The Dakota Student - Mathern Aims for Top State Gov. Spot Veteran of state senate campaigns for health care, student issues, more. Ryan Johnson North Dakota voters will choose their governor and lieutenant governor in the November election. This year's race features Republican Governor John Hoeven running again for a third term, with Democratic candidate Tim Mathern and Independent candidate DuWayne Hendrickson challenging the incumbent. Democratic-NPL Tim Mathern has served on the state senate for the last 22 years. He became the first person in his family to graduate from college after receiving his degree from North Dakota State University. Mathern went on to earn a masters degree in social work from the University of Nebraska, and later earned a masters degree in public administration from Harvard University at the age of 50. For 27 years, he worked at Catholic Family Service/Catholic Charities, and is currently working at Prairie St. John's Hospital in Fargo. Health care Mathern said that he has worked throughout his time as a senator to address health care issues in the state. He put together a bill in the 1990s that attempted to provide more resources for pregnant women and new mothers in order to ensure they would have the proper resources to help them. He said that he wanted to help resolve as much as possible some of the main reasons why women chose to get abortions. The bill addressed health care for pregnant women, proper care for children, daycare services, family life education services as well as child support issues. It was passed, something he said was a proud moment in his career since the subject of abortion tend to be divisive and controversial. "When I look back, I would say that's probably pretty close to the top of the list - creating a bill where people on both sides of an issue and both parties work together to actually do something positive," he said. Student issues According to Mathern, he has been addressing student issues during his senate career as well. He said that sticking to his principles has meant that he supports policies that help everyone obtain a quality education. "I pretty much vote quickly on all of the issues," he said. "I say if you've got your basic values down, really it isn't that difficult."One of his plans if elected is to create a tuition repayment program for students that start or business or work in North Dakota after their graduation from a state school. Under his plan, one-eighth of a graduate's tuition cost total would be given back to them as an income tax credit every year for up to eight years. He said this plan would use the income tax system rather than developing new government bureaucracy. Mathern added that it's important for the state to be innovative in providing incentives for students to live in the state after their graduation. He estimated that the plan would cost $11 million for the first year and the funding would come from the general fund. Even though this is a large amount of money, Mathern said that the indirect benefit of keeping the students here would far outweigh the costs. "It has great potential to basically say to our young people, here is a reason to stay," he said. "We give our young people so many reasons to leave." According to Mathern, North Dakota has become a low-wage state that may attract some companies but end up underpaying workers. He said that efforts by Governor John Hoeven to get new companies to the state are sending the wrong message to college students that would like to remain in the area after graduation. "I don't think we should give millions and millions of dollars to create jobs that are low-paying," he said. "I just think that's counterproductive." He also supports proposals for a two-year tuition freeze and increases in grants to students. "As far as I'm concerned, this is all an investment and this is all good news for North Dakota," he said. Election goals Mathern said that he would remain focused on health care as a top priority if elected. His plans call for providing coverage for the 15,000 uninsured people between the ages of 1 and 21 by extending an existing program called Healthy Steps. Under current arrangements, the federal government reimburses North Dakota $.74 to the dollar for money it spends on insuring its young people. Mathern said the current eligibility cap of 150 percent of poverty level should be removed in order to open up access to the benefits. "This is not a costly program ... it's taking what's already available to us and extending it to everybody, not just some folks," he said. He said that he would also work to promote wellness and prevention efforts that can reduce future health issues and therefore lower health care costs by up to $2 billion in North Dakota. Upgrading rural hospital infrastructure and creating an income-based health insurance plan for adults are also top health care priorities, he said. Lifelong Rolette, N.D. resident Merle Boucher is Mathern's running mate, and has been leader of the House Democratic caucus since 1996. Boucher taught at Rolette High School for 20 years and is also a farmer. He attended NDSU-Bottineau and Mayville State University, and earned a bachelor's degree in secondary education. The other two candidates, John Hoeven and DuWayne Hendrickson will be featured in Tuesday's edition.

