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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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Keep Public Dollars in Public Schools
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Lots of money has been pouring in from out-of-state groups who want North Dakota law to send public funds to private schools through Education Savings Accounts. As former State Senator Erin Oban said in a recent video, "Our opposition to legislation that uses public funds for private schools isn't against nonpublic education, nor against families and parents who choose to enroll their children in private, parochial, or homeschool education. Our opposition is a fundamental disagreement that it's the government's responsibility to pick up the tab for them."
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What happened today (and yesterday)?
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There was no newsletter on Friday because of some (self-inflicted) technical difficulties!
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Democratic-NPL Bills
Rep. Lisa Finley-DeVille's (D-4a) bill (HB 1545) to change the name of First Nations Day to Indigenous Peoples Day passed the Senate.
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Sen. Josh Boschee's (D-44) bill (SB 2198) which would allow state employees to take paid military leave earlier passed the House.
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Rep. Mary Schneider's (D-21) bill (HB 1326) would prevent convicted felons who use a forbidden firearm in a subsequent crime from escaping conviction by claiming "justified use of force" or self-defense as they can, and have, under our current law. It has a hearing in the Senate Judiciary Committee today.
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Democratic-NPL Bills
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Rep. LaurieBeth Hager's (D-21) bill (HB 1260) which changes how the number of available mule deer licenses is now on the Senate Floor Calendar for a vote. This means they could vote on it as early as tomorrow.
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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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U.S. Attorney Puhl and Attorney General Wrigley talk about the sentencing of Ray Holmberg
Joel Heitkamp is joined in the KFGO studio by North Dakota’s Attorney General, Drew Wrigley, and U.S. Attorney for the District of North Dakota, Jennifer Puhl. After the sentencing of former North Dakota State Senator, Ray Holmberg, Joel talks with Drew and Jennifer about the case. Judge Daniel Hovland went well over the recommended guidelines of 37-46 months and sentenced Holmberg to 120 months. Joel asks them about the length of the sentence, others involved in the affairs, and more.
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Wayne Stenehjem deleted voicemails, ‘obstructed’ child sex crime investigation into Ray Holmberg, AG says
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Wrigley also said Stenehjem deleted three voicemails from Holmberg, including one he shared with law enforcement. Homeland Security Special Agent Dan Casetta repeated that voicemail Wednesday, March 26, in North Dakota U.S. District Court during Holmberg’s sentencing hearing:
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“Wayne, this is my burner phone. I’m in big trouble. Don’t tell anyone."
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The other two messages were not turned over and cannot be retrieved, Wrigley said.
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“We’ll never know what was in those other two voice messages that Wayne didn’t tell the investigators about and didn’t share with them after the fact,” Wrigley said.
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People’s town hall draws overflow crowd in Fargo
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Oversen is a former Democratic legislator and an attorney who deals with Social Security claims.
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She said the Trump administration’s goal is to make veterans benefits and Social Security “so unworkable and so inefficient that they have to find a way to privatize them.”
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Episode Eleven: When Kids and Books Collide
Who should decide about what’s appropriate to read and where it should be located in school and public libraries? Senate Bill 2307 has crossed over into the house after a 27-20 vote on the senate floor. On this week’s episode of In Session, Erik and Ann look at the complicated questions of defining and regulating pornography and the legal ramifications for teachers and librarians if the bill is signed into law.
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Finding victims would have landed harsher sentence recommendations for Ray Holmberg, prosecutor says
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“I don't think there's been enough appreciation for how difficult it is to investigate a crime in a foreign country,” she said.“There were things that I wanted to do in this case that I wasn't given the green light” to do, she said.
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Investigators and Puhl traveled to Prague several times to find witnesses and victims, she said. Holmberg’s actions took place more than a decade ago.
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“These aren’t kids that are working in an office or going to school and you can find them,” she said. “They’re vulnerable kids. They’re homeless kids.”
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Packed house during the Dem-NPL's Town Hall event in Fargo
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“I’m afraid of what is happening in this country,” Froelich said. “We’re all suffering under the executive orders that are being pushed.”
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Targeting members of the LGBTQ+ community — both at the state and federal level — doesn’t address the “real problems” that American communities face, she said, such as homelessness, rising grocery costs and more.
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Holmberg Sentencing: Legal Analysis
Former State Senator Ray Holmberg's sentencing hearing on Wednesday has raised a looming question: will he appeal the ten year prison sentence handed down by Judge Hovland? Prairie Public's Director of Radio Ann Alquist talked to federal and state defense attorneys Dane Dekrey and Bruce Ringstrom for their analysis and perspective.
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MATBUS paratransit funding headed to Governor Armstrong's desk
Bommelman says Fargo Senator Josh Boschee introduced SB 2254, in response to the funding gaps in public transit in North Dakota. She says the exact distribution of the funds has yet to be finalized.
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Check out these posts from the national Democratic Party
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The Fascism Expert at Yale Who’s Fleeing America
It’s an authoritarian regime. People are not responding well. It’s moving faster than it moved in Russia, and journalists are not acting in a way that will get them shot or thrown out of windows, unfortunately, which is what is supposed to happen to journalists under ideal conditions.
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Elon Musk gives out $1 million payments to Wisconsin voters after state supreme court refused legal challenge
Musk's political action committee used a nearly identical tactic before the presidential election last year, offering to pay $1 million a day to voters in Wisconsin and six other battleground states who signed a petition supporting the First and Second Amendments. A judge in Pennsylvania said prosecutors failed to show the effort was an illegal lottery and allowed it to continue through Election Day.
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'Brutal attack on America's freedoms': Yale professor shares why he's leaving U.S.
Yale University Professor Jason Stanley, who studies fascism, joins Ana Cabrera to explain why he is leaving the U.S. and going to Canada due to the Trump administration's policies and crackdown on American universities.
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‘They know they’ve been hit’: Nicolle on the Trump Administration's handling of signal group chat
Shane Harris, Staff Writer for The Atlantic and Noah Shactman, Contributing write at Rolling Stone and Contributing Editor at Wired join Nicolle Wallace on Deadline White House with reaction to the Signal Group chat scandal involving senior levels of Donald Trump’s national security team, and how the fallout from the reporting has created fractures in the administration over who to blame for the scandal.
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Of Course Trump Will Tank the Economy. It’s What Republicans Do.
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Addiction experts told NPR they are now bracing for what many believe will be deep cuts to Medicaid funding, which provides the largest single source of insurance coverage for drug and alcohol treatment nationwide.
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"It's very hard to look at the budget framework created by Republicans and imagine a scenario other than Medicaid being cut severely," Stanford University's Keith Humphreys said. "It's a frightening prospect. That will be extremely painful for families facing addiction."
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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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