Dalton Erickson, executive director of the North Dakota Human Rights Coalition, speaks at the Heritage Center on May 16, 2025, during the first People’s Session, which heard concerns from residents about the 2025 legislative session. (Michael Achterling/North Dakota Monitor)
By: Michael Achterling
BISMARCK, N.D. (North Dakota Monitor) – Progressive North Dakotans who brainstormed ideas for the next legislative session want lawmakers to focus on three areas: strong schools, economic security and personal freedom.
About 40 people broke into small groups at the North Dakota Heritage Center on Friday to discuss what they believe are the most pressing issues facing the state. The discussion was part of a community-led event called the People’s Session.
Erin Oban, a former Democratic state senator and teacher, said students going through the K-12 system have vastly different needs.
“There is strong public support for our public schools,” Oban said. “The challenge is that is not necessarily reflected in the decision-making process and funding that is coming, particularly from the state level.”
She added teachers are being underfunded and some have needed to take second jobs to make ends meet.
“We think that is horrible and quite a reflection on how we value teaching as a profession,” she said.
Barry Nelson, a community organizer for the North Dakota Human Rights Coalition, told event attendees that pre-K and early childhood education in the state need to be expanded.
About 62,000 kids in North Dakota are under age 6, but there are only about 38,000 licensed early childhood education slots in the state, he said.
“The data shows that effective early childhood education increases income, reduces poverty, reduces teenage pregnancies and boosts economic productivity,” Nelson said.
Other education suggestions included creating incentives for businesses to hire international students who study in North Dakota to keep them in-state after they graduate. It also was suggested that North Dakota, in coordination with the federal government, should be able to issue a certain amount of work visas to international graduates.
Another attendee suggested addressing a shortage of lawyers with student loan forgiveness for North Dakota law school graduates and other professions if they stay in the state for five years.
Other policy suggestions included taxing out-of-state interests at a higher rate than North Dakota residents or businesses, raising the minimum wage to a livable wage and prohibiting businesses from paying tipped workers below minimum wage.
Those speaking on personal freedom wanted more pushback against the state’s abortion law and other laws targeting gender-affirming care or health care-related issues.
Advocacy organizations hosting the event included the North Dakota Human Rights Coalition, Gender Justice, Prairie Action, American Civil Liberties Union of North Dakota and North Dakota AFL-CIO.
Dalton Erickson, executive director for the North Dakota Human Rights Coalition, said the state has a citizen Legislature, which means the common people are supposed to have their voices heard for 80 days in Bismarck, every two years.
He said one of the purposes of the event was not only to hear concerns from the public, but to better organize policy proposals ahead of the next legislative session in 2027. Erickson added they will put many of the suggestions into bill draft form over the next year and will revisit the issues in spring 2026.
“I think we have a lot of excited people and a lot of great ideas to work off of,” he said.
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