North Dakota
North Dakota bill sparks debate over displaying the Ten Commandments in schools • North Dakota Monitor
North Dakota’s school boards already have a state law that gives them the ability to display the Ten Commandments in classrooms, if they are accompanied by other historical documents. Now, lawmakers are debating whether to require posting the commandments in every public K-12 and college classroom.
The debate is among advocates who say the Ten Commandments provide a foundation of morals and values — and that teaching them in schools was once broadly accepted — and opponents who say the compulsory posting of them in public classrooms would violate the U.S. Constitution’s ban on establishing a state religion.
One of the bill’s sponsors, Sen. Mark Enget, R-Powers Lake, said the commandments are historically and morally important outside of their Christian religious context. “They are pure and good and build strong families which in turn build a strong society,” said Enget.
The House Judiciary Committee is reviewing House Bill 1145, which would require posting the Ten Commandments in the state’s public K-12 and college classrooms. The panel held a hearing Jan. 14 and did not make an immediate recommendation about whether the bill should be approved or defeated. Dozens of interested people have posted testimony on the Legislature’s website, with the majority being opposed to the bill. Dozens of people also attended the hearing in person, although time limits prevented many of them from testifying.
Bill sponsor Rep. Jeff Hoverson, R-Minot, told the North Dakota Monitor he plans to introduce an amendment this week that would change the bill to displaying the Ten Commandments in every school, rather than every classroom. His proposed amendment also would require the posters be funded through donations.
During last week’s hearing, Tim Barton, president of WallBuilders, a Texas-based organization that promotes the teaching of Christian history, said the Ten Commandments were taught in schools until after a 1971 U.S. Supreme Court case, called Lemon v. Kurtzman.
The Supreme Court has since reinterpreted aspects of the “Lemon test.” In a 2022 case, Kennedy v. Bremerton, the Supreme Court ruled the establishment clause should be interpreted by reference to historical practices and understandings.
In light of the Kennedy ruling, House Bill 1145 would not violate the First Amendment, because there is a long history and tradition of the Ten Commandments being taught in schools, argued Janice Lorrah of the Pacific Justice Institute, a legal nonprofit that describes itself as focusing on defending civil liberties.
“The passage of HB 1145 will enable students in the state of North Dakota to know the history and traditions of our legal system,” said Lorrah.
KrisAnn Norby-Jahner, legal counsel for North Dakota School Boards Association, and other opponents said House Bill 1145 differs from the Kennedy case, which was filed after a football coach was fired for praying with his players after a game.
“A school employee choosing to exercise a constitutional right is different from a public school being required to adopt and display a specific religious observation,” said Norby-Jahner.
Norby-Jahner said the language of the proposal is almost the same as a bill approved by the Louisiana legislature last year, which has been challenged in federal court. Last November, U.S. District Court Judge John W. deGravelles ruled the law was unconstitutional, saying the Louisiana law did not provide “any constitutional way to display the Ten Commandments.”
Louisiana issues guidance as law requiring Ten Commandments in classrooms goes into effect
Cody Schuler, a spokesman for the American Civil Liberties Union, said many students in North Dakota practice different religious beliefs, and they may openly discuss them in school already. State law also gives school boards the ability to post the Ten Commandments in their classrooms already, he said.
However, under House Bill 1145, posting the Ten Commandments “would be not only endorsed by the school, it would be endorsed by the state, it would be the state showing preference to a particular religious tradition,” Schuler said.
Supporters of the legislation said the Ten Commandments would teach students about morality and values.
“There is a long-standing history and tradition of the Ten Commandments being used in education, not because it was a promotion of religion but a promotion of morality,” Barton said.
Pat Dean, a former school principal and advocate for the bill, said it was “rooted in history and morals, not religion and the changing thereof.” If students were instructed about the Ten Commandments, some of today’s student behavioral problems could be avoided, he said.
Olivia Data, of Mandan, said posting the Ten Commandments would not address urgent problems facing public schools.
“Surely issues like teacher shortages, equitable funding, or post-COVID behavioral and academic declines should take priority over what posters are displayed in the classroom,” Data said.
According to the bill, the Ten Commandments display must be a poster or framed document that is at least 11 by 14 inches and printed in a large and easily readable font.
North Dakota
Trump EPA plans to roll back Biden's carbon, mercury emissions rules that would hit North Dakota coal plants
FARGO — President Donald Trump’s administration plans to repeal two Biden-era rules that North Dakota leaders say
would threaten the state’s coal industry.
But rescinding the rule could cost lives, an environmental group said.
