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During the 69th Legislative Assembly, North Dakota Democratic-NPL Insider will provide updates and calls to action each day of the regular session. If you would like to have something added to the newsletter, email us at [email protected]. Spread the word of our newsletter by sharing our sign-up link today: https://demnpl.com/join-our-newsletter/.
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Sen. Keith Boehm’s (R-33) book-banning bill (SB 2307) narrowly passed the Senate! 😡
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Rep. Collette Brown’s (D-9) bill (HB 1603) to provide funding for the state historical society for Native American grave protection and repatriation compliance efforts passed unanimously.
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A bill (HB 1114) to cap the costs of insulin and diabetes supplies at $25 for a 30-day supply passed the House despite getting a Do Not Pass recommendation.
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What's coming up?
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Keep Public Dollars in Public Schools
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Sen. Michelle Axtman's (R-7) bill (SB 2400) is on the Senate Floor Calendar tomorrow. This is another attempt to establish an education savings account program—diverting public funds to private schools! Let's keep our public schools fully funded. Tell your Senator to vote NO!
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School Meals for All
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Democrats have continued the fight to feed all school children in North Dakota. While Rep. LaurieBeth Hager's (D-21) bill failed, Rep. Patrick Hatelstead's (R-1) bill (HB 1475) hasn't received a vote yet. Stand up for school meals and tell your Representatives to VOTE YES on HB 1475—especially if you have Republican lawmakers!
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Marriage Equality
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Rep. Bill Tviet's (R-33) resolution (HCR 3013) to urge the United States Supreme Court to overturn Obergefell v. Hodges, to change the definition of marriage to a union between one man and one woman was scheduled for today but has been laid over to tomorrow.
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Crossover
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The House and Senate must finish voting on all their bills by February 28! Then the bills that have passed cross over to the other legislative body to be heard in committee and voted on. The House is meeting every afternoon and evening to get these votes in. You can follow along with their daily calendar here, and you can follow the Senate's calendar here!
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Help us spread our message—share these recent posts!
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McFeely: Maybe Fedorchak and friends want you to pray cancer away
But don't worry, folks. If your family is hit by Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, cancer, diabetes or heart disease — like almost every American family is — just know that Fedorchak and her GOP colleagues supported slashing research dollars so UND, Mayo and the University of Minnesota didn't waste money on "rent."
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North Dakota House votes to repeal 'discriminatory' HIV law
"There has been a lot of discussion on this bill, and one of the things that keeps coming up is that HIV can be terminal. And it can — so can a lot of other infectious diseases," she said. "This bill reflects the tremendous body of evidence that modernizing HIV laws decreases the risk of HIV, as people who are at risk of HIV are more likely to seek testing."
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Port: This crusade against school bathrooms is pointless
Many of these lawmakers would undoubtedly tell us that they're just following their conservative ideology. But I have to ask, as someone who has spent a lifetime advocating for limited government policies, what's "conservative" about forcing schools to spend millions fixing a bathroom problem that only exists in the minds of people scared of trans people?
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Bill limiting insulin costs for more North Dakotans advances in House
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The North Dakota House of Representatives voted 59-27 on Thursday for a bill to lower monthly insulin costs for more North Dakotans.
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House Bill 1114 would set out-of-pocket costs for a monthly supply of insulin at $25 for the North Dakota commercial insurance market. It would also institute a $25 monthly cap for insulin-related medical supplies.
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Letter: Trump and Musk bring chaos to North Dakota
Musk knows nothing about effective government. This scattershot approach to reduce the federal workforce could cause big problems. There are federal workers doing vital tasks, e.g. the Fargo VA Medical Center. Many agencies including USDA Farm Service Agency and NRCS could be affected. Any sane project to downsize government would plan ahead to eliminate specific programs in a way that did not harm workers or the public that they serve. Musk won’t do this, of course, because most government programs are supported by lots of voting citizens.
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Plain Talk: North Dakota's Legislature has to change
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Hogue and Ista talked about the struggles to get through more than a thousand proposed bills while still giving each of them the scrutiny and consideration they deserve.
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All of this is happening as both North Dakota and the nation go through a sometimes baffling political realignment, and North Dakota, specifically, has a new term limits law for lawmakers looming.
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Former Republican, now Democrat, Chris Gibbs joins Joel to talk DOGE and Ag
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Chris Gibbs is an Ohio Farmer, and former Chair of the Republican Party in Selby County Ohio, serving for seven years until 2015. He was then elected as the Chair of the Democratic Party in Selby County in Ohio. He’s also the Chair of Rural Voices USA and the Chair of Gateway Arts.
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He's become a good friend of "News and Views," and joins Joel again to talk about the current state of agriculture under the Trump Administration. They dive into how DOGE is hurting farmers and federal employees, as well as what RFK Jr. is doing to the country.
