Featured Articles in Regional Politics

‘We don’t want the money’: WA trucking industry resists EV mandate

The Center Square) – The Washington State Department of Ecology is proposing updates to regulations that reduce pollution from new semi-trucks and other commercial vehicles sold in the state. Ecology contends the updates will increase flexibility and help the industry transition to zero-emission trucks. DOE is offering over $130 million in taxpayer funding to buy clean trucks and build charging infrastructure Read More…

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…

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Vote for stricter trespass laws fails

CHEYENNE – An effort to change the state’s trespass laws to punish violators even if they were unaware they were on private property failed to make it out of committee Thursday. The Wyoming Legislature’s Joint Judiciary Interim Committee voted 8-6 against supporting the proposed legislation, which would have removed language that trespass laws only apply Read More…

Wyoming is committed to a ‘citizen legislature.’ But the format can limit who is able to participate.

Just before the close of the 2019 legislative session in Cheyenne, Rep. Landon Brown — then a 32-year-old staffer in the state’s Department of Environmental Quality — was contemplating resignation.   The Legislature was approaching concurrence on a bill to raise its $109 per diem rates for some lawmakers that, thanks to a late amendment Read More…

Wyoming governor settles 2016 lawsuit he filed as treasurer against state

Gov. Mark Gordon announced Thursday that he would be ending a legal proceeding he initiated as state treasurer in 2016 over that office’s authority to approve contracts related to the state capitol building construction project.   Gordon’s suit challenged the 2014 legislation that created the Capitol Building Rehabilitation and Restoration Oversight Group — the entity Read More…

North Dakota House energy committee chairman says business relationship with lobbyist unrelated to legislative work

The chairman of the North Dakota House’s energy committee recently defended a business relationship with the state’s top oil and gas lobbyist.   Mandan Republican Rep. Todd Porter and North Dakota Petroleum Council President Ron Ness are both listed in state records as partners in a commercial real estate investment group. Porter owns 5% of Read More…

South Dakota universities to ask for $91 million in ‘high-priority’ projects

South Dakota may only be half way through 2019, but the state’s public university system is looking two years into the future. Universities and schools under the South Dakota Board of Regents asked for almost $91.2 million to complete what they deemed as “high-priority projects” in 2021 at Wednesday’s board meeting through informal budget hearings. The Read More…

Panel advances two dozen candidates for North Dakota’s first ethics commission

BISMARCK — A panel charged with selecting members of North Dakota’s new state government ethics commission identified two dozen candidates for further consideration during a meeting at the state Capitol Friday, June 21. Members of the selection committee, composed of Gov. Doug Burgum and the Senate’s majority and minority leaders, each brought their own list Read More…

Former GOP Rep. Cynthia Lummis files to run for Wyoming Senate seat

Former Wyoming Rep. Cynthia Lummis (R) on Thursday officially filed to run for outgoing Sen. Mike Enzi’s (R-Wyo.) seat in 2020. Lummis, a former member of the conservative House Freedom Caucus, previously represented the Equality State as the state’s lone House representative, but opted not to seek reelection in 2016. Enzi, 75, in May announced his plans to retire from Read More…

Senators Cramer, Daines introduce constitutional amendment allowing Congress to ban flag desecration

BISMARCK, N.D. – On Flag Day, senators Kevin Cramer, R-N.D., and Steve Daines, D-Mont., introduced a constitutional amendment that would allow Congress to prohibit the desecration of the American flag. In a press release Friday, Cramer said “A flag worth dying for is a flag worth protecting. While we should always be mindful of First Amendment rights, Read More…

North Dakota Democrats chair one interim committee, call it ‘unfortunate’

State lawmakers finalized the interim committee assignments today. The groups will look at various issues over the next 18 months, but today’s meeting might have created another one. Democrats wanted to chair three or four committees and ended up with one. House Minority leader Josh Boschee, D-Fargo, says they had an agreement with republican leadership. Read More…

CHEYENNE MAYOR ACCUSES WYOMING GOVERNOR OF ‘TEMPER TANTRUM’; GORDON ‘OFFENDED’

Cheyenne Mayor Marian Orr is accusing Wyoming Governor Mark Gordon of using profane and misogynistic language toward her in an effort to intimidate her during a meeting on Friday. Gordon responded Monday that Orr mischaracterized the meeting, although he apologized for using an obscenity. “At no time during the conversation was I standing up or using Read More…

Gov. Burgum signs bill reforming forfeiture in North Dakota

Gov. Doug Burgum on Thursday signed the last 53 bills remaining from the 2019 North Dakota legislative session, including one reforming civil asset forfeiture. Rep. Rick Becker, R-Bismarck, brought the original bill to eliminate the “perverse incentive” of “policing for profit.” Civil asset forfeiture applies to property involved in crime. The bill evolved greatly over Read More…

Wyoming Retirement System Director Retiring

The executive director of Wyoming’s $8.5 billion pension fund will retire in July. Ruth Reyerson is departing after almost six years, staying on to help the transition as the Wyoming Retirement System searches for her successor. Staff praised Reyerson’s accomplishments, such as her “focus on building a strong management team at every level of the Read More…

Bill defining meat in North Dakota goes to the governor, other states work on similar efforts

BISMARCK, N.D. — The North Dakota Legislature wants to make sure that when consumers buy meat, they know they’re buying “the edible flesh of an animal born and harvested for the purpose of human consumption,” and not something developed in a lab. The Senate on Monday, March 4, passed House Bill 1400, which defines meat Read More…