BISMARCK — North Dakota Senate Minority Leader Joan Heckaman told Forum News Service she will retire from the Legislature when her term ends in 2022 because the redistricting process took a run for reelection “off the table.” A redistricting map approved by lawmakers last month lands the New Rockford Democrat in a district where no election will Read More…
Burleigh and Morton counties last year were hot spots for cash, vehicles and firearms found to be involved in criminal activity. But criminal justice officials say it doesn’t appear law enforcement agencies are abusing civil asset forfeiture, a legal process that targets property involved in crimes. North Dakota’s attorney general said reports on the property Read More…
CHEYENNE, Wyo. (PRESS RELEASE) – Earlier this year, after Wyoming received the first installment of funds from the American Rescue Plan, Governor Mark Gordon asked a Strike Team to work on big ideas that would help Wyoming drive towards a future where its citizens will thrive. Now there are more than $3 billion in proposals that the Read More…
CHEYENNE, Wyo. – House Bill 1002, Federal COVID vaccine mandates-prohibition and remedies-2 was signed by Governor Mark Gordon. HB1002 provides $4 million in funding for legal challenges to any COVID-19 vaccination mandates passed by the Federal government according to a release. “This bill confirms the Legislature’s support for the Executive branch’s previously-expressed determination to fight Read More…
BISMARCK — North Dakota Senate Minority Leader Joan Heckaman told Forum News Service she will retire from the Legislature when her term ends in 2022 because the redistricting process took a run for reelection “off the table.” A redistricting map approved by lawmakers last month lands the New Rockford Democrat in a district where no election will Read More…
Burleigh and Morton counties last year were hot spots for cash, vehicles and firearms found to be involved in criminal activity. But criminal justice officials say it doesn’t appear law enforcement agencies are abusing civil asset forfeiture, a legal process that targets property involved in crimes. North Dakota’s attorney general said reports on the property Read More…
CHEYENNE, Wyo. (PRESS RELEASE) – Earlier this year, after Wyoming received the first installment of funds from the American Rescue Plan, Governor Mark Gordon asked a Strike Team to work on big ideas that would help Wyoming drive towards a future where its citizens will thrive. Now there are more than $3 billion in proposals that the Read More…
CHEYENNE, Wyo. – House Bill 1002, Federal COVID vaccine mandates-prohibition and remedies-2 was signed by Governor Mark Gordon. HB1002 provides $4 million in funding for legal challenges to any COVID-19 vaccination mandates passed by the Federal government according to a release. “This bill confirms the Legislature’s support for the Executive branch’s previously-expressed determination to fight Read More…
PIERRE, S.D. (KELO) — It’s possible the House and Senate won’t agree Monday when lawmakers meet in special session on where to put boundaries for legislative districts that would apply in elections the next 10 years. If there is a stalemate, that duty, known as reapportionment, would fall, for the first time, upon the South Read More…
As the South Dakota Legislature prepares to undertake impeachment proceedings against Attorney General Jason Ravnsborg, who killed a pedestrian with his car in 2020, a new poll shows that a strong majority of state residents is in favor of removing him from office. The late October poll of 500 registered voters in South Dakota showed Read More…
Another county in eastern Oregon voted to approve a measure to join the “Greater Idaho” movement in response to progressive policies in Portland. Sixty-three percent of voters in Harney County supported the non-binding Measure 13-18 as of Wednesday morning, Oregon Public Broadcasting (OPB) reported. It’s the only countywide vote this year. READ FULL STORY
The Wyoming Senate voted 15-13 Friday to kill a bill fighting expected federal COVID-19 rules as the House advanced two heavily amended measures of its own. Senators voted down Senate File 3-COVID-19 discriminatory practices, one of three COVID-related measures being worked by the Legislature, after considering 13 amendments and adopting seven. As originally written, the measure Read More…
BISMARCK, N.D. – Next month’s abbreviated session of the North Dakota Legislature is intended to finish the job of legislative redistricting and to determine how federal coronavirus relief aid will be spent. But some lawmakers want to broaden the agenda. More than two dozen bills have been submitted ahead of the session planned for Nov. Read More…
The leaders of the Wyoming House and Senate have formally announced a special session of the Wyoming Legislature to deal with President Biden’s vaccine mandate. The session is scheduled for Oct. 26-28, according to Senate President Dan Dockstader and House Speaker Eric Barlow. According to a release from the pair on Tuesday afternoon: READ FULL STORY
BOISE — From now on when Idaho Rep. Caroline Nilsson Troy looks at wildfire suppression budget proposals, she won’t ever again just see numbers or charts on a spreadsheet. Instead, she’ll see the faces of the firefighters and the equipment they rely on. Troy, R-Genesse, will see her family members standing with their arms wrapped Read More…