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Check out these posts from the national Democratic Party
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BOMBSHELL Update on Trump & Elon’s Private Data Access
Trump and Elon Musk’s relationship just took a troubling turn, with new reports suggesting DOGE might be tied to private data access that could expose users’ personal information. Meanwhile, Sean Duffy is blaming Pete Buttigieg for recent aviation disasters, Trump is pushing policies that would hand Putin exactly what he wants, and CPAC is kicking off with its usual lineup of far-right weirdos. Brian Tyler Cohen and Tommy Vietor break down the latest political news.
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Some Institutions Caved to Trump. Their Employees Are Fighting Back.
Ray told me that as far as organized resistance within universities, groups like the American Association of University Professors and PEN were already engaged in pushing back on Trump’s orders, with AAUP releasing a statement called “Against Anticipatory Obedience” in January and joining a legal challenge to one of the DEI orders. But as compared to the hospital setting, the power of professional organizations in academia is more limited. Challenges from faculty unions and faculty governance could go further. On Wednesday, the national coalition Higher Education Labor United organized a day of action in more than a dozen cities, under the banner of “Hands Off!” healthcare, research, and jobs, protesting cuts to the Department of Education, NIH, NSF, and more. Several hundred people turned out in Boston, Philadelphia, and Seattle, among others.
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There Are Rumors Trump Is Working Up to 7D Chess
Everything Trump says is 4D chess, you see. Unless you like it. If you like it, that’s what he really thinks, and he’s brave and correct for saying it. If you don’t like it, it’s 4D chess and you need to relax. Trump has to play 4D chess, you understand, because he’s the president. Before he was the president, he also had to play 4D chess, because he wanted to become the president, and because playing 4D chess is how you get to occupy the chair.
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Why the Press is Too Weak to Stop Trump from Banning the AP
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Several media outlets issued statements in support, but none have boycotted a briefing or used the power of their platform to hold Trump meaningfully accountable. There are two reasons for this.
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First, the New York Times, Reuters, CNN, and other outlets covering the White House are not just the AP’s colleagues but also their competitors. To not cover a briefing or a presidential trip would advantage the folks they are competing with for audience and advertising revenue. It’s impossible to get everyone to go along, because even if all of the mainstream outlets did so, Fox News and other Right Wing outlets never would.
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A second, more noble, reason is that such a boycott would help Trump in multiple ways.
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Trump administration slashes funding for ACA navigators
Over President’s Day weekend, the president also followed through on threats to fire thousands of federal health employees, including workers at the CMS focused on improving Medicare and Medicaid, according to Politico.
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The cuts come roughly one week after the CMS confirmed it’s working with the Department of Government Efficiency, billionaire Elon Musk’s initiative to ferret out fraud in government spending, to find a “more effective and efficient use of resources.”
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Senate GOP Confirms 'Unqualified Extremist' Kash Patel to Lead FBI
"Kash Patel is an unqualified extremist who openly promised to go after Trump's perceived enemies, including members of Congress, journalists, and law enforcement officials," said Harvey. "No FBI director in history has been so unqualified for the job. Patel's confirmation is a direct threat to the safety and freedoms of every American, and every Republican senator who voted for him owns what comes next."
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Committees
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Every bill is voted on in the North Dakota legislature, but first, it must go through a committee hearing. The committee will vote to give the bill a "Do Pass" or a "Do Not Pass" recommendation. Below is a list of Standing Committees this legislative session.
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Senate Standing Committee Members
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Meets Thursday and Friday
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Meets Monday through Friday
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Meets Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday
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Meets Thursday and Friday
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Desiree Van Oosting (R-36)
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Meets Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday
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Meets Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday
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Desiree Van Oosting (R-36)
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Meets Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday
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Meets Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday
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Meets Thursday and Friday
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Meets Thursday and Friday
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Meets Thursday and Friday
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House Standing Committee Members
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Meets Thursday and Friday
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Gretchen Dobervich (D-11)
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Cynthia Schreiber-Beck (R-25)
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Meets Monday through Friday
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Meets Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday
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Cynthia Schreiber-Beck (R-25)
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Patrick R. Hatlestad (R-1)
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Meets Thursday and Friday
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Meets Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday
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Mike Motschenbacher (R-47)
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Meets Thursday and Friday
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Gretchen Dobervich (D-11)
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Meets Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday
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Lisa Finley-DeVille (D-4A)
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Meets Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday
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Lawrence R. Klemin (R-47)
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Meets Thursday and Friday
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Patrick R. Hatlestad (R-1)
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Lawrence R. Klemin (R-47)
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Mike Motschenbacher (R-47)
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Meets Thursday and Friday
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Lisa Finley-DeVille (D-4A)
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The Century Club supports our year-round work to build party infrastructure supporting candidate recruitment, local district and regional leadership, issue-based education, and tools for Dem-NPL success.
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Help us elect great Democrats up and down the ballot!
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The North Dakota Democratic-NPL is launching a new grassroots program called “Neighbor to Neighbor” where volunteers will connect with voters in your community to elect Democrats up and down the ballot. As a volunteer, you will be responsible for connecting with voters in 25 homes in your neighborhood or friends and family to help elect Democrats up and down the ballot about 3-4 times this year.
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Grassroots organizers are the lifeblood of the Dem-NPL! Sign up to volunteer with the Dem-NPL!
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