Governor Burgum’s Task Force for Higher Education Governance is recommending the current 8-member Board of Higher Education be replaced by three governing boards.

Under the proposal, UND and NDSU would each have a board, and the rest of the two and four year schools would be governed by a third board.

After discussing proposals for two, three, and four board systems, the Task Force agreed to recommend three boards – with only one dissenting vote.  But there is broad agreement among task force members about the need for change.

North Dakota House Republicans have chosen their leaders for the 2019 Legislature.

Rep. Chet Pollert (R-Carrington) was elected House Majority Leader. He succeeds former Rep. Al Carlson (R-Fargo), who was defeated in the November election.

Pollert was elected on the second ballot, besting Rep. Dan Ruby (R-Minot) and Rep. Mike Nathe (R-Bismarck).

Pollert was first elected to the North Dakota House in 1998. He has served as the chairman of the Human Resources Division of the House Appropriations Committee.

As part of the North Dakota University System’s “Envision 2030”  process, the System held what it called an “opening discussion” on Artificial Intelligence and Data Protection.

That meeting was held at Bismarck State College.

"The state Board of Higher Education has this medium-to-long-term exercize, thinking about the key issues for education," Hagerott said. "There are some immediate things we're working on, but longer-term are the issues of the emerging digital world."

Tuesday, November 13 – The recycling industry continues to evolve, involving global relationships. Joining us to dive more deeply into the world of recycling is Beth Porter, author of “Reduce, Reuse, Reimagine: Sorting Out the Recycling System.” ~~~ To help with the recycling effort, cities have an interest in knowing how their efforts are working. And as Ashley Thornberg reports, that means digging through the trash to find out. ~~~ Prairie Public "Ask A" events are an opportunity for people of different backgrounds to get to know one another better.

Three Bismarck Legislators have a bill ready to give state employees raises in the 2019-2021 biennium.

It was drafted by the Bismarck District 32 Republican legislators – Sen. Dick Dever, Rep. Pat Heinert and Rep Lisa Meier.

Under their bill, state workers would get an across-the-board $300 a month raise in the first year of the biennium. Heinert said that figure comes from a look back at what state workers received in previous years.

A task force has been working on ways to make North Dakota more “military friendly.”

Gov. Doug Burgum appointed that group to look at removing barriers for spouses of military personnel who come to North Dakota, or military members who want to stay here, to find jobs.

"We want to make sure North Dakota is a place that provides opportunities for veterans," said National Guard Adjutant General Alan Dohrmann. "This is not just about saying 'thank you' -- this is about makig sure we get the quality workforce this state needs."

One of the leaders of the drive for Measure One – the ethics measure, which voters passed – said she’s meeting with representatives of the measure’s opponents, hoping to “smooth things over” after a spirited campaign.

Voters passed the measure in Tuesday’s election.  A number of business groups, lobbying organizations and  the ACLU opposed the measure.

Supporters are working with legislators and the Legislative Council for enabling legislation to be introduced in the 2019 Legislative session.

Xcel Energy will be allowed to use the savings from the federal tax cut bill to pay for the clean-up of a manufactured natural gas plant in Fargo.

The North Dakota Public Service Commission has given its approval to that plan.

Xcel said the cost of the clean-up – which will take a number of years – closely mirrors that of the savings in federal taxes the company is realizing, after corporate tax rates were cut. The utility said using those savings will prevent any need for a rate increase.