Gov. Burgum’s net-zero challenge to industry during the Williston Basin Petroleum Conference raised eyebrows — and maybe even a few hackles — back in May. It did something else, too, though. It has attracted what Burgum described as a multibillion dollar “cascade” of global investment interest. “Our announcement that we made in May Read More…
Idaho‘s feuding governor and lieutenant governor are at it again. As coronavirus cases spike in the state, Gov. Brad Little’s office disclosed Tuesday that he was mobilizing the National Guard again and adding hundreds of new medical personnel for state hospitals. And with hospitals strained due to unvaccinated patients, he called for more Idahoans “to receive the safe and Read More…
After years of laying groundwork, the future of Wyoming’s cryptocurrency banking industry now lies in the hands of federal regulators, officials with Wyoming U.S. Sen. Cynthia Lummis’ office told lawmakers Tuesday. In a presentation to the Wyoming Legislature’s Select Blockchain Committee on Tuesday, Lummis policy advisers Tyler Lindholm and Chris Land warned lawmakers that Wyoming Read More…
CASPER, Wyo. (AP) — Wyoming Gov. Mark Gordon said Thursday that he has asked the state’s attorney general to be prepared to challenge President Joe Biden’s new COVID-19 vaccine mandate, which he called an “egregious example of big government overreach.” “I have asked the Attorney General to stand prepared to take all actions to oppose Read More…
SIOUX FALLS | South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem said Friday that she is looking to make widespread changes in the state’s prison system after meeting with tired and discouraged employees working short-handed at the state penitentiary in Sioux Falls. The Republican governor fired the prison’s warden and deputy warden last week following an investigation Read More…
WYOMING – Rep. Liz Cheney will serve as the vice chair for the Jan. 6 committee, her office confirmed Sept. 2. “Every member of this committee is dedicated to conducting a non-partisan, professional, and thorough investigation of all the relevant facts regarding January 6th and the threat to our Constitution we faced that day,” Cheney said. “I Read More…
CASPER, Wyo. — Wyoming Governor Mark Gordon said during a conference call on Monday, August 16 that he and other governors are monitoring the situation as disruptions to the global supply chain continue to impact supplies in a number of industries. “There are a number of shortages,” Gordon said during the call. “Aviation fuel is Read More…
The Wyoming Democratic Party staff is unionizing as a part of the IBEW Local 415 union. Workers handed in their union cards Saturday to Joe Barbuto, the chair of the party, and he voluntarily recognized the union. “A big part of it is walking the walk,” said Lindsey Hanlon, the deputy communications director and a Read More…
The fundraiser, coordinated by Michigan-based Republican consultants the Templar Baker Group, features former candidates for the Wyoming statehouse, agriculture leaders and other high-profile political figures. It comes as Noem has been floated as a potential candidate for the Republican Party’s 2024 nomination for president. A representative for Gordon said Noem’s campaign approached him initially, asking Gordon whether he would Read More…
A longtime South Dakota lawmaker and former House majority leader died unexpectedly Friday, prompting tributes from state political leaders from around the state. David Lust died during the overnight hours Friday morning of a suspected heart attack, his law office confirmed to the Argus Leader. Lust was a partner at the Rapid City firm Gunderson, Read More…
CHEYENNE, Wyo. (AP) — Donald Trump will meet with Republicans running against Rep. Liz Cheney next week, and endorse one in the next few months, the former president said in a statement Tuesday. Trump will meet with them in Bedminster, New Jersey, home of the Trump National Golf Club Bedminster, where he has moved for Read More…
BISMARCK – North Dakota’s trust fund for oil taxes is realizing hefty earnings due to a rebounding economy and better-than-expected stock investments. Revenue from the Legacy Fund for the two-year budget cycle that ended last month was about $872 million. That’s up from the $736 million that budget writers and the Legislature had forecast. Nearly Read More…
Breaking with the longstanding norm of intraparty candidate neutrality, a Wyoming Republican Party official asked members of Congress for help vetting potential challengers to U.S. Rep. Liz Cheney in next year’s Republican primary. According to emails obtained by WyoFile, Wyoming Republican Party Revenue Committee Chairman Jeff Wallack contacted staffers for Rep. Dan Crenshaw, R-Texas, on Read More…
South Dakota is the latest state to send its residents to the U.S.-Mexico border to help overwhelmed federal and local law enforcement respond to sustained high levels of illegal immigration. But unlike Nebraska and Florida, which sent state troopers and local police officers to Texas earlier this month, South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem will send in the Read More…
