North Dakota

Barrage of bills affecting trans people heard at ND Legislature

Published

2 years ago

January 24, 2023

Barrage of bills affecting trans people heard at ND Legislature

BISMARCK, N.D. (KFYR) – Lawmakers in Bismarck heard a barrage of payments referring to transgender folks Tuesday.

Seven items of laws have been heard Tuesday that have an effect on trans folks. Two would forestall trans females from competing in women’ and ladies’s sports activities at the highschool and school ranges. Then there are two payments that might bar trans college students from utilizing bogs completely different from their intercourse assigned at delivery. That’s 4. Then the committee heard a invoice that might change the principles round conversion remedy for LGBTQ+ folks. And at last, there are two payments that might make medical transitions unlawful for folks underneath 18.

Some people in North Dakota have sturdy emotions about trans folks in sports activities.

“If we don’t do that, ladies’s athletics, women’ athletics, can be destroyed,” mentioned Patricia Leno.

Folks hoping to maintain trans folks out of girls’s sports activities pointed to Lia Thomas, a trans swimmer who has been profitable within the ladies’s division for the College of Pennsylvania.

“I believe after seeing Lia Thomas take part in swimming, all of us noticed what occurs after we don’t segregate the sports activities between women and men,” mentioned Margo Knorr of South Prairie.

However these opposed say Home Invoice 1249 and Home Invoice 1489 are options to an issue that doesn’t exist.

“Trans athletes are, normally, fairly uncommon. And transgender athletes dominating elite ladies’s sports activities hasn’t materialized, the truth is, the Olympics has had trans-inclusive insurance policies since 2004, and no transgender athletes have even certified,” mentioned Christina Sambor, lawyer for the North Dakota Human Rights Coalition.

And a few in larger ed are involved, if these payments move, there can be unintended penalties.

“The athlete would have stable footing for a grievance with the workplace of civil rights, the OCR, and additional litigation, a proposition that has been backed by plenty of court docket choices from the previous few years,” mentioned Katie Fitzsimmons, director of college affairs for the North Dakota College System.

Then there are Home Invoice 1473 and Home Invoice 1522, which require college students to make use of bogs that align with their intercourse at delivery. The proponents of those payments say it’s mandatory for the protection of all college students.

“College students’ perceived sexual orientation or gender identification doesn’t change the varsity’s obligation to guard all of their college students,” mentioned Kimberly Hirst from the Williston space.

These opposed really feel the payments, one among which might require academics to make use of the scholars’ pronouns that align with their intercourse at delivery, are merely bigoted.

“Whenever you take away the power for academics to make use of their correct pronouns, to make use of the right pronouns, to make them really feel legitimate, you’re actually simply telling them that they’re higher off useless,” mentioned Caedmon Marx from North Dakota.

Then there’s Home Invoice 1332, which might take conversion remedy off the record of unethical practices for social staff.

“This invoice doesn’t power conversion remedy, regardless of what everybody’s saying about it, this isn’t what it does. As a substitute, what it does is develop healthcare choices and it permits people who’re questioning their identification to talk to a counselor and ask that counselor for the care that they demand and that they consider that they want,” mentioned Consultant Brandon Prichard, R-Bismarck.

However a number of LGBTQ folks, social staff, and physicians spoke at size in regards to the risks of conversion remedy.

“Members of the LGBTQ neighborhood who expertise conversion remedy practices have been twice as seemingly to consider suicide and to try suicide, in comparison with their friends who hadn’t,” mentioned Allison Traynor, a social employee with Youth Works.

After which there’s Home Invoice 1254 and Home Invoice 1301 – payments that might prohibit medical transition procedures for folks underneath 18. On the time of writing, the committee was nonetheless listening to testimony.

Talking of trans payments, this wasn’t all of them. On Monday, Home Invoice 1333, a invoice that might ban kids from attending drag exhibits, handed out of committee by a vote of 10-1-2. And Wednesday, the Home Human Companies Committee will hear Home Invoice 1297, a invoice that might ban folks from altering their gender on their delivery information.

