Mark Jorritsma 6/27/25 Mark Jorritsma 6/27/25

What’s Your Collar?

As you may have already guessed, this is another weekly email where I find a way to intertwine a story about our dog Annie. I’m sure there is some deep-seated issue to why I try to interpret public policy issues through the life of my dog, but we’ll leave that discussion for another time. What I want to focus on is Annie’s collar.

There is really nothing special about her collar. It’s red, has a few tags on it, and I attached an AirTag not long ago in a profound exercise of fanciful thinking that we could track her if she ever got out. It makes for a nice ornament on her collar, regardless. What’s most interesting about Annie’s collar is what it does to her when it’s taken off or put back on. This struck me again tonight as I took her collar off to wash the dirt and grime off it.

As I removed her collar, she became agitated. She started acting nervous, looking around, and nuzzled my hand holding the collar. I washed it in the sink, and all the while she stood right next to me watching. As soon as I dried it and sat back down, there she was, bumping into me to get my attention. She wanted the collar back on. As soon as I put it on her, she settled down and is now sleeping at my feet.

I regard her reaction to the collar as a holdover from when she was a rescue. She was clearly someone’s dog – she knows commands, listens carefully, understands that she shouldn’t repeat actions that get a “No”, etc. What I believe happened was that when she became pregnant with her puppies, the owners abandoned her. When they left her, they removed her collar. She was found wandering with two pups in tow and without a collar.

Now, this is just my guess at what happened, but we’ve had many dogs over the years, and none of them ever wanted the collar on, but always loved having it off. I feel sorry for Annie and what that moment must have been like for her. The final act that would forever be connected to the loss of her home and her “pack”.

I believe we all have collars of a sort. We all have things that make us feel good, while all the time they really enslave us. Perhaps it’s that new car you love, but constantly worry will get dinged in a parking lot. Or maybe it’s the attention one gets from an abusive home environment. A job that we like doing, but which slowly wears us down because of the toxic environment at our employer. I’m sure there are many more examples, but I think you get my point.

I find that the world of public policy also has its collars. The need to prove that something bad is happening before making a law to address it (i.e., prevention is often not a familiar concept). We sometimes put up with the collars of letting bad laws get written into the Century Code because some law addressing an issue is better than none, right? It’s not just legislators, either, but those of us who lobby have our own collars. I sometimes see myself momentarily tempted to take the easy public policy approach, just to “get the win” and claim victory on some issue. Thankfully, that is not our calling or how we operate, but it sure would feel good, once in a while, to pick the easy issues.

Collars and their control over us can sometimes last a lifetime, as I’m sure it will with Annie. I wish I could help her get over her fear, but only she can do that. In the same way, you and I are the only ones who can take the first steps in shedding the collars holding us back and enslaving us.

So let’s be brave, acknowledge our collars, and ask God to help us shed them. Let’s not live in fear, but trust that God knows what’s best for us when He asks us to remove our collar. He doesn’t want us to be that lonely, unloved dog wandering the streets, but instead wants us to be safe and secure in the warmth of His love. We are part of His pack, and He’ll never abandon us.

Mark Jorritsma 6/20/25 Mark Jorritsma 6/20/25

Hope On The Horizon

by Jacob Thomsen

I have been a professional sports fan since I was very young. I fell in love with them and spent many hours as a kid pretending to be various sports stars while playing across the street with my childhood best friends.

Professional sports are incredibly popular and among some of the most popular programs on national television, with growing viewership every year. As an example, Major League Baseball (MLB) has an average viewership of 1.74 to 1.84 million viewers per game this season. This represents a large-scale increase in viewership, especially amongst young people.* Professional sports provide an opportunity to reach a wide audience, and for the last 5-10 years, they’ve been used as a soapbox for so-called “social justice.”

Since June has been deemed “Pride Month,” every team in the MLB, except the Texas Rangers, has a “Pride Night.” Some of the activities include free rainbow pride hats and t-shirts to the first 10,000 fans, drag queens throwing the first pitch, special rainbow uniforms, etc.

