Republican North Dakota Governor Doug Burgum told voters at the Iowa State Fair Thursday that if he wins the White House the first thing he will do is change the nation’s direction on energy policy.
Burgum criticized President Joe Biden for incentivizing electric vehicles, a key part of the administration’s strategy to combat climate change.
Speaking at the Des Moines Register Soapbox, Burgum said the U.S. should make the most of oil and ethanol production in states like North Dakota and Iowa instead of playing catch-up with China to build an EV battery industry.
"What do we have in Iowa? What do we have in America? We feed the world, we fuel the world. This is the powerhouse economy we have. We do not have to be in second place to China on anything."
Burgum has called for his state to be carbon-neutral by 2030 and is a supporter of proposed pipelines that would capture and store carbon dioxide from ethanol production.
Governor Kim Reynolds has appointed her former legal counsel to the Iowa Court of Appeals. Samuel Langholz has been Chief Deputy Attorney General for the State of Iowa since Republican Brenna Bird took over as Iowa Attorney General in January.
Langholz, who lives in Ankeny, is a native of Clear Lake.
Langholz is a 2008 graduate of the University of Iowa Law School who clerked for a federal judge, then worked in private practice before serving in several roles in state government over the past 12 and a half years.
Nebraska Secretary of State Bob Evnen says he will talk a lot this next year about what’s in the state’s new “voter ID” election law.
Evnen told the North Platt Telegraph this week that voters can cast ballots and satisfy the 2023 law mandated by the voter ID constitutional amendment last year.
The May 14, 2024, primary will be the first election that will require voter ID — and the next will be the Nov. 5, 2024, general election.
Enven said “97% to 98%” of Nebraskans already have the two main types of photo ID: a state-issued driver’s license or ID card.
South Dakota residents bear the lowest tax burden per capita in the region, according to a report shared with lawmakers Monday. But residents also bear the region’s heaviest sales tax burden. The Argus Leader reports the Legislative Research Council shared the report with the South Dakota Legislature’s Executive Board during a meeting in Pierre.
South Dakota ranked just below Montana for the lowest overall per capita tax burdens in 2020. South Dakota’s total per capita tax burden that year was $4,466, while Montana was slightly higher at $4,471. North Dakota topped the list at $7,545.
South Dakota leads its neighbors in state sales tax with a per capita sales tax burden of $1,788. North Dakota is second highest with $1,732 per capita and Montana ranks last, since it does not impose a sales tax.
The City of Omaha has landed a federal grant for construction of a new $13.5 million bike and pedestrian trail through the University of Nebraska Medical Center campus, according to a report in the World Herald.
The Midtown Medical Center Bikeway Connection will fill a gap in the city’s bicycle path network and make life easier for the many medical center employees who bike or walk to work.
The new trail will run about three-quarters of a mile, connecting with the popular Field Club Trail near 39th and Marcy Streets.
