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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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What happened today?
| The "Truth in Sentencing Bill" (SB 2128) that has been the cause of a public feud between AG Drew Wrigley and DOCR Director Colby Braun failed in the House today! |
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What's coming up?
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Sen. Michelle Axtman’s (R-7) bill (SB 2241) to make charter schools legal in North Dakota is on the House Calendar now for a vote. It could come up as early as tomorrow. 25% of charter schools close within 5 years of opening. Our tax dollars shouldn’t be diverted from traditional public schools (especially rural public schools).
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Democratic-NPL Bills
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Rep. Gretchen Dobervich's (D-11) bill (HB 1464) that calls for a legislative management study relating to maternal care services is on the Senate Calendar for a floor vote.
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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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Democratic ND senator proposes doubling Ethics Commission budget, citing Holmberg case
The amendment was brought before the House Appropriations Committee’s Education and Environment Division on Wednesday by Sen. Tim Mathern, D-Fargo.
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He said his proposal was prompted by news coverage of former Republican state Sen. Ray Holmberg’s prison sentence.
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“It seems like every week, sometimes every day, there’s some sort of news story about our former colleague, Sen. Holmberg,” Mathern told lawmakers
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Letter: Which program should we cut?
If the administration has its way, the VA will need to return to 2019 staffing levels-so I ask you: ‘Which of these services should be canceled?” because by cutting staff, you are negatively impacting all these service delivery programs.
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VA workers pay is 70 cents on the dollar compared to the private sector. The staff at the VA are not doing these jobs for the money…they are doing their jobs because of their personal commitment to serving our veterans. This is not just a job, this is our family, this is our debt to be paid.
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North Dakota House defeats ‘truth-in-sentencing’ bill promoted by attorney general
Opponents of the bill, which included the head of the North Dakota Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, have said Wrigley’s proposal would further encumber the state’s already overcrowded prisons. They also said it would have prevented inmates from accessing programs that reduce recidivism and help them prepare for life outside of prison.
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3 years after 1st report, jail texts show North Dakota political giant lied to reporter
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Former North Dakota Sen. Ray Holmberg lied to The Forum about text messages he exchanged with a man accused of possessing child sex abuse materials, including about a massage request involving a young man.
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Text messages entered as evidence during Holmberg’s Wednesday, March 26, sentencing hearing in North Dakota U.S. District Court showed he asked in August 2021 if Nicholas Morgan-Derosier’s boyfriend was coming over to Holmberg’s house for dinner and a massage.
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North Dakota legislative committee advances resolution prompted by Holmberg case
A federal judge last week sentenced Holmberg to 10 years in prison after the former senator pleaded guilty to traveling abroad with the intent to have commercial sex with minors. Holmberg served in the state Legislature for more than four decades and held the powerful position of Senate Appropriations Committee chair.
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Letter: Trump administration changes are harmful across many sectors
Cuts to Social Security services and staff will hurt seniors in North Dakota. Tariffs and cuts to USAID will hurt our farmers. Cuts to the IRS mean that billionaire businessmen will continue to cheat and avoid paying taxes, while honest North Dakotans pay their fair share. And cuts to veteran services will harm former servicemen who put their lives on the line to defend our freedoms.
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Letter: Speak up now, before it's too late
Even though the actual actions enumerated in the poem aren’t likely to come to pass, if we don't want to experience the point of the poem, we need to do more than just talk and lament among ourselves. We need to speak out – write or call our senators and representatives, participate in call-in shows and make our voices and concerns heard.
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Check out these posts from the national Democratic Party
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Dow nosedives 1,600 points, S&P 500 and Nasdaq drop the most since 2020 after Trump's tariff onslaught
“This was the worst case scenario for tariffs and [they] were not priced-into the markets, which is why we are seeing such a risk-off reaction,” said Mary Ann Bartels, chief investment strategist at Sanctuary Wealth. ″The big question is if 5,500 can hold on the S&P 500. If it cannot hold, we may see another 5-10% downside, which could likely point to a bottom of 5,200-5,400.”
