wherever you get your podcasts, including on YouTube.
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Rep. Kelly Armstrong, who is currently in the midst of a campaign to become North Dakota's next governor, has had a long career in public service. On this episode of Plain Talk, he told my co-host Chad Oban and I what his proudest moment has been from that career (so far, he's still a young man in political years).
He said it was helping his hometown, Dickinson, build a new baseball complex.
It was a reminder that Armstrong's track record of public service didn't begin in elected office. In fact, that's probably true of most of our elected leaders, even at the highest levels of government. We can be cynical about politics. We're certainly given good reason to be much of the time. But there's something nice in being reminded that political careers often start with public service at a granular level.
Unfortunately, much of what we discussed on this episode is the sort of thing that justifies our cynicism about political leadership. Armstrong expressed frustration about the House of Representatives going out on recess without having completed the appropriations process. "I don't think Congress has done a budget in 25 years that's an actual budget," he said.
"I get frustrated because we're pretending like we're doing something," he added.
Armstrong also weighed in on the presidential race, saying Democrats are enjoying a "sugar high" around their new candidate, Vice President Kamala Harris, while acknowledging that the rollout of Sen. J.D. Vance as former President Donald Trump's running mate has been rocky.
Armstrong also talked about what his priorities in Bismarck might be should he be elected come November, and one of them is the state's budget. "Our growth in spending has been pretty significant since 2012," he said, and while much of that was "necessary" when it happened, it may be time to curb the growth.
Want to follow Plain Talk? Click here for an archive of past shows and for information on how to subscribe, or just search for the show wherever you get your podcasts, including on YouTube.
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In 2018, North Dakota voters approved a ballot measure creating the state Ethics Commission.
The commission was implemented in 2019, and that first year, it received just 2 complaints. There were 3 in 2020, 9 in 2021, then a spike (right around election time) in 2022 to 14. There were 14 complaints again in 2023, and so far in 2024 (another election year) the number has spiked to 25 as of July 25.
Those numbers came from Rebecca Binstock, the executive director of the ethics commission, who joined this episode of Plain Talk to advertise the fact that the commission is currently accepting applications for new members (find more on that in their press release).
"Any North Dakota resident can serve on the ethics commission," Binstock told us, though there are some exemptions. For instance, if you're currently an elected official, or in a leadership position in a political party, you need not apply.
But Binstock also discussed with my co-host Chad Oban the fact that the Ethics Commission has become much more visible in North Dakota politics, and governance, and what it does, and what it should do, are becoming increasingly important questions.
"Ethics commissions alone do not create ethical government," Binstock told us, adding that it also requires a robust news media, and an engaged electorate.
The Ethics Commission gets the most attention from its complaint process, where members of the public can allege unethical behavior by state officials that is then reviewed by the commission, but Binstock argued that some of its other missions, such as educating state and local officials about ethics policies and promoting more transparency, are as, if not more, important. She also discussed the commission taking a larger role in enforcing state campaign laws.
Want to follow Plain Talk? Click here for an archive of past shows, and for information on how to subscribe, or just search for the show wherever you get your podcasts, including on YouTube.
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Many Republicans are trying to argue that President Joe Biden opting to end his re-election campaign, and the subsequent consolidation of Democrats behind the candidacy of Vice President Kamala Harris, was a "coup."
Was it? My co-host Chad Oban and I discussed it on this episode of Plain Talk, where we were also joined by Trista Keith, a now-former member of the Dickinson State University nursing faculty.
That faculty has resigned, and the administration at DSU has moved on, opting to use personnel from Mayville State University to provide instruction to its nursing students.
Craig, who came on the program to rebut claims made in our previous interview with North Dakota University System Chancellor Mark Hagerott, said she and her fellow nurses resigned because the credit hour requirements in their contracts were untenable. Hagerott, echoing claims made by DSU President Stephen Easton (who has also resigned though remains in his position as higher ed leaders work on finding a replacement), also claimed that the program was costing a half-million dollars a year to graduate just 16 students.
