Murphy’s Law Blog 2020 | #1Livestock
Earlier this week when it was only 40 degrees below freezing I was sent to cover the 2nd Annual North Dakota Livestock Association Summit at Black Leg Ranch south of McKenzie. It was a pretty big deal featuring panels, radio stations, sponsors, food and even a comedian to wrap up the day. The soybean industry […]hi
Earlier this week when it was only 40 degrees below freezing I was sent to cover the 2nd Annual North Dakota Livestock Association Summit at Black Leg Ranch south of McKenzie. It was a pretty big deal featuring panels, radio stations, sponsors, food and even a comedian to wrap up the day. The soybean industry was thanked by speakers numerous times, most often about the importance of soybean...
Murphy’s Law Blog 2019 | #51 — Last of the Year
December 12th saw the latest Agriculture and Transportation Interim Legislative Committee meeting. The needle did not move on the issue of using the Sec. of State’s Central Indexing system to show any other loans procured by a producer after getting the primary or original loan to put their crop in. Nor did much happen on […]hi
December 12th saw the latest Agriculture and Transportation Interim Legislative Committee meeting. The needle did not move on the issue of using the Sec. of State’s Central Indexing system to show any other loans procured by a producer after getting the primary or original loan to put their crop in. Nor did much happen on the Road Train study although there was testimony from the DOT and the...
Murphy’s Law Blog 2019 | #50 — Potpourri
To catch you up on a few different items of the last month: The Legislative Audit and Fiscal Review Committee met a couple weeks ago with the Soybean Council one of 30 or so entities whose turn had come. Their part went well, but the committee heard from the Commerce Department folks who had been […]hi
To catch you up on a few different items of the last month: The Legislative Audit and Fiscal Review Committee met a couple weeks ago with the Soybean Council one of 30 or so entities whose turn had come. Their part went well, but the committee heard from the Commerce Department folks who had been subjected to treatment from the State Auditor that they considered unfair/unduly harsh. Because of...
Murphy’s Law Blog 2019 | #49 — Wind Power Transmission
EDTC (Energy Development and Transmission Committee) met on Wednesday to discuss the North Dakota transmission grid status. A testifier from NextEra (which is the world’s largest utility by market capitalization) and other wind energy officials to follow stated that the outflow of electrons from North Dakota is basically maxed out. This makes sense given that […]hi
EDTC (Energy Development and Transmission Committee) met on Wednesday to discuss the North Dakota transmission grid status. A testifier from NextEra (which is the world’s largest utility by market capitalization) and other wind energy officials to follow stated that the outflow of electrons from North Dakota is basically maxed out. This makes sense given that we are such a rich energy producer...
Murphy’s Law Blog 2019 | #48 — Natural Resources and a Thank You
Wearing my NDSGA shirt, I was able to personally thank both the Governor and Agriculture Commissioner for their Monday trip around North Dakota to view the watery situation we are facing. The Governor told me that there are a lot of people in need and one could tell he was impacted by the tour. The […]hi
Wearing my NDSGA shirt, I was able to personally thank both the Governor and Agriculture Commissioner for their Monday trip around North Dakota to view the watery situation we are facing. The Governor told me that there are a lot of people in need and one could tell he was impacted by the tour. The Agriculture Commissioner could not get over all the water he could see from the plane as they...
Murphy’s Law Blog 2019 | #47 — Ag and Trans
This week the Interim Agriculture & Transportation Committee met for the first time. They took up transportation issues first and discussed electronic vehicles and charging stations (minimal in North Dakota on both counts), then the Road Train study. Senator Larry Luick has been the driver on road trains as he knows that we have a […]hi
This week the Interim Agriculture & Transportation Committee met for the first time. They took up transportation issues first and discussed electronic vehicles and charging stations (minimal in North Dakota on both counts), then the Road Train study. Senator Larry Luick has been the driver on road trains as he knows that we have a 900,000 CDL shortage in the USA and our own state is...
Murphy’s Law Blog 2019 | #46 — Tax and Tech
Taxation is a committee that deals with the topic everyone is interested in at least once a year if not every day, so NDSGA likes to keep at least an occasional eye on them. Saying hello to each of the members takes time because it is larger than your average interim committee – 18 regulars. […]hi
Taxation is a committee that deals with the topic everyone is interested in at least once a year if not every day, so NDSGA likes to keep at least an occasional eye on them. Saying hello to each of the members takes time because it is larger than your average interim committee – 18 regulars. In addition there were a few members from Legislative Management present as well (they can attend any...
Murphy’s Law Blog 2019 | #45 — GNDC Conference
Knowing what other folks think can come in handy when advocating for or against policy. The Greater ND Chamber hosted their Policy Summit Agenda last week, highlighting Trade and Tariffs, The Gas Tax and our ND Income Tax. Starting with trade and tariffs in the morning, the panelists were from WCCO Belting which supplies most […]hi
Knowing what other folks think can come in handy when advocating for or against policy. The Greater ND Chamber hosted their Policy Summit Agenda last week, highlighting Trade and Tariffs, The Gas Tax and our ND Income Tax. Starting with trade and tariffs in the morning, the panelists were from WCCO Belting which supplies most ag manufacturers, Killdeer Mountain Manufacturing which deals...
Murphy’s Law Blog 2019 | #44 — Natural Resources Interim
This week saw a study begin yet again on an “old friend” of the ND Legislature – the hunting trespass issue. As Chairman Erbele noted, it has been called the automatic posting bill, the trespass bill and several other names. While there was one session when it was not presented, virtually every session in memory […]hi
This week saw a study begin yet again on an “old friend” of the ND Legislature – the hunting trespass issue. As Chairman Erbele noted, it has been called the automatic posting bill, the trespass bill and several other names. While there was one session when it was not presented, virtually every session in memory has seen this issue pop up. NDSGA and most, if not all other Ag groups signed on...
Murphy’s Law Blog 2019 | #43
Interim begins It’s been about a month since I last wrote to you and there a couple of recent assignments I can briefly describe: First there was the Senator Hoeven fundraiser at Oxbow CC on Tuesday. Well attended even in the face of imminent rain, I was fortunate to be able to have two one-on-ones […]hi
Interim begins
It’s been about a month since I last wrote to you and there a couple of recent assignments I can briefly describe: First there was the Senator Hoeven fundraiser at Oxbow CC on Tuesday. Well attended even in the face of imminent rain, I was fortunate to be able to have two one-on-ones with the Senator. He looked at me on the 18th tee and said “Soybeans”. I responded with...