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North Dakota

North Dakota Forest Service leads group to fight California wildfires

Published

8 hours ago

January 16, 2025

Press Room

North Dakota Forest Service leads group to fight California wildfires

BISMARCK, N.D. (KFYR) – Since the Palisades wildfire began in California on Jan. 7, firefighting crews have been working to contain them.

Many western states have sent equipment and firefighters to help. Now, Hunter Noor of the North Dakota Forest Service is leading a task force of South Dakota firefighters to manage the Eden fires outside of Pasadena.

“It’s just a chunk of ground that starts going up into those high mountains they have there right outside of Pasadena. And we’re just patrolling fire lines, putting out hot spots and just making sure that the lines that are there hold,” said Noor.

Noor and his group plan to be in California for at least another week and a half.

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North Dakota

Township funding changes bill passes ND House

Published

16 hours ago

January 16, 2025

Press Room

Township funding changes bill passes ND House

BISMARCK, N.D. (KUMV) – The North Dakota House approved a bill to change Operation Prairie Dog funding for townships.

The bill impacts those in non-oil-producing counties.

Currently, every township receives an equal portion, but this bill would base it on road mileage.

With a 90 to 3 vote, it will move on to the Senate at a later time.

Previous Coverage and More Information: House bill seeks to change township funding for Operation Prairie Dog

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North Dakota

Concerns over local control pop up in hearing on North Dakota bill to restrict student cellphone use

Published

24 hours ago

January 16, 2025

Press Room

Concerns over local control pop up in hearing on North Dakota bill to restrict student cellphone use

BISMARCK — North Dakota lawmakers heard testimony for and against a bill to ban cellphone use by public school students during instructional time Wednesday, Jan. 15.

House Bill 1160,

sponsored by Rep. Jim Jonas, R-West Fargo,

would prohibit students from using cellphones during classes or any educational activity but allow such use during lunch, recess, between classes and open class periods.

Jonas said approximately 11 states have either total bans or restrictions on student cellphone use and another 10 are considering them.

“Let’s see if we can get better behavior, academic scores up, math, reading and better mental health,” Jonas told the House Education

ommittee on Wednesday.

A modified version of the bill makes exceptions for students who must use their cellphone to manage a medical condition or are on an individualized education program, plan or 504 plan who use their phone as an assistive device.

In addition, a school district or school may temporarily suspend the cellphone ban in the case of an emergency.

West Fargo High School Principal Rachel Bachmeier, who spoke in favor of the bill, said her school, along with others in the district, implemented a policy in the fall of 2022 to restrict cellphone use.

In effect, the cellphone policy is “out of sight, out of use from bell to bell,” she said, but students may use them during non-instructional time.

Consequences for violating the policy range from a classroom warning to surrender of the cellphone to the main office for a day or more to family meetings and behavior plans.

“We very, very rarely move beyond the first main office consequence. It is an incredibly effective policy in that way,” Bachmeier said.

Teachers have also noticed less “drama” in the classroom when students aren’t distracted by their phones, she added, and students themselves have reflected on how the policy improved their own behaviors.

Several school administrators and other stakeholders expressed concerns with aspects of the bill.

Steve Madler, principal of Bismarck Century High School, said they follow an “out of sight, out of mind during instruction” policy after attempting an all-out cellphone ban a few years back, which led to too many arguments from students and families.

However, he said, some students and teachers use cellphones in the classroom for research, surveys and language translation, adding that the Bismarck district distributes Google Chromebooks to students, which aren’t as efficient as Apple iPads for those tasks.

“It’s important for us to have policies, but I think it’s also important that we have pieces in the bill that allow us to use it for an educational purpose,” Madler said.

KrisAnn Norby-Jahner, in-house legal counsel for the North Dakota School Boards Association, expressed concern about a blanket ban on cellphone use. She said local control should be maintained, and a large majority of school districts already handle this issue.

Norby-Jahner suggested a change in the bill’s language simply requiring all school districts to come up with their own cellphone policies.

In 2024, the Minnesota Legislature passed a law requiring school districts and charter schools to adopt student cellphone policies by March 15, 2025.

Bachmeier said there is an argument for local control, but action is needed if lawmakers believe excessive cellphone use and social media access during classes is a public health crisis.

“If we do, what is our responsibility as a state to step in and take the first action in helping protect our kids?” she asked.

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