478: 'I don't like the state of our country'

Plain Talk

Why did Public Service Commissioner Julie Fedorchak opt to run for the United States Hosue of Representatives? "I don't like the state of our country," she told me and my co-host Chad Oban on this episode of Plain Talk.

Fedorchak is a long-time member of the policy-intensive PSC, and thinks she can take what she learned from administering the complicated to the point of being arcane regulatory process around things like pipelines and transmission lines to Congress. "This is what we do," she said of her work on the commission. "We work through controversial issues."

She said her energy expertise, in particular, could be useful in Washington were she said there is a "fundamental lack of understanding" of that policy area. "We're basically committing energy suicide in our country," she said, noting America's abundant resources. "There is no reason we should ever run short."

Fedorchak said she'd also like to help move the nation's budgeting process out of the grips of two-year election cycles toward a longer-term commitment to an 8 to 10 year plan. She also said there needs to be a "return to order" on the border, and a focus in general on "policy" instead of "personalities."

As for other hot-button policy areas, Fedorchak declined to say whether she would have voted for the recent bipartisan budget bill that was tanked by Republicans at the behest of former President Donald Trump -- she said she didn't know enough about it -- and added that while she's pro-life, she thinks the federal government should leave the abortion issue to the states, and that Congress should focus more on policies that "help women choose life."

Also on this episode, incumbent state Rep. Jon Nelson, a Republican, joined to discuss why he and his fellow District 14 incumbents opted to skip their party's local endorsing convention. He decried an "eat your own" mentality in the NDGOP today. "We don't have a discussion," he said. "We're preached to." He also had some sharp words for some of his fellow Republican lawmakers, like Minot Rep. Dan Ruby and Bismarck Rep. Brandon Prichard, who funding and managing efforts to target Republican incumbents like himself.

He accused Prichard, specifically, of spreading false information about his votes. "Unlike Rep. Prichard, I actually care about being accurate," he said.

Nelson added that he's choosing to seek another term in the House because "as long as I'm able to make a difference, I want to try."

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