Dinner for Lawmakers, Paid for by Lobbyists, Was Legal Only Because There Aren’t Any Ethics Rules Yet
Recently a group of 29 North Dakota lawmakers took a trip to Nashville, Tennessee, which cost the taxpayers nearly $90,000....
ethics
North Dakota Politics Needs More Transparency, Not an Ethics Committee
This Fargo Forum editorial over the weekend struck the right tone on the need for more transparency when it comes to...
Plain Talk: Lawmaker Says Criticism of Legislature’s Ethics Moves Are Inaccurate
After voters passed Measure 1 last year, a so-called "ethics" amendment to the state constitution, the Legislature was tasked with...
Measure 1 Bans Lobbyists on the Ethics Commission, but a Measure 1 Lobbyist Has Applied Anyway
Yesterday I wrote about a lobbyist for the North Dakotans for Public Integrity - the local front group for the...
Plain Talk: Republican Senator Says Democrat Complaints About Ethics Legislation Are “Posturing”
On this episode of Plain Talk, Republican state Senator David Hogue describes the tricky process of implementing with statute the...
This Is the Sort of Citizen Activist Measure 1 Will Hurt
Over the weekend reporter Diane Newberry from the North Dakota Newspaper Association had a very interesting report about citizen-driven politics...
Offer of Free Ballet Tickets Sets Off Emailed War of Words Among Lawmakers, Measure 1 Activist
A legislative source forwarded me an email exchange which illustrates perfectly the Legislature's efforts to implement Measure 1 (ethics) approved...
Of Course Ethics Investigations Should Be Secret
During the last election cycle a left-wing, Democrat-aligned group filed an ethics complaint against Republican candidate Tom Campbell because one...
If We’re Really Concerned About Ethics in North Dakota We Should Have Given Lawmakers Their Free Lunch*
There is a lot of Sturm und Drang about ethics in North Dakota right now. Most of it - especially the clouds...
If the Voters Approve Bad Policy, Does That Make It Good Policy?
I talked about this on today's podcast, but I thought the Fargo Forum's Sunday editorial was worth responding to in the...
