Boschee Receives Victory Fund “Game Changer” Endorsement

Endorsement highlights potential statewide impact in Secretary of State race

(BISMARCK, ND) – The North Dakota Democratic-NPL is proud to announce that Representative Joshua Boschee has earned a “Game Changer” endorsement from Victory Fund in his race for Secretary of State.

Victory Fund is America’s leading national organization advocating for LGBTQ candidates at the local, state, and national levels of government. Endorsements from the group highlight not only a commitment to public service and equality but also emphasize the candidate’s viability.

“Victory Fund is pleased to endorse Rep. Josh Boschee for Secretary of State,” said Victory Fund President & CEO Annise Parker. “Rep. Boschee’s commitment to modernizing the Secretary of State’s office and ensuring all eligible North Dakotans’ right to vote is protected makes him the best candidate for Secretary of State. When he wins in November, Rep. Boschee will continue to be a voice for all North Dakotans.”

“I am honored to be joining the ranks of Victory Fund endorsed candidates,” said Representative Joshua Boschee (Dem-NPL 44) and candidate for Secretary of State. “Throughout my career, I have been an advocate for equality for all North Dakotans, and I look forward to bringing that important perspective to the Secretary of State’s office. Our citizens need a modern, responsive Secretary of State’s office that will advocate for their fundamental rights, especially the right to vote.”

“The people of District 44 know Josh is a tireless public servant with a strong moral compass, and he looks forward to bringing that same energy to the Secretary of State’s office,” said Scott McNeil, Executive Director of the Democratic-NPL. “The Victory Fund endorsement emphasizes his leadership ability and his commitment to our shared values of equality and open access to our state’s most important services.”

REPORT: Heitkamp pays North Dakotans who intern in her office, Cramer accepts free labor

#TBT from NDxPlains: Cramer has family on campaign payroll, refuses to pay interns

Former Heitkamp intern: “You don’t have to be ‘well-to-do’ to work for her. That’s just who she is and it’s reflected in how she runs her office.”

(BISMARCK, ND) – There’s a new push to get Members of Congress to pay their interns,and a report from Pay Our Interns details those who do – Senators Heidi Heitkamp and John Hoeven are on the list. Notably absent is Kevin Cramer, whose fondness for nepotism has led him to have family members on campaign payroll – and reimburse himself about $200,000.

Reports show that a typical internship can cost students up to $6,000, but apparently Cramer can’t stomach paying the North Dakotans who intern for him on Capitol Hill.

“It’s shameful that Kevin Cramer refuses to pay the North Dakotans who intern in his office, but still finds hundreds of thousands in campaign cash to line his own pockets,” said Scott McNeil, executive director of the North Dakota Dem-NPL. “Republican or Democrat, North Dakota’s Members of Congress have had a proud tradition of paying their interns the wages they’ve earned – Kevin Cramer should get on board because it’s the right thing to do.”

ND AG COMMUNITY: Cramer Choosing Political Ambitions with “Blind Allegiance” to Trump Tariffs Over North Dakota Farmers is Unacceptable

Trump’s Tariffs would be disastrous for agriculture producers. So why is Kevin Cramer still going along with them?

(BISMARCK, ND) – Kevin Cramer is still more worried about his own political career than North Dakotans, refusing to stand up to President Trump on his disastrous tariffs that could devastate North Dakota’s farmers. And his self-serving, cowardly support for a potential trade war has not gone unnoticed by North Dakotans who know our state deserves a strong advocate in the Senate.

He’s already been called out in the Bismarck Tribune for his lack of loyalty to North Dakota’s farmers, but Cramer still isn’t getting the message: It’s time to put your political ambitions aside and stand with North Dakota, not Washington big-shots and their detrimental trade policies.

This week, Kevin got another reminder from farmer and former State RepresentativeBenjamin Vig in the Fargo Forum:

  • Cramer is wrong to embrace the Trump tariffs as they are going to have a serious negative impact on middle America and looking at the economic numbers, we cannot afford a set back.

  • Whether it is soybeans, corn, or livestock, our family farmers and ranchers deliver. For the last 10 years, agriculture has been a bright spot in the American economy, showing steady growth with increasing market access. The markets come in many forms, often with new trade agreements overseas, or an increase in the renewable fuels consumption.

