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Letters to the Editor

Reject House Bill 1532

Joseph Nesdahl, Minot North Dakota is proud of our rural communities. Many families and friends of mine choose to live in rural towns for the deep sense of community and the opportunities for our children to be nurtured and thrive. Rural and small-town public schools do far more than just educate children. They serve a critical social and economic function as a major employer in small communities, as the place where people gather for community meetings, to participate in athletic and artistic events, to shelter during natural disasters and as the hub of rural community life. Sadly, ...

Catch the kindness contagion

J. Patrick Traynor, Executive Director, Dakota Medical Foundation, Fargo A little before 10 in the morning on Giving Hearts Day, I stood in the atrium of Dakota Medical Foundation soaking it all in. There were no less than 100 people shoulder-to-shoulder around the small stage we had set up, anxiously waiting to find out who would be the lucky winner of Gate City Bank’s $100,000 boost. Balloons fell from above and the crowd went wild as it was announced that CCRI would be receiving the life-changing gift. There were shrieks and hugs, and if you didn’t know better, you’d have ...

Let’s look at retirement

Jon Godfread ND Insurance Commissioner Bismarck Over the past few years, we’ve witnessed a dramatic workforce shift. Baby boomers are retiring, while millennials and Gen Z are taking over workplaces across the country. Data shows that these generations of workers are changing jobs every three to four years, on average. The reality is that employers, including the State of North Dakota, will need to adjust for this reality to be competitive. The legislature is currently discussing the state employee’s retirement system, debating whether to implement a 401k-style retirement ...

SBHE not defending its constitutional authority

Dan Rice Fargo Our State Board of Higher Education (SBHE) is failing in its most important fiduciary (legal) responsibility, which is to defend its Constitutional authority. The ND State Constitution states “The state board of higher education shall have full authority over the institutions under its control…” (emphasis added). Neither the State Legislature or the Governor have the Constitutional authority to interfere in the administration of the public institutions of higher education. Representative Lefor (R Dickinson), has introduced HB 1446 which would significantly ...

Let us vote on property tax repeal

Steven Moen Minot HB 3024 was introduced on Feb. 21, 2023. This is a resolution bill that would put the Elimination and Replacement of Unfair Property Tax on the ballot for we the people to vote on in the 2024 election cycle. This bill would repeal the current system of using people’s property as the go to source of revenue to fund political subdivisions and replace it directly with money from the state. The local political subdivision would still have duty to budget and spend this money just as they do now. All that changes is the revenue source. This would mean if passed by the ...

Politicians on fast track to making state worse

Katie Christensen ND State Director, External Affairs, Planned Parenthood Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota Action Fund Fargo It’s that time again, when North Dakota lawmakers ignore individual freedom, public health best practices and medical research to instead promote an unscientific and dangerous agenda that will undoubtably harm North Dakotans. Our politicians’ actions put us on the fast track to a religiously governed state. So far, politicians rejected paid family leave and pushed forward a plan to send public dollars to private (religious) schools. They ...