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Here’s What Will Cost More After Trump’s Tariffs: Coffee, Cars—And Possibly A $2,300 iPhone
The price tag for Apple’s iPhones may increase by more than 40% after President Donald Trump announced sweeping reciprocal tariffs on U.S. trade partners, analysts said Thursday, as Trump’s trade policies will likely increase prices across several imported goods, including new cars, coffee, chocolate and other products.
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‘This Trade War Will Force Farms to Close’ and More Reactions From Ag Industry on Latest Tariffs
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Minnesota Democrat Angie Craig (MN-02) is the Ranking Democratic Member of the House Agriculture Committee.
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“By declaring a worldwide trade war, the administration is hurting American farmers, workers, and consumers. Increasing input costs, shutting farmers out of export markets, and causing middle-class families to pay more at the grocery store is not a winning strategy,” Craig said. “Starting trade wars puts family farmers in the crosshairs for retaliation. In 2018, the Trump administration’s trade wars cost our farmers $30 billion in lost exports. The tariffs announced today are broader than in 2018 and come as farmers struggle with widespread uncertainty. The losses from this trade war will force farms to close.”
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Trump’s Tariffs Have Already Ripped a Gaping Hole in the Economy
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The business press is trying, and failing, not to create a sense of panic. “If implemented as announced,” Bloomberg reports, “the new tariffs will increase the average US rate by triple the 5 percent change the Smoot-Hawley duties of 1930 did, pushing them above 20 percent.” Smoot-Hawley was, according to an official history by the U.S. Senate “among the most catastrophic acts in congressional history.” Did you hear that, Republican-controlled Senate?
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The damage is entirely deliberate. Bloomberg reports that the Trump White House is saying the tariffs will “lead to a flurry of investment into US manufacturing and jobs, even if it means navigating a period of pain before that.” This stirs memories of reporter Peter Arnett’s famous quote from an unnamed Army major after the Battle of Bến Tre in 1968: “It became necessary to destroy the town to save it.”
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How Kennedy is already weakening America's childhood vaccine system
The cuts that ensnared Griffith, Hogan and many others whose work touches vaccines in dozens of states were part of $11.4 billion in funds that Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s Department of Health and Human Services pulled back from state and community health departments last week, included in the larger slashing of federal government under Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency. More than $2 billion was taken from “Immunization and Vaccines for Children” grants, which support the delivery of vaccines to children whose families may not be able to afford them, according to a list HHS published.
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Scholars, groups sue Trump administration over canceled NIH research funding
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The cancellation of projects won’t just hurt researchers, she said, it will halt treatments for patients and could even cost people their lives.
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“The topics that are covered under all of these terminations are some of the most pressing issues in public health: cancer, strokes, cardiac health, Alzheimer’s, suicide prevention, Covid vaccine hesitancy, depression. I could go on and on because NIH’s work is so widespread and so important, all those topics are covered,” Mankofsky said.
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The NIH is by far the biggest single funder of biomedical research in the world, and its backing is considered the gold standard of research support. Thousands of scientists compete for the funding every year. Grant decisions are made by leading scientific experts in the field at NIH who deliberate over the merit of the work for months.
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Immigration crackdowns disrupt caregivers. Families are paying the price.
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Ortiz, 25, is Josephine’s caregiver. A Venezuelan immigrant, Ortiz helps Josephine eat, bathe, and perform other daily tasks that the teen cannot do alone at her home in West Orange, New Jersey. Over the past 2½ years, Ortiz said, she has developed an instinct for spotting potential triggers before they escalate. She closes doors and peels barcode stickers off apples to ease Josephine’s anxiety.
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But Ortiz’s ability to work in the U.S. has been thrown into doubt by the Trump administration, which ordered an end to the temporary protected status program for some Venezuelans on April 7. The order is tied up in the courts. If the termination goes through, Ortiz would have to leave the country or risk detention and deportation.
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Are DOGE Cuts Putting Trump’s ‘Drill, Baby, Drill’ Edict at Risk?
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Yet, petroleum industry executives are not nearly as happy as they were when Trump won the election, sources familiar with their thinking tell NOTUS. Why? Trump’s parallel agenda gutting the federal workforce could actually make it harder for this promised new energy production to actually take place.
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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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