  • Promoting renewable fuel consumption would help use up our surplus corn and soybean supply, but Congressman Cramer’s blind allegiance to Trump is letting our farmers and ranchers down.

Minute by Minute: Attorney General Wayne Stenehjem Flouts North Dakota Law with Eight-Month Backlog in Industrial Commission Meeting Minutes

Stenehjem, Burgum, and Goehring are in violation of open records laws

North Dakotans deserve sunlight on important regulatory body

(BISMARCK, ND) – An eight-month delay is too long for the public to be shut out of what goes on at North Dakota Industrial Commissions’ meetings, but that gap has grown–and shows no sign of stopping–under the leadership of three Republicans: Attorney General Stenehjem, Governor Burgum, and Agriculture Commissioner Goehring.

This weekend, the Bismarck Tribune reported that the Industrial Commission is eight months behind publishing the minutes of its meetings. What’s worse: this delay is in direct violation of North Dakota’s open record laws according to the 2014 opinion of one of its commissioners: AG Stenehjem.

There is no excuse for this backlog, nor is this an isolated incident. After Stenehjem released his initial opinion in 2014, the Commission was again cited for long delays in disclosing its minutes in 2016 by the Office of the State Auditor.

“The three Republicans members of the Industrial Commission have hidden their minutes from the public since July of last year,” said David Thompson, Democratic-NPL candidate for Attorney General. “An eight-month delay in publishing the minutes of North Dakota’s most powerful agency, which regulates our state’s oil and gas industry, is simply inexcusable. A reasonable conclusion from the Industrial Commission’s consistent practice of hiding its minutes from the public for months–and even years–is that these actions are not accidents. This practice is nothing less than a disgrace and Attorney General Wayne Stenehjem should be ashamed for his continuing role in hiding these minutes from the public as the Commission’s legal advisor and as one of its three members along with Governor Burgum and Agriculture Commissioner Goehring.”

ICYMI: Cramer-backed steel tariffs are likely to cost the American economy thousands of jobs

Cramer silent as Federal Reserve economists conclude that the administration’s steel tariff is “likely to cost more jobs than it saves”

Cramer has dismissed concerns over potential job losses as a “misguided understanding of market impacts”

(BISMARCK, ND) – New research from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York suggests that U.S. tariffs on steel imports are likely to cost the American economy jobs, according to a Wall Street Journal report. Coupled with last week’s report of rising steel prices for American businesses, this could spell trouble for American manufacturers. Experts are particularly concerned about the economic impact of tit-for-tat retaliatory actions that would likely cause further economic harm.

Despite President Trump’s claim that “trade wars are good, and easy to win,” economists say ‘not so fast’ – warning of potential consequences as a result of a looming trade war. Kevin Cramer, who previously dismissed concerns over tariffs as “hysteria,” seems more concerned with praising the president than he is with protecting American jobs. Originally opposed to the administration’s tariffs, Cramer is now turning his back on American workers, shrugging off potential job losses as “short-term pain.” Cramer’s silence on this issue is especially dangerous for North Dakota, where over 17,000 workers are employed in industries that rely on steel and aluminum.

Highlights from the article below:

Wall Street Journal: Steel Tariffs Likely to Lea to U.S. Job Losses, Fed Economists Find

  • U.S. tariffs on steel imports are likely to cost the American economy jobs, according to new research from Federal Reserve Bank of New York economists.
  • The research comes a day after the Federal Reserve said U.S. businesses reported rising steel prices due to the new tariffs.
  • Many economists have said the tariffs won’t have much of a positive impact for the U.S., and the Fed post bolsters that view.
  • The bigger issue is that domestic manufacturers will face higher costs both from tariff-affected foreign metal and from American producers lifting prices to match the imports.
  • On Wednesday, New York Fed leader William Dudley warned that “a tariff war would be a terrible, terrible outcome.” He added: “I would not look at a trade war as something we can win. I don’t really think a trade war is a winnable proposition.”