The Environmental Protection Agency has proposed rescinding the Clean Power Plan 2.0 and a Mercury and Air Toxics Standards, or MATS, rule, according to a release issued Wednesday, June 11. North Dakota’s congressional delegation and North Dakota
Gov. Kelly Armstrong
celebrated the development.
“Today’s action by the EPA is a win for U.S. energy dominance and supports continued access to the affordable and reliable baseload power provided by coal,” Sen.
John Hoeven,
R-N.D., said in a statement.
The EPA needs to finalize its decision to rescind the rules. It’s unclear when that may happen.
Under former President Joe Biden, the EPA approved the Clean Power Plan 2.0 in an effort to reduce carbon emissions from fossil fuels that generate electricity. Biden aimed to cut back greenhouse gas emissions and slow
climate change.
Biden’s EPA also called on coal-fired power plants to reduce the amount of toxic metal emissions released into the atmosphere. Mercury in the air can be dangerous for certain populations, including pregnant women and children, according to the Sierra Club, an environmental advocacy group.
“It’s completely reprehensible that Donald Trump would seek to roll back these lifesaving standards and do more harm to the American people and our planet just to earn some brownie points with the fossil fuel industry,” Sierra Club Climate Policy Director Patrick Drupp said in a statement. “This repeal means more climate disasters, more heart attacks, more asthma attacks, more birth defects, more premature deaths.”
Lignite coal-fired plants, like the five in North Dakota, initially had to reduce mercury emissions by 70% before July 8, 2027. Trump extended that deadline by two years after the coal industry said technology to reduce mercury emissions didn’t exist.
The MATS rule would cost coal plants in 12 states, including North Dakota, $1.2 billion over a decade starting in 2028, the EPA said in its Wednesday news release.
EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin criticized Biden’s Clean Power Plan, claiming its purpose was to “regulate coal, oil and gas out of existence.”
“Affordable, reliable electricity is key to the American dream and a natural byproduct of national energy dominance,” Zeldin said in a statement. “According to many, the primary purpose of these Biden-Harris administration regulations was to destroy industries that didn’t align with their narrow-minded climate change zealotry.
Repealing the Clean Power Plan would save the power sector $19 billion in regulatory costs, the EPA said.
U.S. Sen Kevin Cramer, Hoeven and Armstrong called the Biden-era rules an overreach. Armstrong said he met with Zeldin last month in Washington, D.C., to discuss the rules.
In a statement, Armstrong said the Clean Power Plan would “effectively shut down existing coal-fired power plants by requiring them to curb greenhouse gas emissions by 90% by 2032.” MATS threatened the power grid and would force coal plants to prematurely close, Armstrong said.
“It’s refreshing to finally have a regulatory agency that takes input from the people who produce what the world needs – and allows them to do it better than anyone else while protecting the environment,” the governor wrote.
The two rules targeted North Dakota’s energy industries, Cramer said.
“In North Dakota, we mine lignite coal and produce very reliable, long-term, steady electricity at a low cost,” he said in a statement. “I’ve always resented that somebody in this building, at EPA, thought they cared more about the air, land, water and economy than I did and my family did.”
The Biden rules would threaten the reliability of the country’s power grid and weaken national security, U.S. Rep. Julie Fedorchak, R-N.D., said in a statement.
“Under the Trump administration, the EPA is charting a new course — one that supports the responsible development of the natural resources we’ve been blessed with for the good of the American people,” she said in calling the potential repeal “a big win for North Dakota energy and American manufacturing.”
BISMARCK — North Dakota’s sole member of Congress, Republican Rep. Julie Fedorchak, hosted her third virtual town hall on Tuesday, June 10, where she fielded questions and concerns from residents about the “big beautiful bill” that recently passed in the House.
“There’s a lot of misinformation that’s been spread about this legislation, and what is and isn’t included in it, and what the overall goal is,” Fedorchak said while opening the town hall just after 7 p.m. “I want to set the record straight on a couple of those things.”
The federal legislation, which is on its way to the Senate after passing in the House by a single vote May 22, outlined more than $1 trillion in spending cuts that have sparked uproar across the country.
Of the cuts to federal agencies and their programs, North Dakotans shared concerns Tuesday related to regional Veterans Affairs hospitals, JobCorps and state Medicaid programs.
A Minot resident named Thomas asked if the philosophy of government is to “shut something down” instead of “fix it” with regard to
the closing of the JobsCorps campus in Minot.
The program provides free career training and education for late teens and young adults.
Fedorchak said she supports the program’s mission and shares concerns about its status in Minot.
