Today, Governor Doug Burgum signed the last of the anti-LGBTQ+ bills to come to his desk. An unprecedented number of anti-trans bills have been introduced in legislatures across the country.

North Dakota Democratic-NPL Chair Adam Goldwyn said, “This legislative session was exhausting and downright terrifying for North Dakota’s LGBTQ+ Community. Republicans used to believe in limited government and personal freedom. In signing these bills, Burgum once again betrays those ideals. The greatness of America lies in its guarantee to each of its citizens the freedom to be who they want without government interference. To our LGBTQ+ family, friends, and neighbors: we see you, we hear you, you are welcome here. You are wanted here. Your fight is our fight and we will never give up.”

In a similar vein, House Minority Leader Zac Ista remarked, “The flurry of hateful bills that we saw this session was mind numbing, but what we won’t do is become numb to the pain it’s caused countless North Dakotans. To anyone who is frightened or hurt by what we see here and across the country, know that this isn’t over. That’s why we’re committed to electing legislators in 2024 who will fight to protect your rights, not restrict your freedoms.”

The 68th Legislative Assembly adjourned on April 30, 2023. Fewer than half the anti-LGBTQ bills introduced in North Dakota, made it on to become laws.

The North Dakota Democratic-NPL House Caucus has elected new leadership to serve during the 2023-2024 interim session of the 68th Legislative Assembly. Rep. Zac Ista (District 43, Grand Forks) has been elected Minority Leader, Rep. Joshua Boschee (District 44, Fargo) has been elected Assistant Minority Leader, and Rep. Jayme Davis (District 9A, Rolette) has been elected Caucus Chair.

Boschee, who has served as the House Minority Leader since 2019, said the caucus decided to elect new leadership for the interim in response to term limits adopted by North Dakota voters in 2022. “The Democratic-NPL House Caucus believes in intentional succession planning given the new reality of term limits,” said Boschee. “Bringing new leadership on board now will allow for ongoing mentorship, promote continuity of representation, and ensure adequate time for the new leaders to strengthen productive working relationships with the majority leaders and across state government ahead of the 2025 legislative session,” he added.

Ista, who has served in the House since 2020, expressed his excitement to serve and his gratitude for Boschee’s leadership. “I am humbled and honored that my Dem-NPL colleagues elected me to serve as Minority Leader,” Ista said. “Rep. Boschee is a great friend and mentor, and I appreciate the confidence he has placed in me to be his successor. The positive impact he has made both on our caucus and on public policy in North Dakota cannot be overstated, and I aspire to build upon that impressive legacy” added Ista.

Davis, who was first elected in 2022 and is an enrolled member of the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa Indians echoed Ista’s excitement about her new opportunity. “I am excited to serve my Democratic-NPL colleagues as their caucus chair,” said Davis. “During the 2023 legislative session, our House caucus led the passage of nearly 40 laws and resolutions impacting the biggest issues facing North Dakota, like making investments in workforce development and childcare. I look forward to building off this success and helping to grow our caucus in the 2024 elections.” Davis is the first Native American elected to a North Dakota leadership position.

Davis replaces Rep. Gretchen Dobervich (District 11, Fargo) as Democratic-NPL House Caucus Chair. Dobervich held the position since 2018. “It truly has been an honor to serve the Democratic-NPL House Legislative Caucus. I am very excited Rep. Davis has been elected by her peers to serve,” said Dobervich. “She will add not only diversity to our caucus leadership team but also years of leadership experience and knowledge,” added Dobervich.

The regular session of the 68th Legislative Assembly concluded its work in the early hours of April 30. The newly elected leaders of the Dem-NPL House Legislative Caucus will serve until caucus leadership elections at the Organizational Session of the 69th Legislative Assembly in December 2024.

