(The Center Square) – With the ongoing partial government shutdown now the second-longest in American history, irritated Republicans are berating Senate Democrats, who for the fifth time Friday blocked the advance of the Department of Homeland Security funding bill. The failed vote highlighted how firmly Democrats are entrenched in their opposition to any fiscal year Read More…
New rules governing North Dakota’s public charter schools will take effect April 1, opening the door for supporters to begin advancing proposals for the state’s first charter schools. State School Superintendent Levi Bachmeier announced the regulations after a rulemaking process that followed the Legislature’s 2025 approval of public, tax-supported charter schools under Senate Bill 2241. Read More…
(The Center Square) – Washington Gov. Bob Ferguson may be satisfied with the House of Representatives’ latest version of an income tax bill – so much so that he said he will sign it if it passes the Legislature – but plenty of others remain skeptical. In the wee hours of Friday morning, majority party Read More…
(The Center Square) – The Seattle City Council has unanimously passed a bill prohibiting city employees and departments from sharing nonpublic personal information with federal immigration authorities for civil enforcement purposes without a warrant. Council Bill 121158 is meant to protect immigrant communities, align city policy with the state’s Keep Washington Working Act, and remove Read More…
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 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…
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…
Idaho Gov. Brad Little plans to lead a trade delegation to Taiwan and Hong Kong this fall. The Idaho Wheat Commission June 7 said the trade mission presents an opportunity to recognize loyal client millers in Taiwan and to explore ways to grow that business. Wheat growers from the state have exported for more than Read More…
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 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…
CHEYENNE — A wealthy Republican political donor from Wyoming says he’s thinking about running for U.S. Senate in 2020. Foster Friess told The Associated Press in a statement Wednesday he will be weighing a possible run in the months ahead. Republican Sen. Mike Enzi recently announced he will retire at the end of his current Read More…
The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in favor of Native American rights in a 5-4 decision in a case out of Wyoming. Justice Neil Gorsuch, the only Westerner on the court, provided the decisive vote in this case, showing himself again to be sensitive to Native American rights. The court held that hunting rights for the Crow tribe Read More…
BISMARCK, ND — A Courtenay, North Dakota man is behind an effort to change the state constitution and end prohibition of the cannabis plant. John C. Bailey is the chairperson of the sponsoring committee. He has turned in a petition request to the secretary of state’s office in Bismarck. The secretary and attorney general will review Read More…
By Valley News Gov. Doug Burgum has signed a bill into law making North Dakota the 25th state in the nation to eliminate the threat of jail time for possession of small amounts of marijuana. HB 1050 reclassifies possession of up to a half ounce of marijuana by adults 21 and older as an infraction Read More…
The North Dakota Game and Fish Department tracked 40 outdoors-related bills during the 2019 legislative session, 21 of which were passed by both chambers and signed into law by Gov. Doug Burgum. Here’s a closer look at the bills, which take effect Aug. 1 unless the bill includes an emergency clause indicating it already is Read More…
North Dakota has seen a small swell of storytelling on screen in recent years, but none of it filmed here. The FX television series “Fargo” was shot in Calgary, Alberta. “Woman Walks Ahead,” which portrayed an artist’s relationship with Sitting Bill on the Standing Rock Reservation, was filmed in New Mexico. And ABC’s “Blood & Read More…
(GILLETTE, Wyo.) — Wyoming Republican U.S. Sen. Mike Enzi announced Saturday that he will not run for a fifth term in 2020, costing the GOP a loyal conservative senator but likely not the seat. Enzi, 75, announced his pending retirement in his hometown of Gillette, where he owned a shoe store and “never intended to Read More…
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…
A huge majority of people responding to a Townsquare Media of Cheyenne poll over the past week say “good old boy” politics run Wyoming. While the poll was not a scientific sampling of public opinion, 504 out of 607 people taking the poll represents an overwhelming majority agreeing with the premise of the question. That Read More…
BISMARCK, N.D. – The North Dakota Legislature is scrambling to finish its work and leave at least a handful of days on the books before the constitutional 80-day limit. Lawmakers had hoped to be finished in less than 75 days to give themselves a cushion that could be used in the future to address unforeseen Read More…
BISMARCK — The North Dakota House rejected a compromise bill creating a new income tax deduction for Social Security benefits Monday, April 22, sending legislative negotiators back to the drawing board. As introduced, House Bill 1174 would have allowed people to reduce their North Dakota taxable income by the amount of any Social Security Read More…
BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) — The North Dakota Legislature is honoring former lawmakers who have died since the last session in 2017. The House on Tuesday is honoring 27 representatives and the Senate is honoring eight senators during afternoon floor sessions. READ FULL STORY
BISMARCK — A North Dakota Republican state senator from Mayville has resigned due to health issues. Arne Osland, who was in his second session in the state Legislature, notified Legislative Management Chairman Sen. Ray Holmberg of his resignation in a letter dated Monday, March 18. “It has been my honor and privilege to serve the Read More…
Out of 503 bills introduced in the Wyoming Legislature this year, about 43 percent of them made it Gov. Mark Gordon’s desk. When Wyoming’s chief executive takes his pen Friday to the final 13 bills passed by the Wyoming Legislature, he will be considering three of the most contentious pieces of legislation to emerge from Read More…