After meeting with Labor Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer to discuss the changes, however, Fedorchak said she wasn’t able to obtain further details due to the pending legal cases related to the program — lawsuits filed against the Department of Labor after the cuts were announced.
As for the VA cuts, Michelle of Fargo said she was “disheartened” by
the decision to eliminate federal funding to related care facilities.
Veterans will still receive health care, the changes merely cut out the bureaucracy created by the Biden administration, Fedorchak assured her.
Dan in Bismarck said he’s worried about
cutting back on Medicaid
and that there’s “not enough savings” in doing so “to justify the amount of cuts they’re (Congress) proposing.”
The changes include a laundry list of exceptions and are meant to save the program for people who “need it the most,” Fedorchak responded, not able-bodied people and those without permanent legal status who are currently receiving the benefits, she said.
She also emphasized her support for new work, volunteer and education requirements within the program.
When it comes to increased spending, one resident was curious about how North Dakota’s international border would be impacted by more funding for the military and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE.
Sky from Fargo expressed concern about the state’s dependency on workers who lack permanent legal status, namely for agriculture industries.
“A lot of our farmers, we’re an ag state, depend on a lot of these illegal immigrants. What’s going to be done so they can continue staffing so our economy doesn’t take a hit?” she asked.
Fedorchak said she hopes farmers are hiring legal workers, and that she is a proponent of making the visa process more efficient.
Alternative energy sources and how they relate to regional grid stability also came up intermittently.
Gordon, a wind turbine technician based in McKenzie, pointed to Trump’s distaste for wind energy and asked if Fedorchak felt the same. It was not clear if Gordon was from McKenzie County, or the unincorporated community in Burleigh County. Another caller from Fargo, Paul, was curious about moving to geothermal energy to strengthen the grid, pointing to the state’s “treasure trove” of it as a resource.
While Fedorchak said she supports eliminating existing tax credits for wind and solar energy, she also supports making the permitting process of all energy resources, including that of wind and geothermal resources, faster.
“Each resource has pros and cons and having a mix of them and a blend of them is best,” she said.
There were fewer viewers on Facebook during Tuesday’s town hall compared to the previous live streams, with the listener count not exceeding 50. The comment section was turned off by Fedorchak’s Facebook page.
Fedorchak is the only member of the state’s federal delegation who has hosted town halls since President Donald Trump was elected. Republican Sens. Kevin Cramer and John Hoeven have not announced any plans to host public forums in the near future.
Submitted Photo
Mae Streich, left, Bottineau, conductor pro-tem, escorts Lois Schaefer, new president of the Veterans of Foreign Wars Auxiliary Department of North Dakota, to the podium to conduct her first council meeting
BISMARCK – A Bottineau woman now is president of the Veterans of Foreign Wars Auxiliary North Dakota Department.
Lois Schaefer and other VFW Department 2025-26 officers were elected and installed during the state VFW and Auxiliary Convention held in Bismarck, May 29-June 1.
Lois Callahan, national representative for the convention, served as installation officer.
Callahan will be elected and installed as the 2025-2026 national president at the VFW and Auxiliary National Convention in Columbus, Ohio, Aug. 9-13. As national president, Callahan will visit every state. Her visit to North Dakota is scheduled for Aug. 22-24 during a fall workshop in Bottineau.
Schaefer’s theme as state president is the Rosie the Riveter theme “We Can Do It!”
Submitted Photo
Sharol Paulson, right, Minot, was honored with the title “The Legend” during the recent Veterans of Foreign Wars Auxiliary Department of North Dakota convention held in Bismarck. Brad Reed, 2025-26 senior vice commander for the VFW Department of N.D., escorts Paulson to dinner as part of her “royalty” title and many years of service to the auxiliary.
In her position as state president, Schaefer also will raise funds for a special project. Her project is Service Dogs for America based at Jud in LaMoure County, and her plans are to raise money for scholarships to assist veterans with the purchase of service dogs. The service dogs cost $25,000 each.
During the convention, Sharol Paulson, Minot, was crowned with the title “The Legend,” recognizing her for her many years of service with the auxiliary.
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Submitted Photo
Mae Streich, left, Bottineau, conductor pro-tem, escorts Lois Schaefer, new president of the Veterans of Foreign Wars Auxiliary Department of North Dakota, to the podium to conduct her first council meeting
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Submitted Photo
Sharol Paulson, right, Minot, was honored with the title “The Legend” during the recent Veterans of Foreign Wars Auxiliary Department of North Dakota convention held in Bismarck. Brad Reed, 2025-26 senior vice commander for the VFW Department of N.D., escorts Paulson to dinner as part of her “royalty” title and many years of service to the auxiliary.
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