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ND Lawmakers Will Have Two Choices On Income Taxes: Eliminate It, Or Phase It...
Rep. Al Carlson, the House Majority Leader, has announced that he will be introducing legislation which would take North Dakota’s personal and corporate income tax rates down to zero. But back in...
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NDUS Vice Chancellor Accused Of Manipulating Hiring Process For Auditor
Back in November I reported that two of the North Dakota University System’s top accountability personnel – Chief Auditor Timothy Carlson and Compliance Officer Kirsten Franzen – had been placed on...
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LegitSlater: Legislative Scorecard 2015 Primer
While the 64th Legislative Assembly is slated to begin next week, the SAB War Room has been running three shifts daily going through every line of every prefiled bill. Christmas dinners were missed,...
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2014 Was SAB’s Best Year Ever
It’s the end of another year and this one went by all too quickly. That is all too often the case when it comes to good years, and 2014 was a very good year for SAB. In addition to having the best year...
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Kathleen O’Brien: Common Core Supporters Mislead
After reading the letter to the editor that was published in newspapers around the state on Dec 20, 2014 regarding Common Core from the ND Chamber of Commerce, the NEA union, NDCEL and the director of...
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Forget Common Core: Education Policy Should Be Set By North Dakotans
Forum Communications reporter Jennifer Johnson has a story out regarding “tensions” building over the Common Core issue based on emails between lawmakers and lobbyists “obtained by the Herald.” And by...
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Could Alaska’s Oil Price Debacle Happen To North Dakota?
Alaska’s economy and state budget are based on oil. Not surprisingly, the recent freefall in oil prices has not been good to them, but is this a cautionary tale for North Dakota? …the state woefully...
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John Dorso: Reflections On College Sports And Legislating For The New Year
In the last few weeks I have read some posts on SAB that I can’t help commenting on. Fewer bills introduced in a legislative session was one of my goals during my time as House Majority Leader. Rod...
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North Dakota Dem: Empowering The People Is “Politics At Its Absolute Worst”
The rest of the state media has picked up on a story I broke about legislation, sponsored by Rep. Roscoe Streyle of Minot, which would change the way the state fills Senate vacancies. Currently the...
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University Of North Dakota Spending An Obscene Amount Of Money On Nickname...
Well, this is just plain ridiculous, but sadly fitting with the North Dakota University System’s overall stewardship of taxpayer dollars: As of Dec. 30, the university had spent a total of $126,261.95...
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Sen. Lonnie Laffen: Democrats Doomed Meaningful Oil Tax Reforms
The North Dakota legislature will grapple with many challenging issues during the upcoming session. Issues of infrastructure, tax relief, and education top the list. While not as top-of-the-mind as...
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Rod St. Aubyn: Should Contracts For Public Officials Even Exist?
In the past few years news reports have brought to light activities that resulted in the resignation/termination of several public officials. As the stories evolved it was reported that based on...
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UND President Has Nothing To Show For Month Off Studying Tenure Issue
What if a university president took a month off to study an aspect of university administration but then had nothing to show for it? Wouldn’t that make it seem as though the president in question…kind...
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Showdown Coming On Confirmation Of Higher Ed Board President: “If We Condone...
One of the tasks the Legislature will take up this week as they convene their 2015 session is the confirmation of four of the eight members of the State Board of Higher Education, including board...
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NDDOT Wants To Charge Businesses For Highway Acknowledgement Signs
Here’s something from the “you learn something new every day” category. Anyone who has traveled America’s highways and byways is aware of those highway signs approaching exits which tell you what sort...
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North Dakota May Be Just Days Away From First Oil Tax Trigger
With oil prices plunging one major area of concern for North Dakota, aside from the economic downturn that would result from declining oil activity, is the impact on the state budget. Lower oil prices...
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James Kerian: North Dakota Has An Opportunity For Real Tax Relief
House Majority Leader Al Carlson, R-Fargo, announced last week that he is introducing a bill to phase out North Dakota’s income tax. Carlson floated this proposal in an interview nearly two and a half...
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What Version Of Reality Does The Fargo Forum Editorial Board Live In?
North Dakota’s 2015 legislative session begins today, kicked off with the State of the State address from Governor Jack Dalrymple. After that most, of the week will be taken up by other ceremonial...
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Is It About More Women In Politics, Or More Liberal Women In Politics?
The North Dakota Women’s Network is an organization which claims to want more women in politics for no other reason than they believe there aren’t enough women serving in public office. They’re...
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Here’s The Ugly Truth For North Dakota About Oil Prices: Nobody Really Knows
“It’s a big, black cloud hanging over the session,” Senator Dwight Cook, a Republican from Mandan and chairman of the Senate Finance and Taxation Committee, said of oil prices recently as North...
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