As the Governor signs the $515M tax bill, Sen. Merrill Piepkorn (D-Fargo) and Rep. Zac Ista (D-Grand Forks) expressed relief that Democratic-NPL lawmakers were able to get needed changes to the bill, “Democrats’ ideas greatly influenced this final product. Democrats warned of the dangers of a flat tax and that it amounts to nothing more than a giveaway to the richest taxpayers. This bill recognizes that Democrats were right and moves away from the misguided flat tax. It’s far from perfect, but I’m glad to see the conference committee moved the income tax provisions to where they are now,” remarked Ista.

The property tax relief in this bill is much closer to Sen. Piepkorn’s proposal for a primary residence tax credit than it is to the complex mill buy down proposal favored by Republican lawmakers. It also expands the popular Homestead Tax Credit, which Democrats supported as bill co-sponsors this session. Piepkorn noted, “Democrats have always fought for a generous Homestead Property Tax credit, and this bill delivers on that goal. When I’ve been door-to-door talking to my constituents—my neighbors—the primary concern I hear is property tax, I’m glad we’re able to ease this burden.”

Ista emphasized, “The bill still has concerning long-term effects. This bill could have us on the hook for $600M in ongoing costs and reduced revenues. That’s money that can’t be invested in childcare, healthcare, or public education. We already see this session the growing gap between our revenues and our expenses; this bill will only widen that gap. The more we cut income tax, the more dependent we become on oil and gas taxes to make up the difference. That’s risky given the volatility of the oil market, whereas income taxes are stable. No one is clamoring for an income tax cut, and it’s very unclear why we insist on cutting taxes for wealthy North Dakotans especially. Believing the wealthy should pay their fair share isn’t class warfare, it’s common sense.”

Yesterday, President Joe Biden announced his candidacy for President of the United States in the 2024 Presidential Election.

North Dakota Democratic-NPL Chair Adam Goldwyn said, “It’s a great day to be a Democrat. We’re proud of our president and his accomplishments in his first term. North Dakota has witnessed some of the most extreme legislation in the country—book bans, funneling money to lawmakers while school children go hungry, and now our Governor has signed one of the harshest abortion bans into law. Biden’s consequential legislation like the American Rescue Plan Act, Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, and Inflation Reduction Act brought essential funding to North Dakota. North Dakotans can hold their heads up high when they say ‘I’m voting for Biden.’”

In Biden’s announcement video, he remarked, “Personal freedom is fundamental to who we are as Americans. There’s nothing more important. Nothing more sacred.

That’s been the work of my first term: To fight for our Democracy. This shouldn’t be a red or blue issue. To protect our rights. To make sure that everyone in this country is treated equally. And that everyone is given a fair shot at making it.

But around the country, MAGA extremists are lining up to take those bedrock freedoms away. Cutting social security that you’ve paid for your entire life while cutting taxes for the very wealthy. Dictating what health care decisions women can make, banning books, and telling people who they can love. All while making it more difficult for you to be able to vote.

When I ran for President four years ago, I said we are in a battle for the soul of America. And we still are. The question we are facing is whether in the years ahead we have more freedom or less freedom. More rights or fewer.”

The North Dakota Dem-NPL is proud to stand with the President for four more years.

Yesterday, Governor Doug Burgum signed a bill to ban gender affirming care for trans children in North Dakota despite the calls from many parents, children, and doctors demanding he veto the bill.

North Dakota Democratic-NPL Chair Patrick Hart said, “Doug Burgum initially ran on a platform in support of anti-discrimination laws, but the far-right has taken the wheel within the National Republican Party. It’s not surprising that he turned his back on LGBTQ+ North Dakotans now that he’s desperately trying to make a national name for himself, and curry favor with extreme right-wing ND legislators. This will drive families from our state.”

Critically, healthcare professionals have made it clear that this legislation will lead to serious, negative mental health consequences for some North Dakota kids; and the result will be greater risk of suicide and other forms of self-harm. Burgum and ND Republicans have decided their judgment about how to raise kids is better than that of parents and the child’s doctor. This is offensive to parents in our state, and one more example of Republicans in ND using the power of the state to strip parents of their choices in how to raise their own children.

