Senator Potter in the Prairie Independent

Winter Activities - Midwest Marriage - Regency Ball - Community Calendar
Remember how your mother told
you that when something sounds
too good to be true, it usually is?
Well, your mother may have been talking
about the effort to change North Dakota’s
pharmacy ownership law.
Under the current law, a pharmacist
must own 51 percent of a North Dakota
pharmacy. However, an organization
named “North Dakotans for Affordable
Healthcare” - funded in large part
by Wal-Mart and Walgreens - has
mounted an effort to eliminate
the “pharmacist owned”
requirement.
The Prairie Independent
congratulates
President-elect
Barack Obama
The people of
Bismarck-Mandan
wish you well as
you lead our nation
during a time of
great challenges.
Page 8: Local citizens
react to new president
Photograph courtesy BarackObama.com.
By the PI Staff
Enjoy all the amenities of a classic
New Year’s with Sleepy
Hollow Summer Theatre’s
celebration at the Radisson Hotel
in Bismarck. The evening includes
champagne, dinner, dance, dessert,
party favors and a balloon drop complimented
by the professional entertainment
of Job Christenson with the
Joel Gilbertson Ensemble.
“This is an evening featuring the
music made famous by singers including
Dean Martin, Frank Sinatra
and Sammy Davis Jr., accompanied
by ambiance and fanfare,” Susan Lundberg,
Executive Director of Sleepy
Hollow Summer Theatre, said. “Single
people as well as couples will feel
comfortable enjoying the festivities.”
Job and Joel recently returned from
a performance at the White House in
late October. Job is a vocalist, actor,
dancer, and choreographer with
Broadway experience. Originally
from Grand Forks, Job has both directed
productions for and is the Ar-
New Year,
Old School
Las Vegas Entertainment
at Sleepy Hollow’s New
Year’s Event
Looking Ahead to the
61st North Dakota
Legislative Assembly
New Session Begins January 6; Bismarck Legislator
Explains the Budget
By Senator Tracy Potter
Three weeks before Governor
Hoeven unveiled his proposed
budget, I told Prairie Public’s
Dave Thompson the governor was
likely to find more support from Democrats
than from Republicans this session.
When his budget was presented
to a joint Session of the House and
Senate on December 3, Republicans
were polite, while reaction from the
Democratic-NPLers in the House
Chamber was enthusiastic – and for
good reason. The Governor adopted
significant major policy initiatives
from the Democrats’ platform.
Hoeven’s $425 million plan for
property tax relief and improving adequacy
in education matches the Democratic-
NPL platform. It will finally
achieve the goal of the 1980 Oil Tax
Initiative, led 28 years ago by a coalition
of the Democratic-NPL, Farmers
Union, and North Dakota Education
Association. It will bring the state’s
share of the cost of public schools to
70 percent, up from the sub-50 percent
of recent biennia.
The budget raises state employees’
pay 5 percent each year of the biennium,
fully-funds their health insurance
package despite rapidly-increasing
premiums, and does the same for college
and university faculty and staff.
Recognizing that raises are going to
Continued on