BISMARCK, ND — Today, the six-member Emergency Commission voted to spend the last of North Dakota’s $1.25 billion in federal CARES Act money intended for COVID-19 relief. The small group allocated the allotment without any public input or broad legislative input. The result leaves out important and popular initiatives that would support workers, families, and the people most affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.

The vote today included some progress on food access funding called for by a working group and Dem-NPL legislators, but failed to include an Emergency Paid Leave Fund that would serve workers, families, and small businesses. The Legislative Budget Section, which leaves 14 districts or roughly 200,000 people unrepresented in the process, will take an up or down vote next week.

Sen. Kathy Hogan, a member of a food access work group that proposed a $53 million plan for emergency and sustainable food programs, said:

“We are pleased that we have had an opportunity to present important proposals that address food access and to see money for refrigeration for food banks, expanded online SNAP purchasing, and the expansion for FEMA and CARES Act dollars for shelf-sustainable food at Great Plains Food Banks included in the Department of Agriculture funding. But we are disappointed that the administration hasn’t done more as emergency food aid from Washington has stopped. Today’s funding is a beginning, but only a beginning.”

Rep. Karla Rose Hanson, who called for CARES Act money to be used for an Emergency Paid Leave Fund to benefit workers, families, and small business, said:

“It’s disappointing to see Gov. Burgum fail to seriously consider Emergency Paid Leave for North Dakota workers. This proposal is good for public health, good for families, and good for businesses. People who are sick or exposed to COVID-19 are asked to stay home, but many have to prioritize their paycheck so they still go to work. Paid leave would help businesses avoid outbreaks and keep their doors open, and it would help control the spread of the virus in our state.”

House Minority Leader Josh Boschee said: 

“Without a formal process, we sought to create public debate about important issues workers and families are facing, and there are certainly portions of this budget that will benefit many North Dakotans. But because most of our Republican colleagues abdicated their legislative authority to the governor’s office, the process, and the resulting recovery plan is flawed. We cannot leave out 14 districts and more than 200,000 people and expect to have a recovery plan that works for all North Dakotans.”

Senate Minority Leader Joan Heckaman said:

“The budget included important contributions for cities and counties whose budgets are being strained by the pandemic. But there should have been a formal public process that gave every community a seat at the table, so we can make sure tax dollars are spent fairly across the state.”

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BISMARCK, ND — Senate Republicans released the HEALS Act this week after letting the HEROES Act, passed by the House, sit un-debated or discussed for 10 weeks. The last-minute HEALS Act, supported by both North Dakota Senators, however, included $1.8 billion for a new FBI building that has nothing to do with pandemic relief. It also doubles the three-martini-lunch deduction for business meals, while eliminating food programs that would serve those in the greatest need. Food insecurity is rising across North Dakota. HEALS also leaves out hazard pay for essential workers, would slash the unemployment benefit offered to those out of work because of the pandemic, and ignores local governments.

The HEROES Act would award hazard pay for essential workers, bolster emergency food programs, provide much needed aid to city, county, and state governments, and offer resources for local school districts to open up with flexibility. By tying education funds to in-person mandates, the HEALS Act would use most of these dollars to take control away from our communities and from North Dakota.

The Democratic-NPL Party Chairwoman Kylie Oversen said:

“North Dakotans have stated clearly, we want to make decisions at the state and local level about how we open up our schools less than a month from now. The HEROES Act would offer not only resources for our students, teachers, and staff, but also support for childcare. Cases are rising, and North Dakotans need a program that works for us. We urge our congressional delegation to stop playing partisan politics with our lives and livelihoods.”

Oversen continued:

“Rather than award hazard pay to essential workers and bolster unemployment plans that keep people paying their rent, our Senators are backing a bill that includes $1.8 billion for a Washington office building and a free lunch for their donors. Workers and families are going hungry. They are out of work, and those that are still working are underappreciated and woefully under-protected. Our delegation needs to set aside their partisanship, their donor interests, and focus on dealing with an out of control public health crisis and an economy they watched crash.”

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BISMARCK, ND — The North Dakota Republican Party will pay an $8,000 fine to the Federal Election Commission for failing to disclose campaign expenditures in the 2016 cycle, putting the party’s current campaign expenditures into question. The agreement was posted by a Business Insider reporter Friday afternoon on Twitter.

The news comes as Rep. Kelly Armstrong, Sen. Kevin Cramer, and Sen. John Hoeven, are drawing questions for using their official power to secure $1.7 billion in federal contracts for Fisher Industries. The North Dakota-based company came under fire from the president for building a privately funded border wall that is already eroding. Armstrong and Cramer both received significant campaign contributions from Fisher, a company with a history of shady business dealings.

The Democratic-NPL Party Chairwoman Kylie Oversen said:

“The FEC fines alone demand serious scrutiny into ongoing NDGOP finances. But three of the state’s top Republicans are also entangled in a pay-to-play scandal that is about to take the American taxpayers for $1.7 billion. NDGOP and its leaders are showing an alarming pattern of corruption by misusing public and private funds. The swamp is getting worse.”

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BISMARCK, ND — Sen. Kevin Cramer received major contributions from Fisher Industries, the construction company recently under fire from President Trump after building a privately funded stretch of the southern border wall that is already showing signs of erosion. Cramer lobbied in Washington on behalf of Fisher, leading to more than $1.7 billion in government contracts for border wall construction, including $400,000 that is under review by the Defense Department Inspector General.

