North Dakota
Bills would increase North Dakota's interstate speed limit, but 1 would cost farmers
BISMARCK — North Dakota may increase the interstate’s speed limit to 80 mph, but one of the bills suggesting the long-requested change could cost farmers.
The House Transportation Committee heard testimony Thursday, Jan. 23, and Friday on two bills that would bump up the speed on Interstates 94 and 29 by 5 mph.
House Bill 1298
would increase the speed limit from 75 mph to 80 mph without a minimum speed.
That bill faced less opposition than
House Bill 1421,
which would set the minimum speed for I-29 and I-94 at 40 mph and the maximum at 80 mph. It also would require farmers who move large equipment on interstates to buy an annual permit, which would cost $25 for each tractor.
The bill initially called for a $100 permit, but the committee changed it to $25.
That fee drew the ire of several agricultural advocates, including the North Dakota Farmers Union and North Dakota Stockmen’s Association.
“HB 1421 raises taxes on farmers, creates farm operational inefficiency, provides unwarranted and unworkable mandates, is unenforceable and does nothing to improve public safety,” the North Dakota Grain Growers Association said in a letter.
The full House voted 69-22 to pass HB 1298 on Friday. HB 1421 has not made it to the House floor, but the Transportation Committee recommended in a 14-0 vote that the bill be killed.
If one of the bills becomes law, the increase would be the first since 2003, when North Dakota upped the speed limit from 70 to 75 mph. Other states, including South Dakota and Montana, have 80 mph speed limits on their interstates.
Chris Flynn / The Forum
Minnesota’s interstate speed limit is 70 mph.
At least five other states, including Indiana and New York, also have proposed legislation to up their interstate speed limits to 80 mph.
North Dakota has tried but failed several times over the last decade to increase the interstates’ speed limit, most recently in 2023. Rep. Ben Koppelman, a Republican from West Fargo who introduced HB 1298, wrote the same bill two years ago.
The Legislature passed the bill, but then-Gov. Doug Burgum, a Republican, vetoed it over concerns of speeding-related deaths. He also said he could not support the proposed legislation without a “primary seat belt law.”
The House passed a bill requiring all occupants of a vehicle to wear a seat belt the day after the veto, sending it to Burgum’s office for final approval. The Legislature did not have enough votes to override Burgum’s rejection of the speed limit increase.
Koppelman told The Forum that he feels his bill has at least as much support as it has had in the past.
“This year, we won’t have a governor who’s going to veto what we passed last year as a threat to encourage the passage of the seat belt bill,” he said. “Last session, we did not quite have veto-proof majorities, but we had reasonable margins of victory in each chamber.”
North Dakota
Gov. Kelly Armstrong
has not expressed his view on increasing the speed limit.
“The governor generally doesn’t comment on bills (other than those he’s proposed, of course) before they reach his desk,” said Armstrong spokesman Mike Nowatzki.
In testifying in support of the bill, Geoff Simon said motorists need consistency on interstate. Simon is the executive director of the Western Dakota Energy Association but testified as an individual resident of the state.
No one spoke against HB 1298 when the committee held a hearing on Thursday, though there were letters against it saying it would present safety concerns.
Koppelman said the North Dakota Department of Transportation would prefer a minimum speed limit with a maximum. Rep. Eric Murphy, a Grand Forks Republican who also signed on to Koppelman’s bill, has put his name on such a legislation in the form of HB 1421.
“That was the poison pill that killed the bill that year because the farmers don’t want a minimum speed limit,” Koppelman said of the minimum speed. “I think that’s what is going to likely make my bill to the finish line and not Rep. Murphy’s bill.”
Murphy acknowledged the DOT’s recommendation for a minimum speed. He told The Forum his concerns about tractors not being allowed if a minimum speed is set.
Most modern tractors can drive a maximum of 25 mph.
“Clearly, they should seek other alternatives, but there are some farmers out there who literally have to use the interstate,” Murphy said.
He added language into HB 1421 that would give exceptions to farm tractors, but it would come at a cost.
Along with the $25 permit, a vehicle with flashing hazard signals would have to follow the tractor on the interstate. It also could not let debris fall onto the highway.
“That would allow them to move equipment well below the 40 mph speed limit,” Murphy said.
HB 1421 would also give the North Dakota Department of Transportation the ability to reduce the maximum limit in “a high accident zone,” such as extreme curves in the interstate, to 60 mph, Murphy said. The DOT could reduce the speed when weather impacts travel, according to the bill.
Ag producers use the interstate rarely and as a last resort, said Brent Baldwin, president of the Red River Valley Sugarbeet Growers Association. The bill could open the door to additional fees, he added.
For farmers to get across rivers, particularly at the North Dakota-Minnesota border, the only option is the interstate, said Pete Hanebutt, public policy director for the North Dakota Farm Bureau. Weather can flood roads and force farmers to take the interstate, he said.
“I think there are an awful lot of holes in this bill,” Hanebutt said during a House Transportation Committee hearing on Friday.
Koppelman said HB 1421 is an attempt at a compromise that does not leave anyone happy. There is no reason to support that, he said.
“We don’t need to do that at the expense of farmers,” he said.
GRAND FORKS — A North Dakota composer’s dream is turning into a statewide invitation.
Williston-based musician Emily Black-Driscoll was chosen as the North Dakota Music Teachers Association’s commissioned composer for 2026. She’s preparing an original composition that will premiere in August.
