Latest news with #D-Fargo
Yahoo
05-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
North Dakota lawmaker resigns seat after harassment complaint
Rep. Jeremy Olson, R-Arnegard, talks to colleagues in the House chamber on May 1, 2025. Olson resigned his seat on May 5, 2025, after the session adjourned. (Kyle Martin/For the North Dakota Monitor) North Dakota Rep. Jeremy Olson resigned his legislative seat Monday, a decision legislative leaders said was connected to a harassment complaint filed against the lawmaker. Olson, a Republican from Arnegard, wrote in a brief letter that he believes resigning 'is in the best interest of the Legislature, my constituents, and my family.' House Majority Leader Rep. Mike Lefor, R-Dickinson, said he was informed that a complaint was filed against Olson on Friday, the last day of the legislative session. Lefor said the complaint was filed with Senate Minority Leader Sen. Kathy Hogan, D-Fargo. Hogan said the harassment complaint was withdrawn Sunday after the person who filed it learned about Olson's resignation. She added the withdrawn complaint will not become a public record. 'People who have been in these situations are very hesitant to complain because of the public record issues,' Hogan said. 'And that's why the person pulled the complaint and doesn't want a full investigation. And it's not necessary because Jeremy (Olson) is gone.' At 12:45 a.m. Saturday, as lawmakers were wrapping up the legislative session, a bipartisan panel of lawmakers met in a closed-door executive session to discuss a complaint related to the Legislature's workplace harassment policy, according to a meeting agenda. The agenda does not say who the complaint is about. Lefor said he spoke with Olson over the weekend about the complaint filed against him. Lefor said he could not discuss details of the complaint. 'During that conversation, he determined that it was in the best interest of all for him to resign,' Lefor said. 'And I agreed with that.' North Dakota lawmakers work to update harassment policy On April 29, Olson resigned as House majority caucus leader, citing the demands of his work schedule. The resignation followed a conversation a group of lawmakers had with legislative leadership about Olson weeks earlier. Rep. Lori VanWinkle, R-Minot, said she observed Olson kiss a legislative employee on the cheek at an event in March. After the incident, she said other lawmakers told her about other alleged inappropriate sexual behavior involving Olson. That prompted four lawmakers to bring their concerns directly to Lefor, VanWinkle said in a text message to the North Dakota Monitor. 'The group asked leader Lefor to disallow Jeremy (Olson) from running as a candidate for Legislative Management,' VanWinkle said. 'And then asked that he eventually step down from caucus leadership.' Olson, in an interview Monday with the North Dakota Monitor, said he never saw the complaint that was filed against him. 'In this world right now, you are guilty until proven innocent,' Olson said. 'And the faceless keyboard warriors will just jump on that.' When asked about the allegation that he kissed an employee, Olson said, 'I don't remember anything like that, honestly. But honestly, I'm not going to respond to rumors. I don't want to go there.' Olson said he felt targeted by rumors and the complaint in the closing days of the legislative session. He said he decided to resign because 'my family didn't sign up for that sort of stuff.' Without citing examples, he said there are political groups working in the state that are trying to 'take down' some lawmakers. Olson, who represents District 26 in northwest North Dakota, has served for two legislative sessions. It will now be up to District 26 Republicans to appoint a replacement to serve the remainder of Olson's term, which goes through 2028. North Dakota lawmakers last year worked to update the Legislature's workplace harassment policy, citing an uptick in complaints to the Ethics Commission. Hogan said she believes the complaint process worked well in this case. 'There was obviously a serious concern about behavior, and I think particularly for people reporting, you have to assure that they know the process and assuring that you don't assume one side is innocent or guilty,' Hogan said. 'You have to really maintain a balance of protecting both sets of rights.' In 2021, the North Dakota House expelled Rep. Luke Simons, R-Dickinson, related to harassment allegations. Hogan said the Simons allegations were the first time the legislative workplace harassment policy was used. Lefor said he thinks the process worked well, but added that leaders may talk about how to improve the process in the future. 'As legislative leaders, we want to make absolutely sure that the assembly is a place where everyone feels safe, feels respected, feels supported. And that's why we have these procedures in place to address these things and make sure it's a fair and transparent process,' Lefor said. 'That's what happened here. Those procedures were followed.' SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE
Yahoo
02-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Democratic ND senator proposes doubling Ethics Commission budget, citing Holmberg case