Recently, on June 14th, the World Series Champion Los Angeles Dodgers hosted their Pride Night against the Kansas City Royals. Their hats donned a rainbow version of their normal “LA” logo. Although he did not pitch, one of the best Dodgers pitchers of all time, Clayton Kershaw, wrote very visibly in marker next to the logo, GEN 9:12-16.

These few passages state, “12And God said, “This is the sign of the covenant that I make between me and you and every living creature that is with you, for all future generations: 13I have set my bow in the cloud and it shall be a sign of the covenant between me and the earth. 14When I bring clouds over the earth and the bow is seen in the clouds, 15I will remember my covenant that is between me and you and every living creature of all flesh. And the waters shall never again become a flood to destroy all flesh. 16When the bow is in the clouds, I will see it and remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is on the earth.”

Seeing this gave me hope. Clayton Kershaw is a leader on the Los Angeles Dodgers, and he is not afraid of standing for Biblical truths. In the middle of Los Angeles, during Pride Month, on national television, he was not fearful. He had the courage to stand for something, which is a sign of promise from God, and not agree to the misappropriation of the rainbow by the LGBTQ+ community.

Though it doesn’t get nearly as much attention, the Dodgers have also hosted Christian Faith and Family nights, some of which Kershaw has led. His leadership is a great encouragement to me as well as other Christian sports fans. While we may be surrounded by worldly things and the worship of them, we should not accept them but stand for what is right and true at all times. Not all hope is lost in the world of professional sports.

The words of Jesus in Matthew 5:13-16: 13 “You are the salt of the earth, but if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trampled under people's feet. 14 You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. 15 Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. 16 In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.”

Let this be an encouragement to you this June. There are brothers and sisters in Christ out there boldly sharing the truth. Even in Los Angeles, in a professional sport on national television. The rainbow is meant as a symbol of hope for the world, a promise that God instituted thousands of years ago. Let’s not hide that hope, but put it on a stand for the whole world to see.

Mark Jorritsma 6/15/25 Mark Jorritsma 6/15/25

Our next interview: Senator Kent Weston

We are very excited to present to you our seventh legislator interview. Our purpose in doing legislator interviews is so that you can better get to know the legislators representing you, from both a personal and legislative perspective.*

For our seventh interview, we decided to visit with Senator Kent Weston from District 15. He serves on the Senate Human Services Committee as Vice Chairman and as a member of the Senate Agriculture and Veterans' Affairs Committee. We know you'll enjoy learning more about his faith, his experience as a legislator, and much more.

Note: This interview was pre-recorded during the Legislative Organizational Session in December 2024.

You can watch the interview HERE.

Mark Jorritsma 6/6/25 Mark Jorritsma 6/6/25

2025 North Dakota Legislative Session Wrap-Up Summary

We’ve made it through the 2025 legislative session, and what a session it was! As I mentioned at our recent gala, the word amazing perhaps best describes it.

Session Overview

We identified 62 key bills in pro-life and pro-family categories and focused our efforts on them. Our engagement this session included:

Performing three reviews of all 1,089 bills to identify the most important pro‑life and pro‑family bills
Providing testimony on bills 98 times
Educating you about the bills through 32 total emails, which included weekly updates, Call-to-Action requests, and other emails
Helping you send 45,225 individual emails to legislators through our automated Call-to-Action (CTA) email system
Explaining how to testify both remotely and in person
Providing first drafts of bills to legislators as a starting point for their work
Helping legislators improve bills and maximize their chances of getting the needed votes
Giving legislators critical research and background information on bill subjects
Asking legislators on an ongoing basis to vote in a manner consistent with your values
Hosting a mid-session recap and informational event for legislators
and much more

The number of bills we tackled this session and the associated work represented a 24% increase over last session. Thankfully, we had additional help with Marit Heidbreder, our newest staff member. She helped us complete background research, write testimony, stay on schedule and organized, and sometimes testify in front of committees as well. In fact, during one particular week we needed to create testimony for 18 bills and testify in front of 5 different committees, so it was incredibly helpful for Jacob and me to have someone else to assist with all these tasks.

