Corey Johnson is the chief of the Williston Fire Department and a candidate for the state House in District 23. Unlike one of the incumbents in District 23, state Rep. Nico Rios, who has made headlines with an ugly arrest for DUI and erratic behavior on social media, Johnson says he wants to cast his community and his region in a positive light.

"I want a representative down in Bismarck that's going to be good on the policy and work to represent Williston and the northwest region, but also somebody that's going to represent us for who we actually are and not give us that negative image that comes back on our community from time to time. That is not what Williston is," he said on this episode of Plain Talk.

Johnson is also the chair of the District 23 Republicans, and has received pushback on his candidacy from the populist faction of Republicans that has captured control of the state party, in part because he's opted to run in the June primary despite losing the endorsement at his local convention.

He said that he brought his kids to that convention, even knowing he might lose, because "I want them to see failure."

"I want them to see defeat and how you react to that and how you move forward," he continued. "But also, that is one step in the process and it didn't go the right way. It was a defeat, but it wasn't the end of the process. So, we moved on to round two and now we're going to the primary election. So, on principle, I think it's the right thing to do."

Johnson says his experience as a first responder will bring an important perspective to the Legislature. As the state is coming in to a time when revenues may be dropping, Johnson says he's for trimming budgets, but not in an across-the-board way. He also said he'd like to work on the 3% cap on property tax increases passed during the last legislative session, particularly focusing on how it impacts smaller government entities like ambulance districts.

Also on this episode, me and guest co-host Megan Indvik of Americans for Prosperity talk about the need for North Dakota to hit the reset button on its budget, how the state advances its tax code after property tax reform, and the controversy around the North Dakota Insurance Reserve Fund.

If you want to participate in Plain Talk, just give us a call or text at 701-587-3141. It's super easy — leave your message, tell us your name and where you're from, and we might feature it on an upcoming episode. To subscribe to Plain Talk, search for the show wherever you get your podcasts or use one of the links below.

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When asked on this episode of Plain Talk about the justification that President Donald Trump's erratic regime of tariffs is necessary to flex America's economic might and negotiate better deals, John Bitzan, director of the Challey Institute at North Dakota State University, argued that the strategy has not worked.

"We haven't gotten better deals out of this," he said.

He pointed out that the goal of getting better deals was only used as a justification after the tariffs were already imposed. In a standard negotiation, "you tell people upfront what you're trying to negotiate...instead of putting the tariffs in place ahead of time," he said.

Bitzan stated that if you look at the roughly 20 trade deals that have been made, they "are actually less beneficial to us than what existed prior to the tariffs." Plus, it's hard to say how meaningful the supposedly beneficial parts of those deals even are. He explained that commitments from entities like the European Union or South Korea to invest in the U.S. are likely hollow because they either lack the mechanism to compel private businesses to invest, or their parliaments haven't ratified the commitments.

Recently Bitzan wrote a column for the Bismarck Tribune nothing that the State of North Dakota has had to step in with a loan program through the Bank of North Dakota to try and protect farmers from the impacts of these tariffs. "It is unusual for farmers to need this kind of support based on an action that has been taken by our government," he said.

"That's the thing that I think is very disturbing about this, is that you think about if there's a drought or some kind of a natural disaster or something like that, well, yeah, then farmers are going to experience financial difficulty and we want to help them out," he continued. "But this is a situation where we're actually causing the harm ourselves to them by our policies."

Also on this episode, me and guest co-host Matt Fern discuss Rep. Julie Fedorchak's use of congressional franking privileges to promote her re-election campaign, former state lawmaker Judy Estenson pursuing the Republican nomination in a legislative district she doesn't live in, and we respond to listener feedback.

If you want to participate in Plain Talk, just give us a call or text at 701-587-3141. It's super easy — leave your message, tell us your name and where you're from, and we might feature it on an upcoming episode. To subscribe to Plain Talk, search for the show wherever you get your podcasts or use one of the links below.

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What is civil asset forfeiture? It's the process through which law enforcement can "seize your property on the basis of suspicion that it's involved in a crime," Patrick Reasonover told us on this episode of Plain Talk. What's worse? The cops often get to keep the proceeds. Or, at least, their departments do.

Reasonover is one of the producers of the documentary, "When Cops Become Robbers," which was recently screened by the Challey Institute at North Dakota State University. The film tells the stories of three people who had their money and property taken by law enforcement despite not having been involved in any crime. It also includes interviews with people on both sides of the issue.

But the conclusion of the film is that civil asset forfeiture isn't anything like justice. "They need not arrest you or charge you with the crime," Reasonover said. "You need not be convicted for them to take and keep your property. You have to then prove the innocence of the property that it was not used to commit a crime or is the proceeds of a crime in order to get it back."

In North Dakota, lawmakers have passed some reforms for civil asset forfeiture in recent legislative sessions. Police must now adhere to the "clear and convincing evidence" standard for linking seized property to a crime. There is also a conviction requirement, though it's a weak one, as it does not apply if the owner fails to contest the forfeiture in court or if the owner reaches a settlement with the state. State law also still provides a financial incentive for law enforcement to seize property by allowing them to keep the proceeds up to $200,000 per year (after which the revenues go to the state's general fund).

Worst, perhaps, is that North Dakota still allows "equitable sharing" agreements with federal law enforcement, which is a handy way to do an end-run around state law. Reasonover says that's exactly how it was designed to work.

"What's important to know about this equitable sharing loophole is it actually wasn't really designed as a loophole," he said. "The federal government designed this system to work exactly as it's working. They wanted to incentivize local police jurisdictions to get involved in the drug war. They wanted them to actively go out, pull over and seize money. And they wanted to incentivize them to do it."

Local law enforcement still gets to keep the majority of the revenue from the seized property. "If they make it a federal seizure, which is super easy to do, then the local jurisdiction sends 20% of the money to the feds," Reasonover said.

Also on this episode, me and co-host Chad Oban talk about the Afroman kerfuffle, the problem with always "backing the blue," and a conspiracy theory about the Byron Noem revelations.

If you want to participate in Plain Talk, just give us a call or text at 701-587-3141. It's super easy — leave your message, tell us your name and where you're from, and we might feature it on an upcoming episode. To subscribe to Plain Talk, search for the show wherever you get your podcasts or use one of the links below.

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