ICYMI from NDxPlains: ND GOP Leaders Silent on Ethanol Standards

Cramer, Burgum, and Hoeven suddenly quiet when it comes to helping North Dakota farmers

Cramer asks for farmers’ votes but leaves them in the dust on tariffs and biofuels

(BISMARCK, ND) – While Heidi Heitkamp has been fighting for the biofuel industry on the Senate Agriculture Committee and pushing for policies that put North Dakota farmers first, the ND GOP’s highest-ranking officials have been conspicuously quiet on regulatory changes that will hurt corn growers and ethanol producers.

Between Representative Kevin Cramer, Senator John Hoeven, and Governor Doug Burgum, someone should have something to say about an industry that generates $300 million every year and supports over 10,000 jobs in this state, right? Wrong. Instead, all that North Dakota farmers can hear are crickets.

Will Kevin Cramer or John Hoeven finally speak up about the negative effects of Washington’s changes to biofuel policy? Will Doug Burgum join other Republican governors in calling for stronger Renewable Fuel Standards? Are North Dakota’s GOP leaders going to side with farmers on this commonsense policy to grow our agricultural economy? We’re not holding our breath.

NDxPlains: Still Silent on Waivers to ND Refineries which Impacts Ethanol

  • At the beginning of April, I wrote about how two of North Dakota’s refineries received a waiver from the EPA. The waivers claimed it was too difficult and expensive for Andeavor, one of the largest oil refiners in the nation, to produce ethanol in North Dakota. Let that sink in, too difficult and expensive to produce ethanol from corn in farm-state North Dakota. Governor Doug Burgum failed to take a public stand with six other Republican Governors. He isn’t alone in his silence.

  • Where is Senator John Hoeven? How about Congressman Kevin Cramer? I haven’t heard where they stand on this administrative change. Have I missed it? This weekend, Republican South Dakota Senator Mike Rounds expressed his concerns over the EPA changes. North Dakota’s Democratic Senator Heidi Heitkamp has spoken out on changes to biofuel standards. Hoeven and Cramer, still silent.

  • Both released statements in support of Japan’s change to begin importing U.S. corn-based ethanol. That is a great development. No, they’ve been silent on ethanol when it is negative for farmers and when it appears to benefit oil production.

Cramer comes out swinging for President Trump’s disastrous trade war, totally abandoning North Dakota farmers and ranchers

Farmers feel betrayed by Cramer’s political tap dance

(BISMARCK, ND) – Last week in a campaign email, Kevin Cramer came out swinging for President Trump’s disastrous tariffs – completely abandoning North Dakota farmers, ranchers, manufacturers and workers who are already suffering the consequences from the impending trade war.

Here’s what he said:

“To date, we haven’t had a President with the fortitude to stand up to these unfair practices and now we do. He needs our support. Senator Heitkamp has been critical of Trump’s position while Rep. Kevin Cramer has supported it.”

 So where does Cramer actually stand? He’s been doing cartwheels on this issue since day one – when he initially deleted a tweet opposing the tariffs. That same day, Cramer compared voting against the president to cheating on a wife.

But now, it looks like Cramer has finally come out full-bore for the president’s trade war – at least to his campaign supporters.

Pay for Play: Cramer sides with special interests, campaign contributors over internet freedom for North Dakotans

Cramer took more than $70,000 from telecom industry last cycle

(BISMARCK, ND) – Today, the Federal Communications Commission’s (FCC) repeal of net neutrality rules are scheduled to take effect – so where does Kevin Cramer stand? Not with North Dakotans. Here are three important things to know about Cramer and his votes to undermine net neutrality and consumer protections for North Dakotans online:

  1. Kevin Cramer voted against strong net neutrality rules. Despite the importance of a free and open internet for North Dakota consumers, small businesses and rural communities, Kevin Cramer voted to block the FCC’s net neutrality rules and voted against funding for the FCC’s net neutrality order.

  2. Kevin Cramer voted to gut consumer protections for North Dakotans online.Last year, Cramer voted to block FCC rules that protect North Dakotans’ internet browsing history. Because of Cramer and his cronies in Congress, big internet service providers can sell consumers’ online browsing history without their permission.
    Cramer pledged to release his own browsing history, but we’re still waiting for him to keep that promise.

