GA Group, PC

Meet McKoehm Tschider, our 2025 Legislative Intern! We’re excited to introduce McKoehm, who was selected as one of 34 individuals nationwide to attend the Judicial Clerkship Opinion Writing Conference at Columbus School of Law in Washington, D.C. in February! This prestigious event brought together incoming federal and state supreme court clerks for hands-on training from some of the nation’s most distinguished judges. McKoehm worked alongside law students and graduates from Yale, Notre Dame, Georgetown, Pepperdine, and Harvard, honing her opinion writing skills. We’re proud to have McKoehm on our team representing UND and North Dakota on a national stage! We can’t wait to see what she accomplishes next and are grateful for her hard work this legislative session! ?? Join us in congratulating her!

One Month Down! Time flies when the legislature is in session! As we wrap up the first month, we’re taking a moment to reflect on the fast-paced start to 2025. From Governor Armstrong’s State of the State Address setting an optimistic tone to the House and Senate racing through bill introduction deadlines, it has been an eventful few weeks. Lawmakers have introduced 1,069 bills, covering everything from tax relief, to energy policy and health care policy. ?? Week 1: The session kicked off at full speed, with agencies presenting budget overviews and policy committees diving into early hearings. ?? Week 2: Governor Armstrong unveiled his own $19.89B executive budget for the 2025-2027 biennium, prioritizing tax relief, education, infrastructure, and housing. This was essentially a hold-even budget compared to the 2023-2025 budget of $19.61B. The GA Group team also attended Governor Armstrong's Inaugural Ball! ?? Week 3: The House and Senate Appropriations Committees received revenue projections from their consultants and adopted the official revenue forecast for the session, which will be updated one final time during the second half of the session. ?? Week 4: A total of 1069 bills and resolutions have been introduced—the most ND has seen in 15 years. Bills with fiscal impacts will need to be acted on soon and sent to appropriations. The total fiscal impact of all bills introduced affecting the 2025-2027 general fund budget amounts to $7.8B, compared to $5.7B the appropriations committees adopted as the estimated total general fund revenue. With the groundwork laid, we’re ready for the next phase of committee work, floor debates, and budget discussions. Thanks to everyone who has been tracking bills, sharing insights, and staying engaged—your involvement is crucial!

Our team was proud to compile a comprehensive analysis on the progress of North Dakota’s child care funding throughout the interim legislative session. Child care and out-of-school programs are lifelines for families, foundational for children's development, and vital for our workforce. The full analysis can be read here: https://lnkd.in/gUN8c3n9

Levi had the pleasure of playing some holiday tunes on the “Gilbertson Grand” in the capitol for Governor Burgum and First Lady Kathryn’s final tree-lighting ceremony, dedicated to eliminating the shame and stigma of the disease of addiction and to help others find hope in recovery. Merry Christmas!

A big thanks to Bioscience Association of North Dakota, Greater Fargo Moorhead Economic Development Corporation, and all the partners of the Bioscience Summit this week! Fun to connect with industry partners, researchers, and friends and watch V. Tyrone Lam from GATC Health present on the transforming power of AI in drug discovery.

The BioScience Summit is coming up fast! If you don’t have your tickets yet, go grab them. https://bit.ly/4dXkTW1 If you haven’t decided whether to attend, here are five reasons join us for the Summit in September: -Learn about the growth of the BioScience Industry in North Dakota and ways to take advantage of the growth -Hear how higher education is developing the future workforce in bioscience — And we’ve added a career experience networking event to connect companies and students in high school and higher education!! -Learn about commercializing medical device innovations -Take advantage of great networking opportunities -Enjoy great food!

Quite an historic milestone this week, reaching the half-way point of construction for the TR Presidential Library!

A big thanks to Xcel Energy and Otter Tail Power Company for hosting us this week. We had the privilege of seeing multiple sources of our everyday power at a natural gas plant, nuclear power plant, solar farm, and a 100+ year old hydroelectric facility! We’re grateful to those who keep the lights on.?

The inaugural ND Governors Cup was a success! Great to connect with many clients, friends, and businesses interested in learning more about North Dakota! And we can’t wait for 2025!

Congratulations to the Grand Farm team on the Innovation Shop Grand Opening yesterday! What a day, what an event! Great things to come in Agtech innovation.