VALLEY CITY, N.D. (NewsDakota.com) – More than 60 people attended a District 24 legislative forum in Valley City on Saturday, January 25. The local League of Women Voters and the Valley City-Barnes County Development Corporation partnered to host the event, held in the Valley City Public Schools HAC Lobby. For those unable to attend, the Forum may be viewed at the bottom of this story.
The forum began with each of the three District 24 legislators giving a brief introduction. Senator Mike Wobbema stated that he serves on the Workforce Development and Education committees. Representative Daniel Johnston informed the audience that he has introduced a bill on treatment of students who are sexual assault victims and which seeks to limit access to schools by the perpetrator of the assault. On other topics, HB1544 would make mandatory reporting for anyone who drains water onto neighbors and HB1361 would increase penalties for anyone convicted of human trafficking. Representative Dwight Kiefert serves on the Human Services and Agriculture committees. He said many bills are still ahead, and they will be voting on about 25 bills per day. A natural gas provision bill (HB1275) has been introduced which will facilitate provision of gas south of I-94. Presently no natural gas is available south of I-94. Kiefert encouraged citizens to watch on-line the committee hearings and invited them to testify on-line.
An audience member asked about SB2128, related to increased mandatory sentencing for crimes, and there were comments that sentencing severity seems to be decreasing.
Valley City-Barnes County Public Library Director, Anita Tulp, said HB1141 was a concern for her and all librarians because it would dissuade them from joining their main library professional organization.
Gail Pederson, RN, brought up HB1341 which would increase penalties for anyone assaulting a health care worker, a bill that failed by one vote last session. Pederson said that health care workers are at risk not just in emergency rooms, which is covered by present laws, but anywhere in the hospital, hospice, home health, etc. Sanford Health supports this bill, she said.
Dr. Madeline Luke, asked about HB2174 related to CAFOS (confined animal feeding operations). She stated odors from industrial-level animal feeding operations are a concern, are not regulated strongly enough, and this bill decreases the distance a CAFO can be placed related to nearby homes. This bill takes away local control on confined feeding operations, she said. Wobbema said feeding operations are a free market issue. Johnston said it is a free market issue, but quality of life must be considered also. Kiefert said we do have a lot of feed available as a byproduct of ethanol production. Luke stated that confined animal production is not the only way to use the feed, and the industrial agriculture operations (CAFOS) are controlled by out-of- state companies.
Abuses of eminent domain for building the carbon capture pipeline were the next topic of discussion, including specifically HB1292, HB1414, and SB2322. All three legislators said they were against using eminent domain for this purpose.
There was a comment from director of Open Door Center, Tracy Zaun, that the provision for increased state support to compensate for inflation seems inadequate. Legislators agreed that though the Human Services budget has increased considerably, much of the increase is from federal sources, and the ND portion is probably not high enough.
The moderator asked the legislators how they decide how to vote. All said that e-mails from constituents are important, but they must be from ND residents.
Director of South Central Adult Services, Pat Hansen, described the difficulty in having to plead for adequate funding with each session, and noted that funding for meals is being cut. She received assurance that the legislators will study the issue. The legislators commended Senior Services on the work they do.
There was a long discussion on a proposal to require that the religious concept of intelligent design be taught in schools along with the scientific principle of evolution.
The session closed with a question by Valerie Hubbard about the need to improve the state’s electrical grid, especially in view of the anticipated huge demands on it from data centers working on artificial intelligence and cryptocurrency.
The next Legislative Forum will be held at the VCSU Skoal Room at 9:30-11 am on February 22, again sponsored by the League of Women Voters and the Barnes County Development Corporation. Everyone is invited to attend. Story submitted by Vicki Voldal Rosenau with the League of Woman Voters Chapter in Valley City.
For those unable to attend the January 25th Forum, it may be viewed below.