Results

This session was markedly different from 2023. It was trench warfare. We would make progress on a bill, see some of that get taken away, make a bit more progress, and so on. Nevertheless, I am happy to report that we were successful on 67% of the bills we engaged on, and trust me that those were hard-fought wins. We are grateful to you and to God for allowing us to be part of the journey to get great new legislation passed in North Dakota.

You can find a topical breakdown of the categories of bills we worked on, as well as a detailed list of the 62 bills in the full-length session wrap-up HERE.

Almost half of all the bills we worked on this session were focused on education and pornography. While there were some good education-related bills passed, such as SB 2241 authorizing charter schools and HB 1222 about reciting the Pledge of Allegiance, the two fundamental educational choice bills (SB 2400 and HB 1540) did not make it into law. On the subject of pornography, the emphasis was on protecting children online and a number of important bills were passed, including requiring age verification for those under 18 years of age (HB 1661/SB 2380) and HB 1351 which prohibited “revenge porn” and deepfake images.

There were three trafficking bills that we helped draft and fight for this session. Training for law enforcement on their interaction/response to human trafficking situations, education for school-aged children to help them identify and avoid human trafficking situations, and mandatory minimum sentencing for those found guilty of human trafficking. We are pleased that the latter two out of the three passed. On a related note, we were also very pleased that 100% of the life bills we worked on were won.

Thank you for partnering with us during this past legislative session. In particular, thank you for your ongoing support through prayers, direct involvement in political processes, and financial support. Together, we can ensure that North Dakota will remain a state that promotes God-honoring citizenship and advocates for policies that strengthen Faith, Family, and Freedom.

Mark Jorritsma 5/31/25 Mark Jorritsma 5/31/25

2025 North Dakota Legislative Session Wrap-Up

We’ve made it through the 2025 legislative session, and what a session it was! As I described it at our recent gala, the word amazing perhaps best describes it.

Session Overview

There were 1,089 bills and resolutions introduced this session – a record for recent sessions and, as typical, a subset of the bills dealt with pro-life and pro-family values. We identified 62 key bills* in these categories and then focused our efforts on them. Our engagement this session included:

Performing three reviews of all 1,089 bills to identify the most important pro‑life and pro‑family bills
Providing testimony on bills 98 times
Educating you about the bills through 32 total emails, which included weekly updates, Call-to-Action requests, and other emails
Helping you send 45,225 individual emails to legislators through our automated Call-to-Action (CTA) email system
Explaining how to testify both remotely and in person
Providing first drafts of bills to legislators as a starting point for their work
Helping legislators improve bills and maximize their chances of getting the needed votes
Giving legislators critical research and background information on bill subjects
Asking legislators on an ongoing basis to vote in a manner consistent with your values
Hosting a mid-session recap and informational event for legislators
and much more

* For discussion purposes, the term bill will be used to refer to both bills and resolutions.

Session Life Cycle

Sessions have a “life cycle” that is not always apparent but is very important for the work we do on your behalf. Session lasts for no more than 80 total days, which may be used over the course of two calendar years, although almost all are used during regular session. This year’s session spanned January 7 – May 3.

The beginning of session (roughly the first 6 weeks) is always intense and focused on committee hearings, which means lots of research and testifying for us. To make matters more challenging, almost all committee hearings are held on Mondays, Tuesdays, and Wednesdays each week. As a result, we needed to provide testimony on numerous bills within a very limited number of available hours.

As the first half of the session ends, weeks 7 and 8 are typically focused on floor votes in each of the originating chambers. Our primary work then shifts to talking with legislators, reaching out to you to engage with legislators using our CTA system and other means, and ensuring there is enough support to get our bills passed (or bad bills defeated).

