FARGO (KFGO) – Gov. Doug Burgum delivered his 2022 State of the State Address, highlighting the state’s efforts to address North Dakota’s workforce challenges and grow and diversify the economy.
Both former and current elected officials reacted to Governor Burgum’s State of the State address at the Fargo Theater.
Former Governor Ed Schafer praised his successor’s vision.
“The Governor delivered the State of the State Address and accomplished what you want. He gave us some excitement for the state, confidence in what we’re doing, and hope. That was exciting, I feel really good about the state,” said Schafer.
State House Minority Leader Josh Boschee of Fargo said he was proud of the successes Burgum highlighted, but that more work needs to be done. Boschee said the state needs to be more intentional about its efforts to make sure all North Dakotans feel comfortable calling the state home and work with families to make sure that we’re taking care of our youngest and our oldest citizens and protecting working people’s livelihoods.
Grand Forks state Representative Corey Mock agreed.
“Good news on economic development, nice to see a lot of homegrown businesses succeeding in all corners of the state. We’ve got a lot of work to do, it’s gonna be interesting to see how this message goes into the 2023 session and how legislators prepare and respond,” Mock said.
Newly-installed state Attorney General Drew Wrigley said the speech was a tremendous tribute to the state’s resiliency over the last two years of the pandemic, while state Representative and Fargo mayoral candidate Shannon Roers Jones was grateful for the Governor’s focus on workforce development.
Burgum directly linked child care access and behavioral health resources to the workforce challenge the state is facing, saying that good progress had been made in those areas but that there was more than could be done.
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