BISMARCK, ND – “I guess the biggest thing is that we just don’t want the federal government coming in and setting up our exchange,” said Rep. Karen Rohrs (R-Mandan) when asked why the state was not waiting to act on implementing Obamacare until a Supreme Court ruling on it is issued. When it comes down [...]
BISMARCK, ND – More than a year and a half after President Obama signed the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act into law, there still remain many more questions than answers regarding the requirements for implementation, a fact that was clearly evident at this afternoon’s 4 1/2 hour long legislative Health Care Reform Review Committee [...]
BISMARCK, ND – An ending balance of almost $30 million dollars in the Tobacco Prevention and Control Fund, combined with the fact that tobacco sales tax collections increased over the same time period, prompted House Majority Leader Al Carlson to question how the Center for Tobacco Prevention and Control Policy is targeting and using its [...]
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BISMARCK, ND – New documents obtained directly from NDSU’s attorney, Special Assistant AG Daniel Hull, attest to the fact that NDSU is in a 10 year dollar-out lease agreement, paying $322,918.88 annually for the lease of President Dean Bresciani’s Beech B-200 King Air. The lease, arranged through the NDSU Development Foundation, is a ten year, [...]
BISMARCK, ND – In what could be construed as an effort to avoid public and legislative scrutiny, NDSU appears to have provided legislative council financial analyst Brady Larson with false information regarding the ownership of NDSU’s private Beech King Air twin engine plane. NDSU told Larson in an email that the school did not actually [...]
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BISMARCK, ND – Newly elected State Senate Majority Leader Rich Wardner (R-Dickinson) praised his colleagues tonight for their hard fought victories that have lead to a NDGOP super majority. He also warned them not to rest on past accomplishments, but instead to keep focused on the work at hand and ahead of them as they [...]
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BISMARCK, ND – It was clear yesterday that the majority of legislators were not happy with President Dean Bresciani’s decision to increase tuition rates this year, but interim Higher Education Chairman Bob Skarphol appeared particularly troubled by Bresciani’s remarks that the move was necessitated by the fact that the school did not receive as much [...]
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BISMARCK, ND – The idea of providing incentives for reaching stated goals appeals to many legislators who have grown weary of the constant plea for more money from the state’s universities. After yesterday’s Higher Education Committee meeting, Senator Ray Holmberg (R-Grand Forks), Chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee, said that he can see the merits [...]
BISMARCK, ND – While almost everyone involved in North Dakota’s higher education policy making agrees that the state’s current funding mechanism is broken, not everyone agrees on how to go about fixing it. But legislation passed this spring in the higher education appropriations bill (HB 1003) clearly lays out the intent that next biennium’s budget [...]
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BISMARCK, ND – This afternoon, NDSU President Dean Bresciani found himself in the uncomfortable position of having to defend his decision to increase tuition rates at NDSU by 8.8% this fall, 6.3% more than the maximum rate of 2.5% tuition increase that the legislators “strongly suggested,” but did not actually codify, at the end of [...]