  3. Kevin Cramer has been bought by the telecom industry. Kevin Cramer’s votes on internet freedom might not make sense to North Dakotans, but the puzzle fits together when you look at his campaign contributions. According to FEC data, Cramer took more than $70,000 from the telecom industry last cycle – making him one of the top recipients in the House of Representatives.

North Dakota Democratic-NPL Calls for Bipartisan Commission to Explore Budget Priorities

Governor Burgum’s Budget Outline fails to address pressing issues facing North Dakota

Massive cuts to vital state services, education set the state up for financial ruin

(BISMARCK, ND) – Today, the North Dakota Democratic-NPL is calling for a bipartisan commission to review to state’s budget priorities in response to Governor Doug Burgum’s radical vision aimed at slashing public services presented in his Strategic Budget Outline for the 2019-2021 cycle. To make up for draining North Dakota’s reserve funds of $800 million last cycle, the Governor latest scheme includes a potential 8 to 13 percent reduction in the budgets of state agencies and drastic changes to higher education funding.

“There’s nothing innovative or strategic about an 8 to 13 percent across the board budget cut,” saidHouse Democratic-NPL Leader Corey Mock (D-18). “As much as the Governor touts ‘reinventing government’ in North Dakota, this budget proposal leaves working families underserved and puts the state on shaky financial grounds. Governor Burgum should not only reconsider his call for indiscriminatorybudget cuts, but convene a bipartisan, public-private task force to identify our priorities and build an innovative budget that meets our state’s growing needs.”

In addition to cuts of state services, Burgum proposed a $50 million reduction in higher education funding, axing nearly one-third of the North Dakota University System’s budget over four years.

While the Governor stated these cuts will not affect K-12 education, he failed to address critical shortfalls in the current funding model for schools. For the previous two bienniums, funding per student has remained stagnant leading to a five to six percent gap that Burgum’s current budget outline does not address.

“We need to ask ourselves and our elected officials about the kind of state we want to live in,” said Senate Democratic-NPL Leader Joan Heckaman (D-23). “Our hope is that through a bipartisan commission, both parties can identify key priorities that meet the needs of North Dakota, find opportunities for cooperation, and present a budget that strengthens our fiscal footing while continuing to provide high-quality service for our citizens and a proper education for the next generation.”

There He Goes Again: Just like in 2014, Cramer sets the stage to hold Farm Bill hostage over partisan provision

North Dakotans notice Cramer’s consistent betrayal of farmers and ranchers 

#TBT: Williston Herald excoriated Cramer for lack of leadership, politicizing Farm Bill in 2013

(BISMARCK, ND) – He’s at it again. Just like in 2014 when Cramer was roundly admonished by North Dakota media for his efforts that threatened to upend the Farm Bill over a politically divisive provision, Cramer set the stage this week to hold again hold the 2018 Farm Bill hostage over a partisan issue.

After rushing to take credit for the U.S. House Committee on Agriculture’s passage of the 2018 Farm Bill – which, having never been a member of the committee, he did not vote to pass – Cramer released a statement praising not the priorities for North Dakota farmers and producers, but a robust defense of the bill’s most controversial provision.

It’s been a rough few weeks for Cramer on Ag. Trying to convince farmers he’s fighting for their interests when he’s abandoned them to curry favor within his own party and the White House is no easy task. As the New York Times reported, North Dakota farmers and producers are well aware that he’s supporting the president’s devastating tariffs ahead their livelihoods.

“There he goes again – Kevin Cramer has never been there for North Dakota’s farmers and ranchers and, just like in 2014, he’s laying the groundwork to topple a strong Farm Bill over a political provision,” said Scott McNeil, Executive Director of the North Dakota Democratic-NPL. “Farmers and ranchers need strong crop insurance programs, robust trade opportunities and solutions that address a tough commodities market – but time and again, Cramer has left them in the dust for more powerful buddies in his party and the White House. North Dakota farmers and producers won’t be fooled by his efforts to take credit for a bill passing in the House Ag committee – where he refuses to serve – and on Election Day, they won’t forget that he left them behind.”