After crossover, which occurs at the end of February, bills that pass their first chambers make their way to the second chamber, and the process repeats itself. However, the work is slightly different for us. Thankfully, there is somewhat less original testimony to write, but also more advocating with legislators and calls for your help. It’s understood by all parties that once bills pass their first chamber, the only thing stopping them from going to Governor Armstrong is the vote of the second chamber. As a result, many people would agree that the stakes are often higher in the second chambers.

Finally, bills that pass their second chambers are sent to Governor Armstrong, sometimes preceded by a conference committee to iron out differences. This session’s first bills arrived on Governor Armstrong’s desk the week of March 10th and ramped up from there.

Session finishes at the beginning of May (May 3, this year), but the Governor typically still has time to sign or veto bills, which can stretch up to 2 weeks after he receives his last bill. Most of our work at this point is interacting with the Governor’s office to advocate for bills.

Over the course of the 2025 legislative session, we again focused on informing and educating you on key bills that would affect your families. We thank you for reading our updates, the calls to us with questions, reaching out to your legislators, and praying throughout the whole process. We applaud you for exercising your biblical citizenship!

While all this activity was great and certainly necessary, we also need to focus on results. As Winston Churchill said, “However beautiful the strategy, you should occasionally look at the results”.

Results

In 2023, I characterized our session as “shock and awe”. It was fast, hard-hitting, we were unified, and we successfully passed a lot of really good legislation. This session was markedly different. It was trench warfare. We would make progress on a bill, see some of that get taken away, make a bit more progress, and so on. Further, the battle lines were not always as clear, sometimes finding ourselves taking positions opposite those who normally agree with us. Nevertheless, I am happy to report that we were successful on 67% of the bills we engaged on, and trust me that those were hard-fought wins.** We are grateful to you and to God for allowing us to be part of the journey to get great new legislation passed in North Dakota.

The bills introduced by legislators and which we worked on generally fell into the categories shown in the following table. The number of bills in each category was fundamentally decided by legislators, based on which bills they introduced. Note that the complete detailed list of bills is shown in Table 2 at the end of this email.

As you can see, almost half of all the bills we worked on this session were focused on education and pornography. As you undoubtedly heard in the media, the education focus was a major plank of Governor Armstrong’s plan this session, as well as very important for legislators. While there were some good education-related bills passed, such as SB 2241 authorizing charter schools and HB 1222 about reciting the Pledge of Allegiance, the two fundamental educational choice bills did not make it into law. HB 1540 was vetoed by the Governor (with no successful override), and SB 2400 eventually died in the House. Table 1 also shows, education bills as a whole did poorly this session.

On the subject of pornography, the emphasis was on protecting children online and a number of important bills were passed, including requiring age verification for those under 18 years of age (HB 1661/SB 2380) and HB 1351 which prohibited “revenge porn” and deepfake images. The pass rate of pornography related bills was the second highest among bill topics, showing a commitment by our legislature to uphold decency standards in our state.

We were very pleased that 100% of the life bills we worked on were won. This is further affirmation of North Dakota’s pro-life stance. As it states at the beginning of the Abortion Control Act of our Century Code, “This chapter reaffirms the tradition of the state of North Dakota to protect every human life, whether unborn or aged, healthy or sick.” (NDCC 14‑02.1-01) The legislature clearly voted in a manner consistent with this position during the 2025 session, and we thank them for that.

There were also three trafficking bills that we helped draft and fought for this session. The first was on training for law enforcement on their interaction/response to human trafficking situations. Unfortunately, SB 2220 died on the Senate floor with a 10 to 36 vote. The second bill was focused on education for school-aged children to help them identify and avoid human trafficking situations (SB 2330). This bill made it to Governor Armstrong’s desk and was signed into law on May 1. The final bill was very impactful in many ways. HB 1361 required mandatory minimum sentencing for those found guilty of human trafficking. It imposed a 5, 10, or 20-year sentence on trafficking offenders, depending on the severity of the crime. We thank the legislature and Governor Armstrong for making this bill part of our Century Code and for taking this important step to let human traffickers know they will pay a heavy price for operating in North Dakota.

