By Amy Dalrymple | Editor
Oil pump jacks operate in Williams County, North Dakota, in September 2024. (Photo by Kyle Martin/For the North Dakota Monitor)
By Jacob Orledge
North Dakota collected an estimated $29 million more in oil tax revenue in May as a result of a pricing anomaly that hadn’t happened in decades.
Justin Kringstad, director of the North Dakota Pipeline Authority, said Wednesday crude oil produced in North Dakota sold for an average of $2.56 more per barrel than the West Texas Intermediate oil price benchmark in May, the most recent data available.
“I had to go back to the 1980s to find a time period where there was a premium for North Dakota barrels,” Kringstad said during a monthly update on the state’s oil production. “So this is certainly an anomaly. I don't anticipate this to continue long term.”
Candy and sugary drinks are displayed at a gas station in Bismarck on Oct. 14, 2025. (Photo by Michael Achterling/North Dakota Monitor)
By Ceilidh Kern
The federal One Big Beautiful Bill Act, signed into law in 2025, dramatically reshaped aspects of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, which helps low-income families pay for groceries.
A North Dakota ban on using SNAP to buy energy drinks, candy and sweetened beverages will take effect Sept. 1.
The state is hosting multiple webinars this summer to share information about the changes and answer retailers’ questions. But many grocers are still unaware of the waiver or its implications, according to John Dyste, president of the North Dakota Grocers Association.
A vote on a budget resolution in the U.S. House on July 22, 2026, sets up a confrontation between GOP lawmakers in Congress over exactly how much funding to provide for the war in Iran. Shown is the damaged B1 bridge, a day after it was destroyed by an airstrike, on April 3, 2026 west of Tehran in Karaj, Iran. (Photo by Majid Saeedi/Getty Images)
By Jennifer Shutt
Republicans in the U.S. House on Wednesday approved their outline for the third party-line budget measure of the second Trump administration, though they won’t be able to begin work on that package until they reach agreement with their Senate colleagues on a plan forward.
The 216-214 vote on a budget resolution sets up a confrontation between GOP lawmakers in Congress over exactly how much funding to provide for the war in Iran and farm assistance as well as whether lawmakers should pay for it by cutting spending elsewhere.
House Republicans proposed a total of $95 billion in spending in their budget resolution. The instructions in that blueprint would allow four committees to eventually write bills that would spend up to $60 billion on the military, $13 billion on intelligence agencies, $12 billion on agricultural assistance and $10 billion on some sort of grant program for states that implement voter ID laws.
A sign advertises that SNAP benefits are accepted at a Hornbacher’s in north Fargo, North Dakota, on July 7, 2026. (Photo by Ceilidh Kern/For the North Dakota Monitor)
By Sam Gaunt
Advocates and public health experts urged Republicans in Congress on Wednesday to implement a two-year delay on requiring states to begin sharing the costs for Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits.
Provisions of the Republican-backed law that President Donald Trump signed last year that go into effect in October 2027 will require states with high SNAP error rates — the percentage of benefits that are overpaid, underpaid or go to recipients who are ineligible — to begin covering some of the program’s costs. It marks a stark change for SNAP, which is solely funded by the federal government.
North Dakota could have to pay nearly $13 million every fiscal year unless the state can reduce its error rate.
EARLIER ND MONITOR NEWS AND COMMENTARY
Secretary of state candidates say North Dakota elections are secure, fair and free | Michael Achterling
Democrat withdraws from northeast North Dakota legislative race | Michael Achterling
FROM STATES NEWSROOM
Stock market information overlaid on a photograph of the U.S. Capitol. (Photo illustration by Getty Images)
By Ashley Murray
U.S. House Republicans passed a measure to curb stock trading by members of Congress that was packaged with an unrelated voter ID bill, part of President Donald Trump’s push for major federal involvement in elections.
The legislation passed by a vote of 232-198. All Republicans and 13 Democrats voted in favor.
The bill faces possible headwinds in the narrowly split Senate where 60 votes are required for passage. Republicans control the upper chamber with 53 members, to Democrats’ 47 members.
Extensive cleanup conducted at SD state fairgrounds after tornado strikes Huron | South Dakota Searchlight
‘I’m not giving up so easily’: After 4 months in detention, an asylum fight begins | Minnesota Reformer
Thanks for reading North Dakota Monitor. Did you know our weekend digest is also free? Sign up here. And if you enjoyed today’s edition, please forward to a friend. Increasing our readership helps us cover more news.