Politicizing the Farm Bill is nothing new for Congressman Cramer – the Williston Herald editorial board took him to task for his lack of leadership during the last Farm Bill debate:

We feel Cramer needs to take a lesson from Hoeven and Sen. Heidi Heitkamp in how to wield influence.

… 

He needs to make the farm bill his No. 1 priority, whether it is pushing to reconsider the House version or passing the Senate version. 

… 

North Dakota voters have a history of electing candidates, not parties, and re-election is no guarantee for Cramer just because the vote is on his record.

They need to see real leadership, real influence and real fight in passing the farm bill.

Not just an under-whelming, uninspired “Yes” vote.

Meanwhile, Senator Heitkamp has always put North Dakota’s agriculture producers first – and ever since she was elected to the Senate, she’s served on the Agriculture Committee and helped push through a bipartisan Farm Bill. And when farmers and ranchers faced a devastating drought last summer, Heidi sat down and listened to their concerns. But she also got results – the Department of Agriculture heeded her call to increase staffing at FSA agencies, they expanded CRP lands and she successfully secured tax relief for farmers who suffered losses from the drought.

ICYMI: North Dakota farmers continue speaking out against trade war, Cramer ignores concerns

 (BISMARCK, ND) – Kevin Cramer just can’t bring himself to stand up for North Dakota farmers and ranchers. Why? Because for Cramer, party loyalty and his political career always come first. And it looks like North Dakota farmers are starting to notice.

This week, the New York Times reported on the deep concerns of North Dakota agricultural producers with the president’s tariffs. And yesterday, Reuters wrote about North Dakota farmers and producers’ growing frustrations with the president’s out-of-touch and reckless trade policies – with one North Dakota farmer saying, “that is not the way to do things.”

Perhaps it’s time for Kevin Cramer to start standing up for North Dakotans instead of just himself? Highlights from the article below:

Reuters: Trump’s looming trade war gives Democrats an opening in farm country

  • “We cannot survive a trade war,” Heitkamp said in a recent interview before an event with women business owners in Jamestown, a city of about 16,000 people in east-central North Dakota. “This kind of disruption to a fragile farm economy is very disturbing.”
  • Heitkamp, locked in a tight re-election fight with Republican challenger Kevin Cramer, has led Democratic attacks on Trump for ignoring the economic threat to the region’s export-dependent farmers. The trade dispute has set off political alarms across the conservative farm belt, putting Republican candidates on the defensive and complicating the party’s fight to retain control of Congress.
  • Trump’s decision to impose tariffs on imported aluminum and steel along with other goods drew threats of retaliation from Beijing on a list of U.S. agricultural products, topped by soybeans. The crop is farm country’s most valuable export to China, worth $12 billion last year.
  • Doyle Lentz, 56, who grows wheat, barley, canola and soybeans on his 7,000-acre North Dakota farm, said he was “angry” about Trump’s combative trade stance towards China, one of the U.S. ag sector’s most important customers.
  • “I just don’t understand the approach of holding a gun to someone’s head to make a deal, that is not the way to do things,” said Lentz, a former chairman of the National Barley Growers Association and self-described independent voter.

Burgum’s Budget Guidelines Fail to Address North Dakota’s Priorities

 

(BISMARCK, ND) — Yesterday, Governor Doug Burgum presented his guidelines for the 2019-2021 budget process that fail to address the needs of working families and pressing priorities of North Dakota.

“These guidelines are woefully inadequate to solve the problems facing North Dakota’s fiscal health,” said Senate Democratic-NPL Leader Joan Heckaman (D-23).”The state is looking at an $800 million shortfall that Governor Burgum seems to believe can be addressed by empty and vague platitudes about the power of innovation. North Dakotans need real leadership that supports working families and secures a better future for our children.”
“Governor Burgum’s budget plan calls for unrealistic and wrongheaded across the board cuts to our most important state functions and the salaries of public sector employees,” said House Dem-NPL Leader Corey Mock (D-18). “Reductions in state agencies and higher education will put North Dakota on the road to a serious fiscal catastrophe that states like Kansas and Oklahoma have not recovered from.”

Unsurprisingly, the Governor did not address rising property taxes his administration oversaw last year through the elimination of the property tax credit.