Sen. Tim Mathern, D-Fargo, speaks on the Senate floor during the organizational session on Dec. 4, 2024. (Michael Achterling/North Dakota Monitor) A state senator wants to more than double the staff for the North Dakota Ethics Commission, arguing the state should be doing more to prevent public corruption. The amendment was brought before the House Appropriations Committee's Education and Environment Division on Wednesday by Sen. Tim Mathern, D-Fargo. He said his proposal was prompted by news coverage of former Republican state Sen. Ray Holmberg's prison sentence. 'It seems like every week, sometimes every day, there's some sort of news story about our former colleague, Sen. Holmberg,' Mathern told lawmakers. Holmberg was sentenced to 10 years in prison last week after he pleaded guilty to traveling to Prague, Czech Republic with the intent to engage in commercial sex with minors. One of Holmberg's trips to Prague was subsidized by taxpayer dollars, according to federal prosecutors. A prosecution sentencing memorandum also alleged that Holmberg arranged for commercial sex 'on countless occasions' while traveling in the U.S. Holmberg sexually exploited others, including people in North Dakota, witnesses say in court Meanwhile, the Ethics Commission faces an unprecedented number of complaint filings. In mid-March, Executive Director Rebecca Binstock told lawmakers that the board had received 59 complaints since the beginning of the year. That's more than the 41 filed in all of 2024. Ethics staff have testified previously that they lack the legal authority and resources to process these complaints as quickly as they would like. Mathern said the state ought to do more to support the commission. He suggested adding four to five new staff members, which would cost North Dakota an additional $1.5 million for the 2025-2027 budget cycle. That would roughly double the size of its budget. 'It's not just the fact that there are all these complaints,' Mathern said. He said not granting additional staff 'will be damaging the Ethics Commission itself because it's bogged down and can't be really acting on much.' Under Mathern's proposal, the commission would have three attorneys, an educational/communications administrator and a paralegal, in addition to an executive director. It would also include an operations manager and an administrative assistant. The Ethics Commission currently has three staff members. The proposed budget for 2025-2027 already includes an additional employee for public education. Binstock said the commission hasn't taken a stance on Mathern's proposal, but that the commissioners do appreciate his support. She said the board's priority for now is securing the education staff member. Earlier in the session, the House rejected House Bill 1360, which sought to make changes the commission said would have helped it address bottlenecks in its complaint process. The Attorney General's Office and Gov. Kelly Armstrong's Office testified against House Bill 1360, expressing concerns that some parts of the bill were unconstitutional. Mathern on Wednesday also brought up the new term limits for state lawmakers, which North Dakotans approved in a ballot measure in 2022. Under the constitutional amendment, many lawmakers will turn over in the coming years. He said the commission will need more resources to ensure it can effectively educate new legislators. He noted that many current lawmakers are still confused about ethics rules. Mathern also cited the need for more public education about the purpose of the commission. 'It's coming at the late hour,' Rep. Mike Nathe, the committee's chair, told Mathern. 'I'm not knocking the idea, I'm just saying it looks like it would need more discussion.' The committee didn't take any action on the budget bill on Wednesday. SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
Yahoo
25-02-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
North Dakota resolution urging to end same-sex marriage advances
Rep. Bill Tveit, R-Hazen, speaks during a Jan. 27, 2025, committee hearing. On Feb. 24, 2025, Tveit advocated for a resolution urging the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn same-sex marriage. (Michael Achterling/North Dakota Monitor) The North Dakota House of Representatives passed a resolution Monday proclaiming the interpretation of marriage as between one man and one woman. The measure passed on a 52-40 vote and will advance to the Senate for its consideration. House Concurrent Resolution 3013, sponsored by Rep. Bill Tveit, R-Hazen, urges the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn its 2015 decision in Obergefell v. Hodges, which has protected same-sex marriage for the last decade. Tveit told lawmakers that marriage had always been between a man and a woman until 10 years ago and said the country would not be able to perpetuate itself without men and women having children. 'As you are well aware, two cannot conceive or birth a child except for coming together of a female and a male,' Tveit said. 'Based on the laws of nature, it's just that simple.' While the Supreme Court does have the ability to interpret laws, the resolution states, it doesn't give justices the power to 'legislate from the bench to enact policy decisions.' 'If same-sex couples desire a collaborative union of a sort, or a legal bonding, they must call it anything but marriage,' Tveit said. During debate on the resolution, Rep. Austin Foss, D-Fargo, said he never thought one year after marrying the man he loves in North Dakota that he would have to fight for their right to exist. 'This hurts,' Foss said. 'I don't come into your church, into your home, and force you to relabel your relationship just because I don't agree with it.' He added, if the Supreme Court does overturn the previous ruling, same-sex couples would lose tax incentives and parental rights. Military families would lose rights to spousal benefits and they could also lose end-of-life rights, which could lead to them being discounted when making important decisions involving their partners. 