Lillian Crook, Bismarck

So, here comes the adjournment of the 2025 ND Legislative Session.

I follow the headlines from afar and there is some seemingly never-ending shocking stuff about Holmberg, et al.

The people who live and work in the ND disability community are looking at meager 1.5 or 2% increases, at best.

From what I can tell there is, under the surface, some real bickering on the part of the legislators on how they are going to wrap this session up, much as there might be some smiling faces put out there for us to see. There are some vetoes and some signings and some “christmas tree” bills and some talk about “making sausage.”

I was just visiting some family members in Mississippi and talking of this and something was said about “but North Dakota is rich on oil” to which I said, “maybe so, but that’s not going to last forever” and the consensus was “Lord a Mercy, we commonfolk are going to pay the price” and such as it has been and such it will be until the cows come home.

There were comparisons to the lottery. Which is apropos. Will there be libraries? Will there be museums? Will the National Park System and public lands in general, which we citizens own, be there for our grandchildren?