Yesterday, Rep. Kelly Armstrong refused publicly to return campaign contributions from Fisher.

The Democratic-NPL Party Chairwoman Kylie Oversen said:

“Sen. Cramer used his office to lobby for one of his favored donors who had already shown a history of shady business practices and questionable character. Now, $1.7 billion in taxpayer money is going to the same company that has also proven it can’t or won’t do the job it’s hired to do. Cramer’s pay-to-play politics is not only corrupt, but wasteful, and he owes the public and the president answers.”

Background: 

Fisher Industries, or Fisher Sand & Gravel, Co., is a Dickinson, ND-based company with a long history of “criminal tax evasion, pollution citations, environmental fines, and one previous CEO with child pornography.” C.S. Hagen, High Plains Reader, 1/31/2018

Fisher and family members donated at least $24,000 to Cramer’s 2018 campaign. The company and its employees are also major contributors to Armstrong’s re-election campaign.

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FARGO, ND — Rep. Karla Rose Hanson (D-Fargo) and Sen. Erin Oban (D-Bismarck) today proposed an Emergency Paid Leave Fund to protect workers as the coronavirus pandemic continues and cases rise in North Dakota. The Emergency Paid Leave Fund would use CARES Act funds to help workers stay home when they are sick with COVID-19 or after they have been exposed. The fund would serve as an important complement to recent efforts by the state to support businesses in their efforts to inspire and improve consumer confidence to return to the marketplace. View the full press conference here.

Rep. Karla Rose Hanson said:

“Whether people work at a business, in a school or a health care facility, they should be able to stay home when they are sick – for their own health and for the health of their co-workers and the public. However, far too many people go to work when they are sick,” said Rep. Karla Rose Hanson. “A paid leave program can help reduce the spread of infection and prevent outbreaks at places of work, schools and health care facilities like nursing homes and clinics.”

Sen. Erin Oban said:

“At a time when employers are asking workers to return to the workplace and workers are rightly asking for basic protections, too many North Dakotans will continue to face the difficult choice of staying home or receiving a much-needed paycheck because they lack paid time off or they’ve already used up their paid leave,” said Sen. Erin Oban. “Our paid leave program will help families, support North Dakota’s businesses and economy, help schools to safely stay open, and contribute to greater public health in managing this pandemic. It’s a win-win-win-win.”

Terri Hedman, a registered nurse and Senate District 46 candidate, said:

“The Centers for Disease Control and the ND Department of Health say to stay home if you are sick or if you’ve been exposed to someone with COVID-19,” said Terri Hedman, a registered nurse and candidate for state senate in Fargo. “People should not have to choose between their physical and economic well-being. A highly infectious disease in the workplace such as COVID-19 is a danger to many. As fall and winter approach, along with more indoor activity, infection rates will likely rise. Providing supplemental paid leave will help people make the right choice to stay home.”

How would the fund work?

• The proposal would use $20 million from the $1.25 billion in CARES Act funding that North Dakota has received. It would create a fund to pay qualified employees through their employers.
• Eligible workers would receive up to four weeks of pay, with a cap of $1,500 a week, if they are unable to work due to a COVID-19 diagnosis for themselves or a member of their household, or if they have been advised to quarantine due to close contact with a person who has COVID-19, or if their child’s school or daycare is closed due to the pandemic.
• The fund would be in effect through the end of the year due to the requirement to spend CARES ACT dollars in 2020.
• This supplementary leave will especially benefit employees who have already used all their employer-provided leave for the year, as well as employers such as schools that don’t qualify for federal tax credits for pandemic-related leave.

The six-member Emergency Commission is expected to meet again this summer to allocate the remaining $318 million of North Dakota’s CARES Act funding, which must be spent in 2020.

2021 Legislative Session 

Hanson and Oban also announced that they plan to introduce a bill during the 2021 legislative session to address the long-term need for paid family leave beyond the pandemic crisis.

Oban said:

“This emergency paid leave fund addresses the immediate needs of families, schools and businesses caused by the pandemic,” Oban said. “But that impossible choice of collecting a paycheck or caring for yourself or a loved one was a problem that existed before the pandemic and it will continue after it. North Dakota working families deserve a long-term paid family leave solution, too.” 

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BISMARCK, ND – Today, it was reported that Gov. Burgum’s company, Kilbourne Group, was awarded between $350,000 to $1 million from the Paycheck Protection Program, or PPP. This news comes as small business owners, who have struggled to access this same loan funding, are trying to keep their lights on and workers employed. This continues a concerning trend of loans intended for small businesses benefiting large corporations with ties to political officials.

Rewind to June 10th when it was reported that Burgum infused $1.85 million of his personal cash into his Dakota Leadership PAC, which also raised well over $2 million, much of it from out-of-state donors.

North Dakota Democratic-NPL Executive Director Michael Taylor said:

“Catch phrases like ‘support our small businesses’ or ‘small businesses are the backbone of our economy’ seem to be nothing but lip service from Burgum and the NDGOP. While Burgum was busy buying elections in North Dakota, he was also busy applying for loans intended for small businesses that do not have a billion dollar budget to keep them afloat. If Burgum had $1.85 million in his pocket to buy elections in the state, why didn’t he use those same riches for his own company? What about those hair salons, mom-and-pop diners, and other local businesses that are at risk of permanently shutting down? PPP loans should be going to small and micro businesses that are struggling to keep their doors open, not billionaire Governors. If Burgum wants to push his Main Street Initiative, he should put his money where his mouth is and support communities and businesses in need.”