'I cannot imagine my husband at the end of his road, in his hospital bed dying, and I would have no rights to any decision-making on how that moves forward,' Foss said. Foss said he knows the measure was a resolution that won't change North Dakota law, but the message it sends to members of the LGBTQ community is that they are not welcome. 'It's a message to the world that North Dakota, if you are like me, you are not welcome here,' Foss said. 'If you don't conform to the ideas that we have about creating a family, you are not welcome here. That's not North Dakota nice. That's not even Christian-like.' In an interview after the vote, Foss said he took a little solace in the fact that the vote was close and hopes calmer heads and allies prevail in the Senate. 'I am a North Dakotan and for somebody to tell me that I'm not, it hurts,' Foss said. He added he did not speak to Tveit about the resolution before the floor vote. 'I will say that the support I received from those Republicans that did vote no on it has been helpful and nice,' he said. If the resolution is passed by the Senate, it would be forwarded to the United State Supreme Court. SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
Yahoo
05-02-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Bill seeks $55 million for shared health education space at UND
Feb. 5—GRAND FORKS — Physicians and University of North Dakota administrators testified Monda in support of a bill allocating $55 million to build out the university's medical school facilities. SB 2286 , introduced Jan. 20, would cover more than half of the cost of the three-story, 95,000-square-foot addition to the School of Medicine and Health Sciences, Dean Marjorie Jenkins told Senate lawmakers at an education committee meeting. The bill's four sponsors — Reps. Gretchen Dobervich and Jon Nelson and Sens. Tim Mathern and Robert Erbele — all serve on the medical school's advisory council. If the funding is approved, the university would look to consolidate several programs, including the entire College of Nursing and Professional Disciplines, under one roof in the new Health Professions Collaborative Facility. "We're bringing the nurses, the doctors, the (physical therapy) people — the whole gamut — together," Mathern, D-Fargo, told lawmakers. He was one of several proponents who said the shared space would create new opportunities for collaboration and interdisciplinary training between students in health care disciplines. Administrators in particular emphasized a planned expansion of the university's simulation education center, which allows students studying medicine and related fields to practice real-world medical scenarios. "The limit of what we have now is we don't have the capacity to do immersive, in-patient scenarios, like emergency rooms," Jenkins told the Herald. "That's where many of our students, especially those in rural areas, will be working." Nursing Dean Maridee Shogren said new simulation facilities would allow for more shared research between health care disciplines, particularly simulation research. Right now, she said, most simulation research is narrowly focused. "We can be among the first institutions in the nation to look at simulation research across multiple disciplines," Shogren said. The addition would replace space at the aging Columbia Hall and Nursing Buildings, both of which are in critically poor condition, according to a regular Facility Condition Assessment commissioned by the university. The Nursing Building, built in 1976, needs $12.7 million in deferred maintenance, per the latest estimates from university facilities; Columbia Hall, on the other hand, is set to be torn down after the city fire marshals told the university it needed to either demolish the building or overhaul it to the tune of more than $48 million. Jenkins said the addition would cost around $95 million, $40 million of which would be covered by donor contributions. Finance and Operations Vice President Karla Mongeon-Stewart confirmed that figure to the Herald on Thursday; previous versions of the project, including for a separate facility, were previously pegged between $80 to $119 million. SB 2286 also orders legislative management to examine "the funding necessary to provide education and internships statewide for all programs" in the Health Professions addition. Jenkins said the study was meant to "optimize" the new space and show legislators it served the whole state's health care needs, particularly rural areas. She told the Herald it was a way to show the Legislature its "return on investment," citing recent efforts to defund the medical school including a resolution introduced last week that would eliminate the constitutional statewide property tax levy of one mil received by the med school. Several practicing physicians and representatives from the North Dakota Hospital Association and Altru Health System also spoke in favor or provided written testimony supporting the bill. Funding for the addition was one of two large capital projects for which UND is seeking funding this legislative session. The State Board of Higher Education included the university's other request, some $56 million for the second phase of a planned STEM complex, in the higher ed system's budget proposal, but not the Health Professions addition.