BISMARCK — North Dakota senators voted Monday, March 18, to repeal the state’s law prohibiting drivers from leaving their car running while it’s unattended, a ban that’s often ignored during the state’s frigid months. READ FULL STORY
CHEYENNE, Wyo. (AP) — Wyoming Gov. Mark Gordon vetoed a bill Friday that would have allowed the Legislature to sue the state of Washington over coal exports. It’s important for Wyoming to “speak with one voice” on coal-export litigation, Gordon said. Wyoming is the top coal-producing state. Wyoming’s coal industry seeks to export more coal Read More…
CHEYENNE, Wyo. (AP) – Gov. Mark Gordon has signed into a law a measure that aims to keep Wyoming’s coal-fired power plants online and in business by requiring a utility to try to sell the facility first before decommissioning it. The Wyoming Tribune Eagle reports Gordon on Friday signed Senate File 159, which was sponsored Read More…
BISMARCK — A panel chaired by North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum voted Monday, March 11, to pursue a legislative fix that would pay back state funds that the state’s land commissioner says have been shorted, putting it at odds with top Republican lawmakers. A Senate committee will consider a delayed bill addressing the issue Wednesday Read More…
BISMARCK — Two revenue forecasts due next week will give North Dakota lawmakers a brighter path for budgeting in the session’s second half. Joint meetings of the House and Senate appropriations committees will hear the Moody’s Analytics forecast on Monday, March 11, then the IHS Markit forecast on Tuesday. Moody’s has long provided forecasts for Read More…
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…
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…
A new bill introduced in the Idaho legislature Tuesday would allow people with an enhanced gun permit to carry a handgun in public schools without first telling administrators. State Rep. Chad Christensen (R) told the Idaho State Journal he introduced the bill because he doesn’t want schools “to be a soft target.” The bill would Read More…
Wyoming Governor Mark Gordon late Tuesday afternoon announced line-item vetoes of 29 items in the supplemental budget passed by Wyoming lawmakers earlier in the 2019 Legislative Session. The governor outlines the items being vetoed and his rationale for doing so in a letter to the Wyoming House of Representatives (see below). In response to the Read More…
CHEYENNE, Wyo. It would give community colleges money to increase access for workers looking for job training who want to switch fields or learn a new skill and increase their pay. One representative says it will give some a chance they otherwise couldn’t get on their own. “This’ll be kind of for unmet needs, quite Read More…
CHEYENNE, Wyo. Governor Mark Gordon signed the bill Wednesday. It comes in response to tactics used during last years campaign when mailers were sent out from independent groups trying to sway voters. Wyoming Secretary of State Edward Buchanan says it is about transparency. READ FULL STORY
BOISE — Idaho’s most populated cities and counties appear to be big winners under a new revenue sharing proposal that was introduced Wednesday in the House Revenue and Taxation Committee. The bill, sponsored by Rep. Jason Monks, R-Nampa, revises the formula used to distribute sales tax revenues to local jurisdictions. Barring any major decreases in Read More…
CHEYENNE, Wyo. (AP) — Repealing the death penalty, a non-starter in Wyoming each of the past five years, got a serious look Wednesday from a legislative committee that voted to advance the idea to the full Senate for what could be a last dash to the governor’s desk. Repeal proponents significantly outnumbered opponents in over Read More…
BISMARCK, N.D. — A bill passed by the North Dakota Senate would remove “the growing or processing of marijuana” from the definition of “farming or ranching,” which would mean growing marijuana would not be included under the state’s ban on corporate farming. North Dakota’s existing corporate farming law limits corporate farming to entities that consist Read More…
The State of Wyoming’s legislature is considering moving away from Daylight Saving Time and efforting a measure that would allow the state to stay in standard time all year. Republican Rep. from Park County, Dan Laursen is helping to push the bill forward, he says the bill would send a message to the federal government Read More…
CHEYENNE – One day, Casper Republican Jerry Obermueller wanted to test whether Wyoming’s low tax rate had an effect on prices across the state. Phoning friends in Seattle and Nebraska, he asked them to buy a number of products from chain stores that he had purchased in Wyoming. Obermueller wanted to see if there were Read More…
Two conservative lawmakers introduced a measure this week to cap growth in state budgets in anticipation of the next boom — during which they say Wyoming could save enough money to avoid any future tax increases. The proposal is being carried in mirror House and Senate bills by Sen. Bo Biteman (R-Ranchester) and Rep. Chuck Read More…
Wyoming may soon become the first state in the U.S. to provide clear banking permissions for cryptocurrencies and digital assets. A bipartisan group of state legislators introduced SF0125 to the government on Friday, which, if passed, would classify digital assets as property within existing laws. It would also establish “an opt-in framework for banks to Read More…
CASPER — A bill to increase Wyoming’s wind tax blows through Cheyenne nearly every year, and every year it dies. Some lawmakers don’t support the increase because they are afraid of depressing wind investments in Wyoming. For some the tax is unattractive on principle, or because they believe the current wind product tax — unique Read More…
CHEYENNE –- The Wyoming Legislature could act this year to make the state one of only three in the country that prevents any child under the age of 18 from getting married. Currently, Wyoming law sets the legal age for marriage at 16, but allows for a child younger than that to get married, if Read More…