Plain Talk
This episode of Plain Talk is a little unusual, because the guest we interviewed for the show is actually our own producer, Matt Fern. Matt, in addition to producing Plain Talk, is also a filmmaker by trade. A couple of years ago he to object to hundreds of thousands of dollars in film grants being issued by the North Dakota Department of Commerce under former Gov. Doug Burgum by untoward means. The Commerce Department ran for a grant that, per evidence from the legislative record, was always intended to go to a specific Bismarck-based company that, two years later, And this wasn't the...
info_outlinePlain Talk
The $740,000 question is a podcast from Plain Talk producer Matt Fern. Making movies in North Dakota is hard. Unless you’re one company with powerful connections. In the premiere episode of The $740,000 Question, filmmaker Matt Fern unpacks how a single production company, Canticle Productions, received $700,000 in taxpayer-funded film grants from the North Dakota Department of Commerce. With no state film office, no tax incentives, and virtually no infrastructure, how did this happen and why? Matt traces the timeline of payments starting with a $40,000 stock footage deal in 2017, a $100,000...
info_outlinePlain Talk
Public defenders working in the federal system representing indigent defendants The federal government ran out of money, That's a big problem. Every American accused of a crime has a right to counsel, and while you might think that public defenders are just for poor people, they actually represent most people accused of a crime. In North Dakota, the precentage of criminal defendants represented by a public defender is north of 80%. In the federal system, nationwide, it's around 90% Jason Tupman said on this episode of Plain Talk. Tupman is the top federal public defender for the North Dakota...
info_outlinePlain Talk
One proposal in the recently passed "big, beautiful bill" that didn't make it to the finish line was an amendment from Utah Sen. Mike Lee, which would have jump-started a sell-off of federally owned lands. On this episode of Plain Talk, John Bradley, executive director of the North Dakota Wildlife Federation, talked about that victory, and also discussed the place in politics conservation issues often find themselves. "Conservation sometimes becomes the dog that everybody can get behind kicking," he said. Bradley expressed a desire for public lands to become a "third rail" issue that...
info_outlinePlain Talk
The criminal justice system is often where public policy debates, from civil rights to addiction, converge. It's also critical for ensuring accountability when the government oversteps. North Dakota's Commission on Legal Counsel for Indigence, led by Director Travis Finck, headed into this year's legislative session facing a due to a lack of resources, leaving many without legal counsel. But lawmakers stepped up. The Finck and his fellow public defenders received a 20% budget increase, amounting to an additional $4.5 million over their 2023 budget. The budget boost is moving the agency "in...
info_outlinePlain Talk
In this replay episode, we revisit a conversation that didn’t go as planned. We had scheduled Rep. Nico Rios to appear on Plain Talk to discuss his recent controversies; from bigoted and homophobic remarks during a DUI arrest, to a social media post invoking the CIA and antisemitic language, to a constitutionally questionable resolution declaring Jesus Christ “King over all the world.” We wanted to have a respectful, honest conversation about his words and actions. But just minutes before the interview, Rep. Rios backed out. “Ay dude I'm not going on your boring little show,” he...
info_outlinePlain Talk
In this special replay episode, Rob Port and Chad Oban revisit a timely conversation with former North Dakota Republican Party Chair Bob Harms. With infighting and censures making headlines again, Harms' perspective on internal party dynamics, district-level power struggles, and the long-term risks to the GOP brand hits even harder today. The discussion dives into how party rules, legislative overreach, and local gamesmanship are discouraging participation and undermining transparency. Harms also shares his concerns about property tax reform, the future of the Legacy Fund, and what happens...
info_outlinePlain Talk
President Donald Trump joined Israel's attacks against Iran's nuclear program, and so far the operation seems to have been a success. That's certainly Sen. Kevin Cramer's view of it, as he explained on this episode of Plain Talk. He also praised Trump's willingness to repudiate some of the isolationists in the MAGA movement. "I've often said, and people have quoted me saying, 'Donald Trump likes people who like him.' The problem is when the body of people who like you range, you know, so greatly, you at some point are going to disappoint somebody," he said. "I was very proud of this decision....
