Jill Schramm/MDN Julie Fedorchak, left, talks energy issues with MHA Nation Tribal Councilman Robert White during a campaign stop in New Town last October.

With her first 100 days in office recently behind her, North Dakota’s Congressional representative Julie Fedorchak said she sees great results happening at the federal level.

“People care a lot about energy, agriculture, business climate in general, and the federal budget and immigration and border control, I think those are really the biggest issues throughout the campaign that I heard over and over and over again,” she said. “On all of them, I think we’re making great progress.”

She said President Trump has issued a number of executive orders to roll back certain regulations and ramp up the energy industry. In addition, Congress passed a couple of Congressional Review Act rollbacks of late Biden administration regulations, she said.

“We have rolled back the methane tax, which really would have been pretty devastating for North Dakota producers. The producers even have been careful to say it’s not that we don’t expect to be regulated at all. But this particular regulatory regime was very onerous,” Fedorchak said. The rules combined all facilities in ways that punished modern facilities with the latest methane detection because of older facilities that were challenged to add advanced technologies, she said.

Other congressional action included legislation to phase out over five years the production tax credits for wind and solar.

“Those technologies are not new and developing anymore. They’re established. They’re widely implemented. They’re market proven, and the incentives have been in place for 30 years, so it’s time to stop incentivizing those,” Fedorchak said.

“The credits would still be available for some of the emerging technologies, like small modular nuclear, geothermal, even for batteries that are needed to be used with the wind and the solar. So, we feel really good about that legislation. We’re going to be trying to get that included in the reconciliation package that we’ll be negotiating,” Fedorchak said.

The House and Senate have passed separate Budget Reconciliation packages, which now will be amended to form one bill to send to the president.

The reconciliation package will extend and could possibly make permanent the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act that was passed during Trump’s previous administration. If allowed to expire, the average American would see almost a 24% increase in income taxes, Fedorchak said. For North Dakotans, the average tax increase would be $2,400, she said.

“There’s also some really important provisions for small businesses in there,” she said, “and there’s some estate tax packages included in those provisions that the farmers really need and want. So, we’re excited about extending that tax package and then also finding the offsets so we aren’t adding to the deficit and the debt.”

The House is more committed to offsetting the tax cuts with spending adjustments, so there will be negotiation occurring in that area, she said. The hope is to have a bill completed and on Trump’s desk by Memorial Day, Fedorchak said.

On the agricultural front, Fedorchak said there is an option to pass budget portions of a farm bill in the reconciliation legislation. Her preference is to pass a separate, broader farm bill that would include both funding and policy. The House had a strong package last year that stalled in debate over nutrition programs in the Senate, she said.

“In my conversation with farmers, people are pretty eager to get the whole thing, have it all settled. So, that’s what I’m gunning for. But I also respect the pragmatists who have done this time and again, who recognize what is or isn’t doable in Washington and may be advocating for the reconciliation,” Fedorchak said.

Fedorchak said she also hears concerns from North Dakotans about tariffs because of the uncertainties.

“We don’t know what the final product is going to be, what the final rules will be, and it’s really disruptive,” she said. “I definitely support President Trump taking this on and trying to level the playing field internationally for all U.S. businesses, producers, as well as the consumers. I think that it was a long ignored issue, and everyone got comfortable and had adjusted to the playing field as it is.

“But he got everybody’s attention,” she said of Trump. “Now 70 different countries have come to the table.”

Fedorchak said she is optimistic that Trump’s efforts will result in better trade deals in time. In the meantime, Congress can help ease the uncertainties over tariffs by providing certainty in the tax code and peeling back certain regulations, she said.

“Folks are excited about the work of DOGE (Department of Government Efficiency). I think most North Dakotans celebrate that – are disgusted with some of the stories that they’re hearing about the waste,” she added. “It’s frustrating to send your hard earned money to the federal government to have it be wasted, and so I think that people are pretty excited about what’s happening there, and feel like that’s been long ignored, and welcome that we have to get control over this sort of massive federal bureaucracy that feels to be just growing on its own.”

Another difficult issue that needs to be addressed once budget bills are decided is Social Security, she said. She believes a bipartisan commission consisting of representatives of both parties as well as key stakeholder groups is the best way to get broad-based support for a plan to ensure the solvency of Social Security into the future, she said.

Also looking down the road, Fedorchak said, there are other energy policies being worked on that will be important to North Dakota and the nation.

“Our main energy leadership initiative is this working group we established, called the AI and Energy Working Group,” she said.

The group will meet to talk about potential solutions to challenges and bring forward proposals, she said.

“We know that power demand is rising significantly. A majority of that is driven by the needs of AI. They have deep pockets and can pay for this power. It’s just how do we get it on fast enough to meet their needs and in a timeline that helps the U.S. lead the development of this technology and stay ahead of China, because they’re nipping at our heels,” Fedorchak said. “It’s really, really important that we stay ahead in this race, and the power demand is one of the key drivers of it.”

A former North Dakota Public Service commissioner, Fedorchak said the initiative is an area in which she believes she can offer expertise to make a difference and help find solutions.

“We’ve been busy, but I’m really excited about how we’re doing and the team we have in place, the relationships we’re building on the Hill, both at the staff level, and then me, personally, with other colleagues, and trying to reach out and meet people one on one,” she said. She said she has met with key leaders on the Republican side but also key Democrats in an effort to build bipartisan support for issues of concern to North Dakota.

“In particular, energy and ag,” she said. “I would say that’s where I’m really focusing on the bipartisan side.”