730: 'This is the wrong way of making decisions'

1 rich Libsyn https://www.libsyn.com 90 600 730: 'This is the wrong way of making decisions' Gov. Kelly Armstrong called a special session to address what he and public health officials say is a crisis related to unregulated says of kratom in its natural and synthetic forms. Sen. Tim Mathern, a Fargo Democrat, says the session is unneccessary, but if we're going to have it, he'd rather it be focused on data centers. "Should we deal with kratom? Yes. Are there people who are hurt by it? Yes. There are many other substances that people are hurt by," he said. "Hundreds more persons per year die of alcohol. Hundreds more die per year of tobacco use and all kinds of other issues. So, let's address this fine, but we should be dealing with other issues also." "Most citizens of North Dakota want attention on data centers, not on kratum," he continued. "Most citizens don't even know what it's about." Mathern is trying to get two bills into consideration during the session. One would impose a one-year moratorium on data center construction, while the other would ban data center companies from seeking nondisclosure agreements with public officials. But the latter would only apply to data center companies. The legislation "basically sets forth the concerns we have about data centers," Mathern said. "It clearly defines what a data center is, what a developer is, what a non-disclosure agreement is. It actually prohibits from any government official whether they're staff or elected any political subdivision or the state from signing or participating in a non-disclosure agreement." Mathern also addressed the financial controversy around a stalled military museum project on the state capitol grounds which could cost taxpayes tens of millions of dollars. "This is the wrong way of making decisions," Mathern said, noting that lawmakers "made a deal" to build the museum that would have it receive public funding that would match private fundraising. But construction on the project began without the private fundraising in place, and now it's out of money. "I'm thinking this is more of a management issue, and this session should not be used to bail out management decisions or we're going down a path that is destructive to legislative decision making," Mathern said. Also on this session, co-host Chad Oban and I discuss North Dakota's problems with charitable gaming which, these days, is beginning to look less and less charitable all the time, and more and more like a deeply lucrative casino industry. 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. Apple Podcasts | Spotify | YouTube | Pocket Casts | Episode Archive Plain Talk https://www.inforum.com/podcasts/Plain-Talk-With-Rob-Port <iframe title="Libsyn Player" style="border: none" src="//html5-player.libsyn.com/embed/episode/id/42438005/height/90/theme/custom/thumbnail/yes/direction/forward/render-playlist/no/custom-color/ff0007/" height="90" width="600" scrolling="no" allowfullscreen webkitallowfullscreen mozallowfullscreen oallowfullscreen msallowfullscreen></iframe> https://assets.libsyn.com/secure/content/205089040