Dakota Beacon

This past legislative session was business as usual. The North Dakota Legislature decided to take a position of status quo.

There was little change in the way legislators approached spending and the scaling back of state government.

It is apparent Republican leaders in the state don’t understand the Trump phenomena. His election numbers in North Dakota are historic. They all say they support the cuts in Washington, but in North Dakota it’s time to expand. We saw an increase in spending of a billion dollars.

When Ed Schafer was governor, he asked all agencies to submit budgets with a cut which I believe was 5%. The Burgum administration told government agencies to dream big, and they did, expanding government in North Dakota at record levels.

This session was no different.

While there was a promise by the opponents of Measure 4 to reform property tax; all we got was another couple year write down. They said, “Let’s see if we can afford more write downs in two years.”

Not exactly reform!

There will be another measure to eliminate property tax, you can count on it.

Then there was the DOGE bill…while it sounded good in theory – having legislators who passed the spending bills, and state agencies who administer the money on the committee will be nothing more than a news headline. This is more window dressing by Republican spenders.

The legislators have also asked the voters to vote once again on term limits. By their actions they have said, “The people don’t know what they are doing.”

That is simply arrogance. It is apparent to me that the only way things will change is if conservatives turn the heat up on the Republican Party and their legislators.

It is time for an independent group to emerge and take a strong position so the conservatives in the state can unite. There are various columnists and radio hosts who are nothing more a mouthpiece for the establishment and moderate wing of the Republican Party. They don’t hold them accountable but give Republicans cover for their actions.

While various groups have come and gone (e.g. The Tea Party Caucus), it is time for another grassroots effort to be formed across the state. This initiative must be independent while working within the current two-party system.

If Republicans don’t step up the coalition could create an entity like the old NPL, that was eventually swallowed up by the Democratic Party.

North Dakota has a history of this sort of thing.

Other Columns by Emineth

Emineth is a North Dakota native businessman and political activist. He is a former executive director and chairman of the North Dakota Republican Party. Emineth has served on the Republican National Committee and chaired numerous presidential campaigns in North Dakota. He is the host of “The Legislature Today” and “Open Range” daily TV shows on BEK. He is a serial entrepreneur and has 40-plus years of business experience with multi-national companies. He has traveled the world extensively and has served as CEO and president of mid-tier companies.