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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 laura.dronen@demnpl.com. Spread the word of our newsletter by sharing our sign-up link today: https://demnpl.com/join-our-newsletter/.
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Join us for the People's Town Hall event in Fargo ND - let your congressional delegation know what you think of the direction they are taking the country. March 27th at 7 pm
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Real change starts with real conversations. People’s Town Halls are happening in all 50 states and 7 territories! They are your chance to connect with neighbors, community leaders, and organizers to discuss the issues that matter most. These events are open, inclusive, and built to amplify your voice! Check out more here: https://democrats.org/peoples-town-halls/
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What happened today?
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Today the Senate passed HB 1114 which caps insulin prices!
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Rep. Mary Schneider's (D-21) bill (HB 1504) that would allow veterans organizations to donate funds to the veterans' postwar trust fund for homeless veterans' services to prevent and eliminate veteran homelessness passed the Senate
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Sen. Kathy Hogan's (D-21) bill (SB 2360) to request a legislative management study regarding geothermal energy and Sen. Josh Boschee's (D-44) bill (SB 4006) to ask Congress to establish federal protections for the wild horse herd at Theodore Roosevelt National Park passed the House.
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What's Coming Up?
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Ben Koppelman (R-16) seems to have made it his mission to stop Fargo from using approval voting for its city elections. His bill barring approval and ranked-choice voting will have a hearing on Thursday afternoon.
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Democratic-NPL Bills
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Rep. Jayme Davis’ (D-9) bill (HB 1535) to create an emergency alert system for missing Indigenous people called “a feather alert.” has a hearing in the Senate State and Local Government Committee at 2:45. This bill would be similar to the already existing amber and silver alerts. The urgent need for this bill couldn’t be more clear right now as the search for Renzo Bullhead continues.
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Rep. Collette Brown’s (D-9) bill (HB 1603) to provide funding to the state historical society for Native American grave protection and repatriation compliance efforts will have a hearing in the Senate State and Local Government at 3:15.
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Follow Along!
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Did you know you can watch along with these hearings or watch them later on your own time?
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Help us spread our message—share these recent posts!
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USDA upheaval brings uncertainty to farmers, rural communities
“Not only does that represent a financial loss to all of these organizations who had restructured their budgets, (but) we were gearing up to do this work of providing technical assistance to local businesses in their communities,” Blumhagen said. “We've lost all this momentum, and potentially, partnerships.”
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Blumhagen said funding to programs like these run by small rural nonprofits are a “percentage of a percent” of the USDA budget.
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North Dakota attorney general calls for more prison time; opponents say spend more on police
North Dakota’s attorney general is backing a bill that will increase the time offenders spend behind bars because he says the state criminal justice system is releasing prisoners too quickly.
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The head of the state’s Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation says the bill would deny prisoners access to treatment and education and lead to more repeat offenders. He argued spending more money on law enforcement would be a better use of taxes than locking up prisoners for longer periods of time when the state’s jails and prisons are already overcrowded.
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North Dakota lawmakers hear hours of testimony on 2 contentious gender-related bills
Clooten said bathroom designs with communal sinks seek to reduce high rates of fighting and vaping rather than solely accommodating transgender students.
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North Dakota Supreme Court hears arguments over abortion ban
A group of reproductive health care doctors and an abortion clinic filed suit over the ban in 2023, arguing it violates individual rights and presents a due process concern to doctors by not making it clear when an abortion may be performed for health reasons.
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Truth-in-sentencing bill would create more crime, be ‘dangerous’ for North Dakotans, prison leader says
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Braun called the bill "disastrous to the state’s budget” and “dangerous to DOCR employees and the people of North Dakota.”
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“What SB 2128 does is, it shuts the door on the investments in rehabilitation and redemption that are proven to make our communities safer,” he said.
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Bathroom bill would make schools less safe, opponents, LGBTQ advocates testify
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Seidler’s analysis of 2023 North Dakota Youth Risk Behavior Survey found that 74% of transgender middle schoolers in who took the survey said they had seriously considered suicide, almost four times as many as their straight peers. About 40% of transgender high schoolers said they had seriously considered suicide, about three times as many their straight peers.
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“Everything we do to exclude individuals from a culture or community is a risk factor that increases suicide,” Seidler said. “Everything we do to make someone feel more belonged is a protective factor that will reduce suicide.”
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Speaking out: No gain could justify this pain
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That eye popped wide open when the conversation recounted Elon Musk’s glee at having spent the weekend feeding USAID into a woodchipper.
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Those 1.2 million lives, Gawande said, were saved on a USAID budget that was half the budget of the Boston hospital where he had previously worked as a surgeon.
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With 80% of the USAID staff having been pulped in the chipper, some 160,000 people will die from malaria, he estimated, and 20 million people will no longer get the AIDS and HIV medicines on which their lives have depended.
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Check out these posts from the national Democratic Party
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Social Security is telling its staff that customer service is about to get a lot worse
In a memo obtained by Business Insider, Acting Deputy Commissioner for Operations Doris Diaz told SSA staff on March 13 that recent reductions in phone service could lead 75,000 to 85,000 additional visitors a week to show up at local field offices in order to file Social Security claims. The memo came before the agency announced it was changing its identity-proofing procedures in an effort to reduce fraud risk, which will, in part, require some beneficiaries who cannot use online systems to come into field offices to confirm their identities.
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Man falsely declared dead by Social Security still dealing with fallout, he says
Ned Johnson was mistakenly declared dead, which led to the cancellation of his Social Security benefits. It took him two months to prove the mistake, including numerous phone calls, letters to government officials and enduring a four-hour wait at his local Social Security office, he said.
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And he told ABC News the problem is continuing to follow him.
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"I've since learned that I'm on the Death Master File that apparently is going to chase me for the rest of my life," Johnson told ABC News. "It means that when Social Security declared me as deceased, there's a file that's kept ... that I'm listed on and, apparently, it doesn't go away. So we're struggling with a few issues now that are starting to crop up since we started this whole thing."
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RECAP: Gabbard and Ratcliffe's Text Fiasco Hearing Was An Absurd Denial Fest
Sam Stein and Tim Miller recap the Senate Intel Committee Hearing with Tulsi Gabbard, John Ratcliffe, and Kash Patel attempting to defend their use of the Signal app that included EIC of The Atlantic Jeffery Goldberg.
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Mike Johnson Has Terrifying Threat for Courts That Rule Against Trump
“We do have authority over the federal courts, as you know. We can, we can eliminate an entire district court. We have power of funding over the courts, and all these other things,” Johnson said. “But, um, desperate times call for desperate measures, and Congress is going to act.”
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House Democrats Are Calling for Hegseth to Be Fired — Or Resign
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House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries has called on Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth to be “fired immediately” in a letter to Donald Trump over Hegseth and other senior administration officials’ use of Signal messages to relay possible classified information.
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Jeffries isn’t alone in the caucus wanting Hegseth out. A group of Democratic House military veterans on Tuesday called for his resignation.
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Heated exchange between Sen. Ossoff (D-GA) and CIA Director Ratcliffe
Sen Jon Ossoff (D-GA) to CIA Director Ratcliffe: "This is an embarrassment. This is utterly unprofessional. There's been no apology. There has been no recognition of the gravity of this error...We will get the full transcript of this chain and your testimony will be measured carefully against its content."
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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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