Keith acknowledged that the program's graduation numbers were down, but attributed that to a blip from the COVID-19 pandemic. "It's completely unfair not to take COVID into consideration," she said. She said the pandemic scared a lot of prospective students away. "Nobody wanted to become a nurse," but she said things have been recovering, noting that the DSU program had 60 incoming students.
She also said she was "disappointed" in Hagerott's comments, saying she expected that "someone int hat leadership position" would "get the other side of the story."
"I've never spoken to the chancellor," she said.
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When President Joe Biden announced an end to his re-election campaign, Adam Goldwyn, chairman of the North Dakota Democratic-NPL, participated in a call with his counterparts from around the country that resulted in a unanimous endorsement of Vice President Kamala Harris to replace the incumbent at the top of the party's national ticket.
"There was overwhelming support for her in that group," Goldwyn told me and my co-host Chad Oban on this episode of Plain Talk.
Responding to complaints from Republicans that Biden was pushed out undemocratically after Democratic voters around the country cast their primary ballots for him, Goldwyn said, "there was no cigar-filled back room."
"Nobody pushed President Biden out of anything," he said, adding that the party's convention process is now "open" and that the delegates "could vote for anyone they want."
Goldwyn says he senses a lot of enthusiasm from Democrats after the shake-up.
Also on this episode, Chad and I discuss how Harris's ascendence may impact the race, what she should do to win a national election, and who her running mate might be.
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Dickinson State University, one of the North Dakota University System's four-year institutions, has been thrown into chaos by a labor dispute with a group of nursing faculty.
First the faculty, after rejecting a new contract aimed at tamping down what DSU President Stephen Easton too much spending on a program that produces too few students, chose to resign en masse. Then Easton himself tendered his resignation alongside a lengthy statement in which he defended his approach to the dispute.
"The simple reality is that, though we love DSU Nursing and want to help it survive, we cannot spend over half a million dollars in compensation expenses for 16 Registered Nurses," he wrote in that statement posted on DSU's website. "That does not work financially."
"We're not going to be held hostage by 7 contract-rejecting faculty," Mark Hagerott, chancellor of the university system, said on this episode of Plain Talk.
Hagerott told guest co-host Corey Mock and me that "the focus is on the students" who are set to resume classes for the fall semester in approximately five weeks, and said that Eason, who continues to serve as president until the State Board of Higher Education chooses a new leader, is still negotiating with the former nursing faculty to find a new contract.
The chancellor noted that East was trying to apply the same standards for credit hours and instruction that apply to the rest of the faculty at DSU. "Seven people didn't sign their contract," he said. "Everybody else is moving forward."
Will the DSU nursing program survive? And what will happen to the students currently enrolled in this program if the impasse continues? Hagerott said his expectation is that the program continues, and that if need be current students could be served by faculty at some of North Dakota's other public institutions. He also said he's had preliminary conversations with at least one state lawmaker about finding funds to help those students with scholarships to smooth over any hardships from that transition.
Also on this episode, U.S. House candidate Julie Fedorchak joined to reflect on the Republican national convention she just attended in Milwaukee. "You could hear a pin drop when he was recapping the assassination attempt," she said of former President Donald Trump's speech accepting the convention's nomination.
"You could see the weight on him," she continued, noting the less bombastic tone Trump struck during the address. She said it was "electric" in the convention hall, and that Trump's "drill baby drill" comments about expanding domestic energy production got the "loudest" reaction from the audience and was "music to my ears."
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Sandi Sanford, chair of the North Dakota Republican Party, joined this episode of Plain Talk from the GOP's national convention in Milwaukee, where, she said, "the security plan changed drastically" after the attempted assassination of the party's presidential candidate Donald Trump.
Republicans have been focused on unity at this event -- two of Trump's top rivals during the primaries, Gov. Ron DeSantis and former ambassador Nikki Haley, endorsed him in speeches at the convention -- but Sanford acknowledged to my co-host Chad Oban and I that this may be a heavy lift.
