District 5 GOP candidates set priorities
Roger Brabandt
Jay Fisher
Scott Louser
Roger Brabandt
Jay Fisher
Scott Louser
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Infrastructure investments, K-12 education and increased budget scrutiny are among priorities for District 5's Republican legislative candidates.
Rep. Jay Fisher is running for the Senate seat to be vacated by Sen. Randy Burckhard, while Rep. Scott Louser is seeking reelection to the House of Representatives. Looking to fill Fisher's House seat is Roger Brabandt, who served in the House during the 2011-2017 sessions.
The Republican House candidates are facing Democrats Zach Raknerud and Kyle Erickson in the Nov. 3 election.
Brabandt said his position as a fiscal conservative has not changed since he last served. His focus, if elected, would be to find areas in which to reduce spending. He had been a member of the House Appropriations Committee during his previous time in the Legislature. He also mentioned he was not absent a single day during that time, which is an uncommon occurrence over eight years.
A graduate of Minot State University, Brabandt was in the glass business for more than 50 years, including managing the Minot branch of Fargo Glass and Paint for many years before retiring in 2010. He also has farmland interests he maintains south of Granville.
Louser is the broker/owner of a real estate company, a two-time graduate of Minot State University and president of the Minot School Board. A member of the state House for nearly 16 years, Louser has served as the House assistant majority leader and currently serves on the House Appropriations Committee.
Fisher has represented District 5 since 2019. Before becoming a legislator, Fisher, an agronomist, spent 22 years as director of the North Dakota State University North Central Research Extension Center. He later established Fisher Research LLC, a value-added agriculture company, and is the president of L&Q Great Plains, which produces products for road surfaces.
Louser said one of the notable bills coming out of the Legislature has been the primary residence tax credit. He favors continuing the property-tax credit, which was $1,600 annually this biennium.
Brabandt agreed the primary residence tax credit has been good for state residents overall, although as a conservative, he chose not to take advantage of it.
Fisher said another legislative success has been the funding for water projects.
"NAWS has been a project long coming, but also our flood control," he said. "We're not through yet, but we've made major strides in our flood control."
The candidates are united in calling for completion of the Mouse River Enhanced Flood Protection Project.
"I would prefer that we bond and we get that project done sooner, especially if there’s a local match that's appropriate," Louser said. "Some people are going to have to carry flood insurance until the project's done. In order to save that cost on the homeowner, we need to accelerate the project."
Brabandt agreed the project needs to be completed.
"It's a lot of money, but it's got to be done," he said.
Fisher said he wants the state to pick up its pace and do more in natural gas development and distribution.
"We have an abundance of our own natural resources and I like the idea of investing in the infrastructure of our natural resources so we can use it for industry and agriculture," Fisher said.
He said additional four-laning and building super-two lanes along U.S. Highway 52 from Canada to Jamestown is a priority for safety reasons. Fisher also would like to see profits from the State Mill and Elevator, which now go into the state general fund, reinvested in wheat research and development.
One of Louser's top priorities for spending is K-12 education. The 2.5% increase in state aid provided for the current biennium made granting employee raises and addressing costs difficult at the local level, he said.
If reelected, Louser said, he plans to continue working on a statewide health insurance pool for school district employees to better control premium costs. His intent would be to introduce a resolution in the next session to study the concept.
He also said he would be interested in the state providing matching funds to help launch Trump Accounts that recently were expanded to all youth younger than 18 but with no federal start-up funds.
One area where the Republican candidates say change is needed is in oversight of state agencies, citing audit issues with the North Dakota Development Fund in the Department of Commerce and a funding shortfall for construction of a military museum. On childcare, Louser said, the state has seen a lapse of accountability in how grant funds have been spent.
Brabandt said his preference is to curb much of that funding.
Fisher said commissions and departments often have grown beyond what is necessary.
"It just morphed into a bit larger and larger as we had the resources to do that. There are some that I know of that are what I see as a duplication of efforts," he said. "We can tighten our belts."
Louser said a task force on which he served is recommending eliminating or merging some of the 172 boards and commissions in the state.
"We found duplication. We found overregulation,” he said.
District 5 Republicans are united in opposition to Measure 2, which would require the state to fully fund school meals.
Louser said he cannot support putting mandatory spending in the constitution. If the measure fails and he is reelected, he plans to introduce a measure to increase the income threshold (i.e. $100,000 for a family of four) to receive free meals and make school lunches tax deductible for others.
Louser and Fisher said they support Measure 1, which would set a 60% threshold for passage of constitutional amendments, while Brabandt still is studying the measure. Fisher noted the number of changes to the state's constitution far exceeds that of the U.S. Constitution.
"It's just too easy for outside interests to change our constitution, and so we need to fix that," he said.