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Beach, North Dakota
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March 14, 2019     Golden Valley News
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March 14, 2019
 
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s it neeemum “ssrurasnaoaoswe SHELTON, WA 98584-3847 313? 7T SMAUJHfiNNPflPERS "can ..,.. are. ww-m'W-vswrw'm-ws v» . . . .. The official newspaper of Beach and (itlitit’ll \tlllt‘) ( mini). \m‘ill Dakota. 480:! Gettg ven with winter Howard Stockwell uses the tube from a roll of flooring to clear away icicles from the eve of the mini-mall's roof in downtown Beach on March 10. (Photo by Richard Volesky) One farmer’s journey through ‘citizen legislature’ N IQ h By Diane Newberry N .D. Newspaper Association BISMARCK ~ The capitol cafete- “ria‘ is mostly desertedin the post— breakfast lull, but Ben Tucker leans in close. “Ok, I’ll be honest,” he said. “We’re Democrats.” From the tone of his voice — rem- iniscent of a spy in a 1960s television Show — one might get the impression that Tucker was on some sort of clan- destine mission, perhaps trying to bring down the state’s Republican majority through espionage or black— mail. The mild-mannered farmer’s real mission at the Capitol, however, is not nearly so shocking. The “we” Tucker is referring to is a group of politically minded neigh- bors and friends in the St. Thomas, N.D., area who have been supporting Tucker as he lobbies for House Bill 1515, which would expand the num- ber of women who are able to re— ceive Medicaid benefits during pregnancy. An email chain with local De— mocrats after the last election in— spired Tucker to research medical assistance available to pregnant women in the state. He found that at the time, North Dakota covered women up to 152 percent above the federal poverty line, meaning it ranked 44th across all states for preg- nancy coverage. Tucker felt com— pelled to change this and thought it didn’t have to be a partisan issue. “The politics quickly dropped away from , it because there’s no right, no left, no red, no blue to this issue,” Tucker said.- “There are lots of reasons to vote for this bill and the only reason to vote against it is that we are on a tight budget cycle.” Tucker had no prior experience in politics, except for briefly lobbying for a bill concerning a potato growers board years ago. As a farmer, he said, he used to fill his downtime in the colder months with curling. An in- jury put him on the lookout for a new hobby. “We didn’t have any idea on how to do anything.” Tucker said. “So 1 did my research and I put this thing together, with a cover sheet and de— scribing the bill as I foresaw it.” Tucker’s “thing” is a white binder with multicolored writing on the i. "" "l‘? Ben Tucker, who farms near St. Thomas, N.D., is one of many private citizens who bring ideas to the Legislature and seek help from lawmakers and Legislative Council staff to guide them through the legislative process. (Photo by Diane Newberry, NDNA) front describing his goal to change Medicaid eligibility for pregnant women from 152 percent of the na— tional poverty level to 203 percent. The final version of the bill proposes a 162 percent line. Tucker said he made about two dozen copies of his makeshift manifesto, managing to pass out about half to lawmakers. He was able to find support from a few lawmakers, namely Rep. Alisa Mit— skog, D-Wahpeton, and Senate Mi— nority Leader Joan Heckaman, D—New Rockford. Although Tucker’s grassroots story might seem exceptional, John Bjomson, director of the Legislative Council, said he sees many citizen- driven bills every session. “I think our legislators are very open to their ideas,” Bjomson said. “That’s probably why we see higher numbers of bills than we probably would expect." This session alone, Bjomson said, Legislative Council has helped draft almost 1,200 bills, including citizen-sparked measures on almost every kind of issue, but the biggest are education, property rights, and property tax —~ "those Saving For The High Cost Of College Parents of today’s four—year olds may face bills of more than $200,000 at a public college and more at a private university. If you start saving ' when your child is young, you’ll be in a good position financially when your son or daughter is ready to start college We can help you design a plan to save for your children's education. Come see us soon. things that really touch them clos- est." Bjomson said Legislative Coun- cil does its best to make information available online to citizens who would like to be involved in the law— making process. There are times, he said, when legislators who have sponsored bills on behalf of citizens have Legislative Council staff talk directly to those citizens about what they want the bill to look like or ex- plaining why the bill must be written in a certain format. Bipartisan strategy From the get-go, Tucker knew he had to reach across the aisle. His speculative binder reads, “A Bill to Reduce Abortions While Helping Our Most Vulnerable” in an effort to appeal to conservative lawmakers. In advocating for the bill, he empha- sized studies that showed as much as a 17 percent decrease in abortions when states raised their levels of cov— erage. The bill’s carrier in the House, Matthew Ruby, R—Minot, leaned into Journey (Continued on Page 8) IMO OnA frame“ at .m. c -«vuu-a-«w 1.. . ‘vfiw”r .n «as,» M, , l- I SI'S 231-280 “11.8" No.27 $1 , ., ._,._.._ M, A... Mmmmwmmafimauu.are”;,“mwrmi“ g,» ......t.r,, . . . a. .. . s . . March 14. 201‘) Bryce Norby, MDU employee, while on Beach‘s Main Street, shows one of the new LED street lamps that have or are being installed In communities throughout the region. (Photo by Richard Volesky) t skies Change n some area toWns By Richard Volesky Editor/Reporter ' People in the communities served by Montana—Dakota Utilities' street lights likely have noticed a differen type of glow at night. 7 MDU has been removing its older vapor or mercury lights in favor of light-emitting diode (LED) lights. The new lamps are similar in ap— pearance to a scuba diver's flipper. MDU spokesman Mark Hanson} said that the company last year“ changed out all of its street lights in Montana, and the plan is to cover all "of North Dakota this year. A difference with the new lamps is that the light is directed downward more, and the light appears to be broadcast more on the streets below, while there's less light that floods onto nearby (properties. Also going '.,away is the" yellow cast from Some of thé‘blaer'u‘giits. u The monthly rental charge for the (new lights is higher than for the pre— vious '* lights. However, the LED lightsare expected to be more effi— cient— around 15 percent more. The savings depends upon the lighting situation and the number of lights in a particular community. The cost for Sentinel Butte, however, is expected to’ri’se by 5 percent,but the total in- crease for the town for the year is es— timated at $182, said Hanson. A LED is a semiconductor light source that emits light when current flows. through it. Electrons in the semiconductor recombine with elec— tron holes, releasing energy in the form of photons, according to i, Work. ' Wikipedia. This effect is called elec— troluminescence. Appearing as prac— tical electronic components in 1962, the earliest LEDs emitted low—intenc sity infrared light. Early LEDs were often used as indicator lamps, replac- ing small incandescent bulbs. Recent developments have produced white— light LEDs suitable for room lighting. LEDs have many advantages over incandescent light sources, including lower energy consumption, longer lifetime, improved physical robust- ness, smaller size, and faster switch- ing. Lightaemitting diodes are used in applications as diverse as aviation lighting, automotive headlamps, ad- vertising, general lighting, traffic sig- nals, camera flashes, lighted wallpaper and medical devices, ac- cording to Wikipedia. Fourth- through sixth-graders fort they built during recess hours on Fri- day, March ‘8, at Lincoln Elementary Schoolin Bea_ch._(Photo by Jane Cook) * " ISt-ate Bank “ ‘* Gofva'? 3“ Nedora 623-5000 , . www.fsbofgolva.com & Medora Iobb 872-3656 Member FDIC ~‘ 1 Am to Beach Beach 872-4444 M ,i,,,‘»\..4e_ ,, I ' «Ahead-in