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North Dakota
Challengers declare victory after ND Supreme Court rules against Legislature’s attempt to alter term limits
BISMARCK — A constitutional ballot measure to amend the state’s term limits law as proposed by the Legislature will not appear on November’s ballot, the North Dakota Supreme Court ruled Thursday, siding with petitioners who argued the Legislature exceeded its authority and violated the state constitution in proposing the changes.
“The people’s voice was heard,” Grand Forks County Commissioner Terry Bjerke said in reaction to the news.
Bjerke was a member of the sponsoring committee behind the successful 2022 effort to pass a term limits initiative, which amended the state constitution by capping legislative term limits to eight years in the House and eight years in the Senate. The amendment, which became article XV of the state constitution, also included a clause barring the Legislature from making constitutional changes to term limits.
During the 2025 session, however, lawmakers narrowly approved Senate Concurrent Resolution 4008, in which the legislature proposed Constitutional Measure 1, a ballot measure to amend the term limits language to allow legislators to decide in which chamber they want to serve their 16 years, and to repeal the clause limiting the legislative assembly’s authority to propose an amendment to alter or repeal term limits.
Bjerke and former Minot legislator Oley Larsen brought the lawsuit challenging the validity of the Legislature’s action in January, and the state Supreme Court
heard oral arguments in the case
this spring.
“Those term limits may only be altered by a measure proposed by the people rather than the Legislative Assembly. And yet a few years later, the Legislative Assembly is doing what they are prohibited from doing,” attorney Zachary Wallen argued on Bjerke and Larsen’s behalf.
Tanner Ecker / The Bismarck Tribune
The Legislature’s attorneys argued the clause prohibiting legislative proposals to alter the constitutional term limits language “infringes on our republican form of government” by “limiting the people’s ability to vote on amendments proposed by their elected officials.”
Justice Jon Jensen seemed skeptical of that argument during the April 2 hearing, questioning whether a second vote was appropriate.
“The public did speak on this. The public spoke on it when it passed the original constitutional amendment and they said, ‘Legislature, you don’t even get to propose a change.’ They have already spoken on it,” Jensen said. “You want a second shot, or a second bite at the apple, not a first one, a second.”
In Thursday’s ruling, all five justices sided with Bjerke and Larsen.
“We … conclude the Legislative Assembly’s adoption of S.C.R. 4008 violated N.D. Const. art. XV … and declare S.C.R. 4008 and Constitutional Measure 1 void … We enjoin the Secretary of State from placing Constitutional Measure 1 on the November 2026 general election ballot,” the ruling said.
Bjerke thanked the legal team that worked on behalf of their lawsuit, and said he was grateful the court reached the conclusion it did.
“I’m thrilled that what the people voted on and approved has been validated,” Bjerke said.
He added that the Legislature had “multiple opportunities” to address term limits prior to 2022’s initiated measure and chose not to, and gave a nod to the country’s coming milestone and the process by which voters expressed their support for term limits.
“We’ve lasted 250 years,” Bjerke said. “I have two words for those elected leaders who think they aren’t: everyone’s replaceable.”
North Dakota
Fargo woman convicted in North Dakota fraud case now faces charges in Minnesota: A deeper dive
FARGO, N.D. (Valley News Live) – A North Dakota woman who was sentenced to 180 days in jail in Cass County for defrauding healthcare providers and Medicaid programs is now facing additional fraud charges in Minnesota.
Christine Marie Pryor, 55, pleaded guilty in November 2024 to theft by deception involving more than $50,000. She was sentenced to first serve 180 days with a 3-year sentence suspended. She received credit for 44 days already served.
Pryor was ordered to pay $82,584.78 in restitution to Southeast Human Services in Fargo, where she worked between 2018 and 2019.
How the scheme unfolded
According to court documents, Pryor worked at multiple healthcare facilities in North Dakota and Minnesota between 2018 and 2023, using the identities and credentials of three licensed professionals without their knowledge. She submitted fraudulent Capella University diplomas and transcripts to gain employment.
Investigators say Pryor admitted she searched state licensing websites for therapists who shared her first name, then used those therapists’ last names and license numbers when applying for jobs.
At Southeast Human Services, where she worked as a Licensed Addiction Counselor, Pryor earned $55,584.82 while providing therapy services to approximately 150 patients. She also opened her own counseling center, NIAM Brain Injury Center, in Fargo between 2020 and 2021, and worked at The Lotus Center in Moorhead, Minnesota, from 2021 to 2023.
Court documents say the three licensed professionals whose identities were used told investigators they had no knowledge of Pryor’s actions and did not give her permission to use their information.
Two additional charges against Pryor in North Dakota, unauthorized use of personal identifying information, were dismissed on motion of the state.
Additional charges in Minnesota
Pryor is also facing charges in Minnesota. Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison announced on Tuesday charges against Pryor in Clay County District Court for six theft offenses and six identity theft offenses related to defrauding Minnesota’s Medicaid program of more than $150,000.
According to the Minnesota complaint, Pryor claimed to provide psychotherapy and alcohol and drug counseling services to Medicaid recipients despite having no license or credentials to do so. Prosecutors allege she used the credentials and identities of three licensed professionals while claiming to provide Medicaid-funded services to 169 clients.
The Minnesota charges were filed as part of National Health Care Fraud Takedown Day, a joint effort involving the Department of Justice and more than 40 state Medicaid Fraud Control Units.
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