​Extreme members beget extreme decisions

Not a week goes by without some infuriating action by the North Dakota Legislature during its current session, which is expected to wrap up near the end of this month. This week the North Dakota House removed funding from a bill aimed to improve access to sexual assault exams as well as funding for two rail safety measures. This comes as the house prepares to finish the session without fixing the flawed Voter ID law, without passing medical marijuana legalization and, of course, failing to pass discrimination protection based on sexual orientation, among many other things.

This shouldn’t come as a surprise if you know the makeup of the North Dakota Legislature. While both chambers are led by Republican majorities, the Senate seems more reasonable and the House seems more extreme. Bills with bipartisan, sometimes even unanimous support (in the opposite chamber) go to die in the House.

During its last legislative session in 2013, the North Dakota House pushed some of the most strict abortion laws in the country including Measure 1, which went down in flames. While the two members of the House who actively pushed that Measure were defeated, it’s important to remember that many representatives who actively supported and pushed that measure remain in the chamber. Some of those representatives are in leadership.

So why should we expect anything less from them? Extreme members beget extreme laws and extreme decision making. Extreme members fail to see discrimination as an issue for people who are gay. They don’t see evidence of it in their communities and among their friends so it must not be happening right? Listen, people can have their differences and nuances between political parties, but if you can’t see why gay people would be worried about discrimination and want protection from it, there’s really no middle ground with you. It’s an unreasonable, extreme position. Should we remove discrimination protections against women, minorities and the elderly because our legislature doesn’t see discrimination there either?

My point is, with these untenable positions far out of the mainstream, our legislature is taking things too far and not representing the people of North Dakota accurately. Sure it’s a conservative state -- but not that conservative. And do we really want to be the laughing stock of the nation for passing legislation that reasonable people of both parties shake their heads at?

One thing that’s infuriating is how elected Republican leaders outside the legislature fail to stand up to the legislature or speak out about their extreme actions. Governor Dalrymple spoke out in favor of sexual orientation discrimination protection after the House failed to pass it. His words would have had far more impact while the legislation was being debated. Where are the moderate elected leaders in the ND GOP to keep the legislature in check when you need them? Governor Dalrymple, Senator Hoeven and Attorney General Wayne Stenehjem are among them.

But most of all this comes down to you and the voting booth. If only two members get defeated because of Measure 1 support but many who more support it don’t, why shouldn’t we expect more of these infuriating, unreasonable positions and decision making that aren’t what most North Dakotans support. Part of it is with all the economic success in the state, people don’t want to change who’s running the ship at this time and are willing to overlook extreme social positions, because they feel the state is doing well overall.

But it is important to pay attention to who the state legislators are in your district and if they are accurately representing you. Do you know? Do you know how they voted on issues important to you? It doesn’t take that long to figure out. Do the research and hold them accountable. Unfortunately memories are short and while people will rant and rave to no end on social media about the actions of the North Dakota Legislature in 2015, will they remember in 2016 when they vote on sending them back to office? A year is a long time in politics.

Two members saw defeat for their extreme actions in 2014, but many more should have as well. That will only change when voters like you take the time to realize state and local elections have a direct impact on your lives and it’s time for you to start realizing who you are checking the box for votes.