"People know that what we're dealing with in North Dakota with the different factions," she said, initially calling the populist wing of the party the "far right" before correcting herself and describing them as "grassroots."
The NDGOP delegation to the national convention wasn't necessarily behind Gov. Doug Burgum potentially being Trump's running mate (Burgum himself was passed over for a delegate slot by the NDGOP's state convention), but Sanford said she felt the delegates were "really confident in Donald Trump and his pick"
"It gets dicey," she said of intraparty politics. "It can get cruel," but Sanford said her job is to keep the factions united. "I'm bringing people together."
Sanford also addressed a visit to the North Dakota delegation from Matt Schlapp of the American Conservative Union (the organization which puts on the Conservative Political Action Conference). In March, Schlapp paid a nearly half-million settlement to a man he allegedly made unwanted sexual advances toward. "My delegation wanted to hear from CPAC," she said, adding that Schlapp was "on a speaking circle" addressing several state delegations.
Also on this episode, we discuss how the assassination attempt on Trump might impact the rest of this presidential election cycle, and whether Democrats will replace incumbent President Joe Biden.
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Gov. Doug Burgum has gone through a "transformation."
That's what reporter Stephen Rodrick said on this episode of Plain Talk. He spent a lot of time in North Dakota for a profile of Burgum published recently by Politico. He wrote that the governor has been "rebranding" on his way to a potential place on former President Donald Trump's national ticket.
That means that Burgum has, along the arc of his political career, but a lot of different things to different people. What Rodrick found, talking to people who knew Burgum during times in his life, is that many of them feel that many who liked him in the past perhaps feel differently now.
"They all had love for him at a certain point," he said, even those who today might be fairly described as Burgum's enemies.
"His transformation over the past 3 or 4 months if baffling," Rodrick told my co-host Chad Oban and I.
And how will Burgum be received on the national stage if he is Trumps VP pick? Rodrick thinks observers will be surprised. "They're going to be like, 'wow he really didn't want anyone who has his own level of national charisma.'"
Also on this episode, Oban and I discuss April Baumgarten's story about North Dakota First Lady Katyrn Burgum's primary ballot getting rejected because of a handwriting mismatch. Burgum World isn't offering anything in the way of an explanation for why that happened, which leaves an information vacuum that could be filled with some not-so-great conclusions.
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Senate Majority Leader David Houge, a Republican from Minot, says that if voters approve a ballot measure eliminating property taxes, state lawmakers will be left with a mess.
He said that the legislature's appropriators will be tasked with making big spending cuts. He said that members of the taxation and finance committees will have to find new ways to bring in revenues. He also said that reserve funds would likely have to be tapped to make up the roughly $2.6 billion in revenues property taxes generate for local governments every budget cycle.
But in 2012, voters rejected a similar ballot measure to eliminate property taxes, in part based on promises from lawmakers that they would fix the problem. My co-host, Chad Oban, asked Hogue why voters should trust them this time around.
"We have tried other things that haven't necessarily worked," he said, but this time he sees more willingness from his colleagues to implement things like caps on taxation.
We also spoke with Hogue about his recent letter to the editor, which he co-authored with House Majority Leader Mike Lefor (R - Dickinson), making the case for carbon capture in North Dakota. He likened the debate over the opposition to the Summit Carbon pipeline to the protests against the Dakota Access Pipeline, pointing out that in both instances, the opposition said the pipelines were unsafe.
"The idea that the pipeline is dangerous, I reject that," he said, going on to point out that capturing and sequestering carbon in North Dakota has many benefits for the state's agriculture and energy industries, though he also acknowledged that Summy Carton Solutions, the company behind the project, has made some mistakes.
"They lowballed some landowners," he said, and acknowledged that Summit may have been too aggressive in using a state statute that allows surveyors to go on private land without permission. "That was a misstep as well," he said, though he added that since Summit has "corrected" a lot of its mistakes.
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- Se mer
