Featured Articles in Regional Politics

North Dakota Governor Signs Bill Merging Insurance and Securities Oversight

Governor Kelly Armstrong signed Senate Bill 2214 into law today, officially approving the merger of the North Dakota Securities Department into the North Dakota Insurance Department. The consolidation aims to streamline regulatory oversight of the state’s financial services industry. Under the new law, regulatory authority will be unified under the elected insurance commissioner. The merger Read More…

Wyoming Tribe’s Law Firm One Of The Few Fighting Trump’s Big-Law Orders

While nine law firms have made deals to avoid President Donald Trump’s orders targeting them, the one that works for Wyoming’s largest federally recognized Indian tribe is continuing to fight the federal government in court. As of Tuesday, nine firms had settled with Trump and agreed to perform, collectively, nearly $1 billion worth of free work in causes Read More…

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Lummis only Wyoming delegate to object to electoral college results

U.S. Sen. Cynthia Lummis, R-Wyo., objected to counting Pennsylvania’s Electoral College votes hours after a violent mob supporting President Donald Trump stormed the U.S. Capitol, causing significant damage, leading members of the U.S. Congress to seek shelter and delaying the certification of President-elect Joe Biden’s November victory by nearly six hours.   Lummis, sworn in Read More…

Budget, bonds, virus top North Dakota legislative session

BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) — Lawmakers convene Tuesday either in person wearing masks or remotely for North Dakota’s 67th legislative session. The session comes as lawmakers face tough spending choices amid a pandemic that’s hit a state economy already reeling from depressed oil and agriculture prices. Ambitious billion-dollar bonding proposals from Republicans, Democrats and Gov. Doug Read More…

Wyoming Governor prevents unemployment insurance tax hike

CHEYENNE, Wyo. (KIFI/KIDK)-Wyoming Governor Mark Gordon signed an executive order Monday to prevent large increases in Unemployment Insurance (UI) taxes for businesses directly impacted by COVID 19 health orders. Under the order, the Department of Workforce Services will remove unemployment insurance benefit charges from the policies of all businesses and industries named in health orders. Read More…

Kristi Noem urges frustrated Minnesota business owners to move to South Dakota: ‘We respect your rights’

South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem urged Minnesota business owners to relocate to her state after the Minnesota attorney general began suing bars that defied the state’s lockdown orders. “Come to South Dakota!” Noem tweeted. “We respect your rights. We won’t shut you down.” Noem’s tweet also shared a Star Tribune article that highlighted the stories of bars Read More…

WYOMING STEERING TOWARD AUTOMATIC SPEEDING CAMERAS; WOULD RAISE AN EXTRA $7.2 MILLION IN FINE COLLECTIONS

CASPER, Wyo. — The Wyoming Legislature is considering joining other states in authorizing the use of “automated vehicle identification systems” to enforce speed limits and other traffic laws. 19 states and the District of Columbia have laws in place which allow the use of cameras to issue speeding fines, according to the Governors Highway Safety Association. Read More…

Noem sent letters a week ago bowing out as one of South Dakota’s presidential elector

PIERRE, S.D. (KELO) — South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem sent official letters on December 7 withdrawing as a presidential elector and asking that South Dakota Republican Party chairman Dan Lederman serve in her place. Lederman and two fellow Republicans, Lieutenant Governor Larry Rhoden and State Attorney General Jason Ravnsborg, met at noon Monday in a Read More…

South Dakota signs on to Texas lawsuit challenging president election results

South Dakota is making a last-minute bid to overturn presidential election results and keep President-elect Joe Biden from taking office next month. South Dakota Attorney General Jason Ravnsborg’s office Wednesday joined 16 other states with Republican attorneys general in filing an Amicus Brief in support of Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton’s lawsuit against four battleground states — Georgia, Read More…

Idaho lieutenant governor, critic of handouts, got more than $300K in federal PPP loans

Idaho Lt. Gov. Janice McGeachin accepted $314,727 under the Paycheck Protection Program, a federal coronavirus relief program, records show. Three months later, she wrote an op-ed published in newspapers across the state criticizing those “who advocate socialized medicine, unearned income, and other handouts … that foster dependency.” The money was offered to employers under the $2.2 trillion coronavirus aid Read More…

North Dakota lawmakers to hear governor’s budget, decide Legislature mask mandate

New state lawmakers take office this week during the Legislature’s organizational session, during which the governor will lay out his budget plans and lawmakers will decide on a legislative mask mandate.   Among those swearing in will be a longtime, powerful state representative whom Gov. Doug Burgum sought to keep from another term.   Business during Read More…

South Dakota Attorney General Jason Ravnsborg was “distracted” before deadly crash, officials say

