"I just didn't get it prioritized to get out the door."

That's what Attorney General Drew Wrigley said on this episode of Plain Talk when asked about the state's annual crime report, which is typically released over the summer, but this year wasn't made public until New Year's Eve.

The delayed report comes amid an intense debate over crime in North Dakota. The most recent report, covering the year 2024, showed some declines from recent peaks in serious crime categories, but they're still signficantly up over the last decade.

"Violent crime and robbery crimes against the person...came down two 2%," Wrigley said, "but that 2%...makes last year the 10th highest of the last 11 years. You're talking over 4,000 more victims every year than was the case in 2014."

Wrigley said he plans to continue his push for stricter sentencing policies in next year's legislative session. He was unsuccessful in winning enough votes among lawmakers for his proposed reforms during the first two legislative sessions of his tenure in office.

Wrigley also addressed delays in his office in responding to open records and open meetings complaints filed by the public, and the news media -- "the number of requests is quite robust," he said -- and said that he planed to address a legislative request for an opinion on Retirement and Investment Office bonuses in "weeks" not months.

Also on this episode, co-host Chad Oban and I react to my story about top executives at the F5 Project giving themselves personal loans out of the nonprofit's revenues, as well as my report about legislature's potentially preempting, during their upcoming special session, a ballot measure for universal school meals with a proposal of their own.

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.

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The year 2025 is almost in the books. On this episode of Plain Talk, we took a look back at the last year, looking at some of the highlights (and lowlights, unfortunately) that made news.

The legislature passed massive property tax reform. It's a "sea change" for what's long been a thorny issue, I argued, but can it be maintained? Lawmakers will have to continue funding the $1,600 credits for primary residences while simultaneously holding the line on attempts to water down the 3% cap on local spending.

Also, shamelessness was a theme in state (as well as national) politics. Elected officials from former Minot mayor Tom Ross to Williston lawmaker Rep. Nico Rios made headlines with ugly behavior. The former faced consequences (he resigned) but the latter is still in office. Can he survive the 2026 election cycle?

Speaking of which, how will the divide in the North Dakota Republican Party play out next year? Will the party hold a state convention? If they do, who will come?

There will be several ballot measures next year, too. The legislature placed one constitutional amendment on the June primary ballot -- a single-subject requirement for constitutional amendments on the ballot -- as well as two more for the November ballot. One would make some modest but meaningful changes to the state's term limits, and the other would require that constituitonal amendments on the ballot get 60% of the vote to pass.

How will those amendments fare? Co-host Chad Oban and I covered it all.

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.

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Matt Perdue is the newly-elected president of the North Dakota Farmers Union. While he was campaigning among Farmers Union members for that office earlier this year, he said he spent a lot of time talking about health care. And not because he was asking about it.

"I've spent the last few months traveling the state, visiting with folks in small towns across North Dakota, and I think it's really important to make the point that I have not asked them to talk about healthcare, he said on this episode of Plain Talk. "They have asked me to talk about healthcare. It's a top-of-mind issue for farmers and ranchers and small business owners and independent contractors across our state."

As Congress continues to debate whether to extend subsidies for health insurance policies sold on the federal exchanges -- where 25% to 30% of North Dakota farmers get their insurance, per Perdue -- he says his constituents are tired of the issue being used for political posturing while they face significant financial strain.

"Let's set the Rs and D's, the conservative and liberals aside and say, 'Hey, we have the most expensive health care system in the world. How can we work together to actually make it work for real families and not make it a political football over and over again?'"

Perdue also said the so-called "farmer bailout" -- a federal relief package touted by President Donald Trump's administration to help the agriculture industry deal with low crop prices and rising input costs -- "necessary" and a "good thing to do." But only in the short term.

"I hate that we're relying on emergency ad hoc payments again," he said.

Perdue argued that the agricultural industry currently relies on emergency bailouts for a wide variety of stressors, including trade disputes, natural disasters, and market fluctuations caused by COVID-19, because the existing safety net is not built to withstand these pressures. Farmers need a "stable, consistent system of relief" so they can make "real long-term business decisions."

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.

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