North Dakota’s State Library has removed a Dr. Seuss children’s book discontinued by the publisher for its racist imagery. The decision came after Christopher Coen, of Fargo, suggested the library move “If I Ran the Zoo” from the children collection to the adult collection. The request was the library’s first of its kind in at Read More…
North Dakota legislative leaders on Tuesday dismissed criticism of new limits on emergency spending by a governor-led panel, saying they have no interest in repealing or amending the law. Republican Senate Majority Leader Rich Wardner said in an interview that criticism that the new law could hamper the state’s ability to address emergency spending Read More…
CHEYENNE, Wyoming — Liz Cheney’s vocal criticism of former President Donald Trump and her vote to impeach him cost her not only her leadership position as the No. 3 Republican in the House but has prompted a rush to challenge her in a primary in hopes of unseating the third-term congresswoman. But the 2022 primary election is more Read More…
(Cheyenne, WY) – Governor Mark Gordon has announced that up to $6.5 million of remaining CARES Act funds will be used to fund capacity expansion at Wyoming State Parks and Historic Sites. This will expand opportunities for people to spend time outside in the state, boost tourism and address overcrowding caused by COVID-19. The funds will Read More…
South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem (R) blasted President Biden on Tuesday, accusing him of being a “hypocrite” for planning Fourth of July celebrations at the White House after her plans to hold a fireworks display at Mount Rushmore were denied. “What a hypocrite. President @JoeBiden wants “a summer of freedom” where we “mark independence from the virus by celebrating with Read More…
Wyoming’s Supreme Court has rejected a request to remove the name of a law enforcement agent from an order censuring a former Laramie County deputy district attorney. Justices, in an order responding to the request from Wyoming Attorney General Bridget Hill, said the attorney general’s office was part of the censure of David Singleton, so Read More…
On April 27, 2021, Governor Doug Burgum of North Dakota signed House Bill 1032 into law, making North Dakota the latest state to enact drug price transparency measures. The North Dakota law has three main disclosure requirements applicable to drug manufacturers: (1) quarterly Wholesale Acquisition Cost (WAC) reporting, (2) disclosure of certain information upon a drug price Read More…
Gov. Mark Gordon announced Tuesday that up to $12 million of Wyoming’s currently remaining $67 million of CARES Act money will be put toward oil and gas projects through the Energy Rebound Program. The Wyoming Oil and Gas Conservation Commission will accept applications for funding from June 15 through 25. The program, which was created in Read More…
NAMPA, Idaho (KMVT/KSVT) —Transgender Democrat Melissa Sue Robinson announced on Tuesday her candidacy for governor of Idaho. Robinson says she’s running to help save the educational system in Idaho and fight fascism that has been “brought forward by Lt Governor, Janice McGeachin, Rep. Barbara Ehardt, The Idaho Freedom Foundation, Wayne Hoffman, and other far-right-wing Republicans.” Read More…
CHEYENNE — Governor Mark Gordon and Senator Cynthia Lummis (R-WY) welcomed news that the Federal Reserve has announced the opening of a comment period for proposed “Account Access Guidelines for the Reserve Banks.” In a press release, Gordon and Lummis said this is “a critical step towards approval of Wyoming-chartered special purpose depository institutions (SPDIs).” READ FULL STORY
South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem has formed a federal political action committee, indicating her growing fundraising prowess and national ambitions. The Republican has insisted she is focused on getting reelected as governor next year, but her nationwide fundraising network has fueled speculation she could be eyeing a 2024 presidential bid. Last week, her campaign registered a Read More…
Governor Doug Burgum has signed on to 3 House Bills and 2 Senate Bills. The governor also signed Senate Bill 2030, but vetoed Section 5 of said bill. Senate Bill 2030 is an act to provide an appropriation to the state board of higher education for the higher education challenge matching grant program. Burgum signed the bill Read More…
Two legislators are asking North Dakota’s Health Department to end phone calls to residents that inform them of how and where to get a COVID-19 vaccine. The state health officer in a response said immunization reminders are routine, callers are state-employed and trained on federal privacy law, and people can opt out of state-issued Read More…
Anti-government activist Ammon Bundy has filed paperwork with the Idaho Secretary of State’s Office indicating he intends to run for governor in 2021, writes Idaho Press reporter Ryan Suppe. The Secretary of State’s campaign finance portal shows Bundy’s name, with a Republican party affiliation. His treasurer appointment filing is dated May 21; he sought to Read More…
BISMARCK, N.D. (KFYR) – Federal Judge James Boasberg has denied the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe’s request to shut down the Dakota Access Pipeline. This opinion will allow for oil to continue to flow through the pipeline while further environmental review continues, despite earlier rulings from the court that vacated the pipeline’s permit to cross beneath Read More…