info_outlinePlain Talk
Recently, Congresswoman Julie Fedorchak sent out an email seeking to debunk what she describes as myths when it comes to proposed changes to the Medicaid program. She argues that the program isn't being cut, but rather just being slowed in its growth. But wherever you come down on that debate, the fact that she's prompted to make these arguments is politically significant. On this episode of Plain Talk, my co-host Chad Oban and I talked about that, in the context of one of Fedorchak's predecessors, former Rep. Earl Pomeroy, trying to explain his vote in favor of Obamacare. Oban pointed out...
info_outlinePlain Talk
In I argued that the concept of "baby bonds" — a verison of which is included in "big beautiful bill" President Donald Trump is backing in Congress — is something North Dakotans should implement whatever the federal government might do. We have hundreds of millions in revenue from the Legacy Fund's investments, and we have the Bank of North Dakota to administer the program. A rough estimate based on the average number of live births in our state every year is that this would cost the state about $20 million or so per biennium. After I published my column, Treasurer Thomas Beadle reached...
info_outlineDane DeKrey is a criminal defense attorney with the Moorhead-based lawfirm Ringstrom Dekrey. He recently signed onto an amicus brief in a legal fight over an executive order signed by President Donald Trump, which exacts retribution on a law firm Trump feels has wronged him. It does so by, among other punitive measures, revoking the firm's security clearances and prohibiting its personnel from entering government buildings.
In his order, Trump accused the law firm WilmerHale of engaging "in obvious partisan representations to achieve political ends" and "the obstruction of efforts to prevent illegal aliens from committing horrific crimes and trafficking deadly drugs within our borders." But from another perspective, that's just engaging in the political process and representing criminal defendants.
DeKrey says his support for the law firm isn't about politics. It's about principles. "I couldn't care less that this comes from Donald Trump," he said on this episode of Plain Talk. "I care that the rule of law is being questioned and as lawyers and as my law firm...we defend people who are not sympathetic the vast majority of the time. And if a person who is not sympathetic cannot call out for a lawyer and have someone answer, we are in a dangerous territory and I don't want to be there."
Also on this episode, Sen. Kyle Davis, a Republican from Fargo, took a break from his work on the Appropriations Committee to talk to us about the progress toward funding a new state hospital in Jamestown, the challenges the state faces in delivering mental health services, and the debates over school choice policies and property taxes.
He also commented on a last-minute amendment to the budget for the Office of Management and Budget to create a "life education committee" that would promote alternatives to abortion. The committee, which would be appointed by the governor and legislative leaders, would have $1.5 million in funding and would be tasked with contracting with a third party entity to provide pro-life education services.
"I've always pushed back on bills that get added in the last minute," Davison said of the amendment, adding that he has "a bit of frustration in regards to it not being a standalone bill."
"Those standalone bills that make it all the way through have had a minimum of four hearings, two of them in appropriations and they're better pieces of legislation because of it when they pass through like that," he said. "Especially when you're setting something up new and it's a new appropriation."
He also said that lawmakers are mindful of last year's state Supreme Court ruling, which struck down the OMB budget from the 2023 session for not complying with the state constitution's single-subject mandate.
"There is no question in my mind that we as a legislature are paying attention to that decision made by the Supreme Court in regards to the OMB budget," he said.
This episode is brought to you by the North Dakota Petroleum Foundation, providing education and outreach opportunities related to the petroleum industry, advancing quality of life initiatives, and promoting and enhancing the conservation heritage of North Dakota. Learn more at www.NDPetroleumFoundation.org.
If you want to participate in Plain Talk, just give us a call or text at 701-587-3141. It’s super easy — leave your message, tell us your name and where you’re from, and we might feature it on an upcoming episode. To subscribe to Plain Talk, search for the show wherever you get your podcasts or use one of the links below.
Apple Podcasts | Spotify | YouTube | Pocket Casts | Episode Archive