Bismarck, ND –  With the passage of SB 2030 the NDGOP has made it abundantly clear that the most sacred right enshrined in the Bill of Rights can be cast aside in the name of a 21st Century witch hunt led by Sen. Janne Myrdal (R-Edinburg). 

The NDGOP turned what began as good legislation to fund important and necessary research into a bill that will strip academic freedom from universities, faculty, and students. The bill will undoubtedly drive away students, faculty, and their economic support from our state. The fate of the bill, and academic freedom, now sits on the Governor’s desk.  

Democratic-NPL Executive Director Michael Taylor spoke on the anti-American legislation; 

“What this bill does is strip away academic freedom for the next generation of leaders in North Dakota. If a supermajority of NDGOP legislators are willing to blatantly strip First Amendment rights, what right will they take away from you next? The leadership of this party, from Governor Burgum to our leaders in the United States Senate, are failing you and your family and allowing a frothing group of right-wing zealots – who view a serial sexual harasser as a martyr – to overtake our state government.”

Taylor continued;

“To each and every North Dakotan: I urge you to look at what is happening to our state. The NDGOP has had opportunity after opportunity to create legislation that improves your life. Instead, every single time they have chosen to pass laws that objectively make your life harder, less safe, or outright spit in the face of the Constitution. This cannot stand for one more day. How many Constitutional rights are you willing to give up for elected officials that give you nothing, while taking your tax dollars and killing jobs in your communities?”