Democratic-NPL lawmakers expressed their disappointment and anger on social media. House Minority Leader Josh Boschee remarked, “Gov. Burgum’s argument for signing this legislation is weak. He knows no doctors are providing gender reassignment surgery to North Dakotans under 18. But in signing the bill, he criminalizes doctors who provide other safe, evidence-based treatments approved by parents.”

“This is a sad day that we are taking medical decisions out of the hands of medical professionals and parents,” wrote Senator Ryan Braunberger

“Besides wasting taxpayer dollars on inevitable litigation, signing this bill does real harm to the trans community.” said Representative Karla Rose Hanson.

Cowing to the national trend, this is the fourth anti-Trans bill Burgum has signed into law this legislative session.

The entire Democratic-NPL House Caucus today voted against a proposed constitutional amendment that would handcuff cities, counties, and school districts, impede delivery of important services and infrastructure improvements throughout the state, and increase sales tax statewide. The measure, HCR 3024, would have placed on the 2024 ballot a proposal to ban the collection of all property taxes in North Dakota and require the state government to reimburse political subdivisions for the lost revenue by raising the state’s sales tax. It was sponsored by Rep. Jeff Hoverson (R-Minot) and backed by former state representative and failed U.S. Senate candidate Rick Becker. In the House Floor debate and his testimony, Rep. Hoverson made the bizarre claim that the 10 Commandments prohibit property tax.

“Bringing down property taxes, especially for working families and seniors on fixed incomes, is a top priority for our caucus,” said Rep. Zac Ista (D-Grand Forks), who serves on the House Finance & Taxation Committee. “But eliminating all property taxes would be a disaster for public schools, local emergency services, and roads and bridges across the state. If this heavy-handed and misguided proposal were adopted, the ultimate result would be forcing the state to substantially increase our sales tax to make up the difference, and we know the burden of higher sales taxes falls squarely on low- and middle-class North Dakotans,” added Rep. Ista.

Democratic-NPL legislators continue to support other proposals to bring down taxes for North Dakota families. Among those proposals are bills to expand the Homestead Tax Credit to offer more property tax relief to low-income senior citizens and persons with disabilities, including HB 1211 and SB 2136. “The popular Homestead Property Tax Credit and Renter’s Refund provides targeted tax relief to those most in need,” said House Minority Leader and SB 2136 co-sponsor Josh Boschee (D-Fargo). “This targeted approach is a better way to direct tax relief without shifting the tax burden to other taxpayers or further chipping away at local control,” Rep. Boschee continued.

Democratic-NPL lawmakers have put forward additional bills to bring down taxes for middle-class North Dakota families, including Sen. Merrill Piepkorn’s (D-Fargo) bill to provide an income tax credit to offset local property taxes, Rep. Gretchen Dobervich’s (D-Fargo) bill to exempt feminine hygiene products from sales tax, and Sen. Kathy Hogan’s (D-Fargo) bill to provide a child care income tax credit. The Republican supermajority blocked Piepkorn’s and Dobervich’s common sense bills; the House Finance & Taxation Committee gave Sen. Hogan’s child care tax credit bill a “do not pass” recommendation on March 13.

“Besides property taxes, the top issue facing North Dakota is tackling the child care crisis,” said Senate Minority Leader Hogan. “Providing a direct income tax credit will provide meaningful relief to families who struggle to afford the high cost of childcare in our state. The legislature should be laser-focused on providing this type of targeted tax relief for the North Dakotans who need it most while making sure the wealthiest individuals and corporations pay their fair share for the services we rely on from the state,” concluded Sen. Hogan.

Eliminating property taxes all together obliterates important funding that keep our communities strong. Democratic-NPL lawmakers will continue to fight for meaningful property tax relief that doesn’t jeopardize funding public schools, fixing our roads, or supporting critical emergency services.