There were several factors that enabled all these pro-life and pro-family bills to pass. First, as I mentioned, we worked hard during the session on your behalf, as did many other allied organizations that represent your values. Second, you responded with prayers, Call-to-Action requests, and financial support. You played a huge role in the successes we enjoyed this session. Third, our legislators and Governor Armstrong made some tough decisions, and generally voted in a manner consistent with your and my values. I would strongly encourage you to contact and thank the Governor and your legislators for their roles in getting so many important bills through. Finally, and most importantly, God blessed our work. Our organization is simply one channel for God’s work in North Dakota’s public policy world, and we were once again privileged to be part of it during this legislative session.

** Win percentage was calculated based on all final votes on a bill in each of the two chambers.

Observations

The most significant observation was similar to last session: elections matter. In past sessions, the difficulty in getting our bills through the legislature generally occurred in the Senate, but that significantly improved after the 2022 elections. This session, the House, while still supportive, proved to be the more challenging chamber. The support and shifting perspectives in the chambers reflect your voting. The next time an election occurs, please understand that there is a 100% connection between what you do in the voting booth and whether or not we get these important laws passed.

Another thing that struck us this session was that as we have more personnel, we make a bigger and bigger impact on legislative work and have a greater influence within the legislature. Jacob, Marit, and I are all registered lobbyists, which really helps in connecting with legislators. The largest consistent block of time to interact with most legislators at the Capitol is during lunch. If we need to catch two legislators about an upcoming floor vote, a third regarding a bill he was sponsoring, and a fourth about background research she requested, that would be almost impossible for one person during a typical lunch hour. However, having three people means that we could easily accomplish all that and more in one hour. Similarly, there were sometimes conflicting committee hearing times on important bills. The addition of another lobbyist gave us even more flexibility to use our resources in the most effective way. Finally, it meant that one or more of us was at the Capitol virtually every day of session – an important capability in an environment where things can change quickly.

The final observation was that our reputation continues to grow as a leading North Dakota pro-family and pro-life organization, with considerable resources to devote to issues. Further, many legislators and others now look to us as primary communicators to engage citizens on bills, especially through our CTA system. We are able to do all of this entirely because of you. You have put us in these roles, and only you can keep us there and allow us to continue and grow our influence on your behalf.

Final Thoughts

North Dakota has been viewed by many outsiders as a deep red state with conservative values. In many respects, this is correct, and the legislature has seemed to mirror this, with Republican supermajorities for a number of years. However, what doesn’t get discussed as much are those with an “R” behind their name, but who don’t vote anything close to conservative values on social issues.

While we as an organization are nonpartisan, our values most closely align with the NDGOP platform. Nevertheless, legislators may be anywhere on the conservative-liberal spectrum, may be on either side of the aisle, or may be easy or difficult to work with. We always look foremost at values, and I’m happy to report that the most recent freshman legislators have values that align with your and my deeply held beliefs. This gives me hope for more future wins in sessions to come. Nevertheless, we strongly encourage you to review our legislative scorecard when it comes out in June and see if the people you expect to defend your values are actually doing just that.

Even with a legislature that is often inclined to support our values, our work is far from easy, and we cannot afford to get complacent. We say with certainty that those with values opposed to ours are already gearing up for elections, ballot measures, court cases, and other means of slowing down and/or stopping our progress. In fact, it’s already underway. We will absolutely still need your help, especially during this period when we prepare for what’s coming.

Thank you for partnering with us during this past legislative session. In particular, thank you for your ongoing support through prayers, direct involvement in political processes, and financial support. Together, we can ensure that North Dakota will remain a state that promotes God-honoring citizenship and advocates for policies that strengthen Faith, Family, and Freedom.