State Auditor Josh Gallion: Oppose Measure 1
This guest post was submitted by state Auditor Josh Gallion
I love North Dakota, our values, down to earth common-sense culture, and yes, even the weather.
Our founders established North Dakota with a constitution that allows up to 12 statewide elected officials who have limited authority and are directly accountable to the citizens. This unique structure distributes government responsibility and ensures the balance of control rests firmly in the hands of voters.
Measure 1 seeks to undermine and confiscate that constitutional authority by appointing 5 unelected, unaccountable bureaucrats with authority to establish rules that supersede all other articles of the Constitution. That goes against our distributed form of limited government.
The supremacy clause inserted by the proponents of Measure 1 means it controls every other section of our constitution if any contradiction exists.
That’s scary.
You should oppose Measure 1 because it is a blatant assault on North Dakota’s Constitution by out-of-state, coastal special interests. Their goal is to drive a wedge, masqueraded as an ethics commission, between the citizens and their duly elected officials. The problems this measure claims to correct already have solutions.
Every public employee has a responsibility to maintain transparency and accountability and, as the State Auditor, I work every day to make sure that happens. My staff and I are committed to rooting out fraud, waste, and abuse of hard-earned tax dollars. Demanding our legislature to sign a blank check for services the taxpayers already pay for is a waste. (Section 3: “shall provide adequate funds”)
North Dakotan’s value their direct access to government and elected officials. This measure is an attempt to undermine and destroy that access because the policies of the east and west coasts can’t win against our common-sense values at the ballot box.
Please join me in opposing Measure 1 because no government official should ever be given limitless authority.