South Dakota Attorney General Jason Ravnsborg was “distracted” before he drove onto a highway shoulder where he struck and killed a pedestrian in September, state Secretary of Safety Craig Price said Monday. Price said 55-year-old Joseph Boever was walking on the side of the road and displaying some type of light on the night of Sept. Read More…

Governor preparing for legal fight over Bismarck-area House seat

Gov. Doug Burgum is seeking legal representation for a likely lawsuit over a Bismarck-area state legislative seat won by a deceased candidate.   The governor on Friday asked Attorney General Wayne Stenehjem to appoint three attorneys with Vogel Law Firm in Bismarck to represent him “on legal matters related to Legislative District 8’s membership in the North Read More…

Not a Republican, not a Democrat: Wyoming’s Marshall Burt wins Libertarian Party’s first statehouse seat since 2002

The Libertarian Party earned a historic victory Tuesday, clinching a statehouse seat for the first time in nearly two decades. Marshall Burt was elected to the Wyoming House of Representatives in its 39th district, defeating Democrat incumbent Stan Blake, said Bob Johnston on the Libertarian National Committee. “This is only the fifth time in Libertarian Party history a candidate running only on Read More…

GOVERNOR: WYOMING FINANCIAL OUTLOOK REMAINS GRIM – MORE BUDGET CUTS LIKELY

A state financial report released Monday showed a General Fund shortfall of $451.1 million and a school funding shortfall of $300 million, according to a news release from Gov. Mark Gordon. The Consensus Estimating Revenue Group’s forecast is slightly better than projected in May, but the state’s revenue collections have experienced a significant decline. “I Read More…

The Battle For Cheyenne: Could Democrats make gains in Wyoming’s capital city this year?

Some things are easy to predict in Wyoming politics.   The liberal enclaves of Jackson and Laramie will continue to favor Democrats, despite Wyoming’s deep red reputation. Natrona County, home to a robust and influential conservative establishment, will continue to elect Republicans under the local, “big tent” tradition. And towns such as Gillette, as conservative Read More…

Battle among South Dakota lawmakers brewing over COVID-19 spending authority

A committee of South Dakota lawmakers this week is expected to send recommendations to the governor’s office and the Legislature about how $1.3 billion in federal coronavirus relief funds should be used. But a meeting Wednesday to finalize formal suggestions could be a preview of what’s to come at next week’s special session. Legislators have been meeting for weeks with various Read More…

WYOMING GOVERNOR PRAISES TRUMP’S ORDER AIMING TO PROTECT U.S. MINING FROM CHINA, OTHER COUNTRIES

CASPER, Wyo. — Wyoming Governor Mark Gordon’s office said on Thursday, Oct. 1 that Gordon supports President Donald Trump’s decision to issue an executive order which aims to protect domestic mining in the United States. “Yesterday, September 30, President Donald Trump signed an Executive Order and declared a National Emergency to expand the domestic mining Read More…

CASPER ATTORNEY, FORMER CHIEF JUSTICE HONORED BY WYOMING STATE BAR

CASPER, Wyo. — Casper attorney and former Chief Justice of the Wyoming Supreme Court Michael Golden was presented with the Wyoming State Bar’s Gerald R. Mason Professionalism Award on Tuesday, Sept. 15. Golden’s award was presented Tuesday “during a small awards luncheon held in conjunction with the Bar’s Virtual Annual Meeting.” Wyoming State Bar President Read More…

Wyoming Public Service Commission delays investigation into state’s largest utility

The Wyoming Public Service Commission moved to delay finalizing its investigation into the state’s largest utility on Tuesday, after an energy company made an eleventh-hour request to include additional evidence in the case.   Commissioners had initially scheduled public deliberations on its investigation into PacifiCorp for Tuesday afternoon but ultimately delayed the proceeding. The commission determined it Read More…

North Dakota Democrats endorse new insurance commissioner candidate, sparking new lawsuit

North Dakota’s Democratic-NPL Party on Friday endorsed a new candidate for state insurance commissioner, days after the state Supreme Court ordered the party’s nominee removed from the ballot.   The party’s Executive Committee endorsed Mutual of Omaha insurance agent Jason Anderson, of Fargo, to replace Bismarck critical care respiratory specialist Travisia Martin, whom the court Read More…

Wyoming’s Senate primary pits a veteran Congress member against a party activist

On Tuesday, Republican primary voters will effectively choose their state’s next US senator. Sen. Mike Enzi, the four-term Republican incumbent who’s served as chair of the Senate Budget Committee since 2015, is retiring. He and the state’s junior senator, John Barrasso, have both endorsed former Rep. Cynthia Lummis for the seat. Lummis held Wyoming’s one and only House Read More…