The Emmons County Record - Sen. Tim Mathern Campaigns in County State Sen. Tim Mathern of Fargo, the Democratic-NPL candidate for Governor, campaigned in Emmons County on Friday. He said growing up on a farm near Edgeley and having roots in Emmons County have kept him sensitive to rural issues at a time when the State Legislature is increasingly dominated by lawmakers from the larger cities, namely Fargo, Bismarck, Grand Forks and Minot. "I tell people that there would be no Fargo or Bismarck without farmers and small town people," Mathern said. "Preserving and enhancing the rural economy benefits all of North Dakota, not just farmers and rural communities." He said he is concerned that there are so few young people involved in farming, and he would like to see more done to stabilize and build family farm agriculture. Mathern, contrasting himself to Republican incumbent Gov. John Hoeven, said North Dakota needs better state leadership to develop wind energy. He said North Dakota is running behind other states in the region, noting that Minnesota has three times more wind energy than North Dakota. He argued that a "limited vision" hurts alternative energy development whether it be wind or bio-fuels. "Developing wind energy and bio-fuels would re-population rural North Dakota," Mathern said. He favors farmer- or community-owned wind towers so that the money from the sale of electricity stays in the community rather than going to out-of-state corporations. Mathern said he would provide the leadership to get North Dakota more involved in ethanol production. "We are way behind other states," Mathern said. "For every step we take (in ethanol development), Minnesota takes 10." He said transmission lines must be built to carry the electricity produced at wind farms, and he vowed to work with other states to expand the electrical grid to created "super highways" of transmission lines to get North Dakota-produced electricity to where the demand is. As an example, he said a line from North Dakota to Chicago would create a corridor that would benefit energy producers in the state and consumers in metro-Chicago. Right-to-Life Mathern chairs the Right-to-Life Caucus in the State Senate. He represents a legislative district where the Republicans out-number the Democrats. He has been elected since 1986. "My opposition to abortion and willingness to work with Republicans to get things done for North Dakota have made me successful in my district and, I believe, give me a reasonable chance of being elected Governor," Mathern said. Mathern said many North Dakotans, including Democrats, oppose abortion. He noted that the District 28 Democrats running for the legislature share his position. They are Senate candidate Alan Bergman of Jud and House of Representatives candidates Isadore Gross of Kintyre and Kristen Vetter of Linton. Taxation issues Mathern said the Hoeven Administration is not lowering taxes because it is shifting more of the burden to property taxes, which is said are becoming "confiscatory." He said the state's $1.2 billion surplus should be used, in part, for property tax relief. He cited numbers in some parts of the state where property taxes on a residence have increased by nearly 48 percent in less than 10 years. "Property taxes are to the point that people are being driven out of the state, and the housing market is being affected," Mathern said. Mathern said he would like to see the budget surplus used in three general categories: •Repair infrastructure. Highways, bridges, local schools and college and other public buildings are in need of upgrades and, in some cases, replacement, according to Mathern. •Tax situation. Mathern wants taxes reduced for the middle class rather than for "the millionaires" and out-of-state corporations like Walmart, which is headquartered in Arkansas. "It's the people who live in North Dakota and own homes and small businesses who should benefit," Mathern said. •Future possibilities. Mathern would like to see improvements in health insurance for children and college tuition rebates for North Dakota students attending schools in the state. He likes the idea of incentives, such as tuition rebates, for students to stay in North Dakota after they graduate. Rural hospitals Mathern, who is Director of Public Policy for Prairie St. John's Hospital in Fargo, is a member of the Long Term Care Committee of the State Senate as well as the Appropriations, Tribal and State Relatives and Budget Committees. "We have 34 rural hospitals in North Dakota, and 27 of them are losing money," Mathern said, noting that he is impressed by the turn-around of the Linton Hospital which has moved at least slightly into the black. Mathern said he would like to see a revolving loan fund to help lower the interest hospitals have to pay on their debt. A member of the University of North Dakota School of Medicine & Health Sciences Board, Mathern would like to see more incentives to help young people who go into the health care field and to encourage them to stay in North Dakota. Emmons County roots Mathern is the son of the late John J. and Christina (Wolf) Mathern, who started out in the St. Michael's community and moved as a young couple to Edgeley in 1945 where they raised their 13 children. Legislative candidate Isadore Gross is his mother's first cousin, and he is related to candidate Kristen Vetter's husband, Andrew. Mathern noted that his mother attended high school in Linton and spent winters in town so that she could make it to school. "My mother quit school before she graduated, but she was hired as a country school teacher because she had been to high school," Mathern said. He said 20 years later she would still use her box of supplies from her brief teaching days to entertain her own children. Mathern said he was the first in his family to attend college, and his dad wondered why anyone would want to go to college. When Mathern was awarded a grant to pursue his Master's Degree at the University of Nebraska, he dad questioned why he would do it. "You've already been to college," John Mathern told his son. Mathern's first venture into politics was in 1984 when he ran for the State House of Representatives. He lost. His dad, who usually said little, called him and told him, "You lost. Now you know something for next time." Mathern was elected to the State Senate in 1986, and the Democrats had a one-seat majority under Gov. George Sinner, the state's last Democrat to serve in that position. "Dad died earlier in 1986, before I was elected," Mathern said. "That was tough on me." While the margins were not always huge, he has been elected six times to the State Senate, and his current term expires in 2010. However, Mathern hopes he will get to leave the Senate after the November election and move into the Governor's residence in Bismarck.

The Daily News - Mathern Focused on Education, Wages Erin C. Hevern Building up North Dakota's workforce begins with making sure students can get an education here that goes unrivaled. Gubernatorial candidate Sen. Tim Mathern, Dem-NPL, Fargo, said in order to do that graduates should have incentive to stay in North Dakota in obtaining jobs right here where they got their education. "Right now they'reall getting these reasons to leave and we have to turn that around," Mathern said. "We have to give graduates reasons to stay." Mathern's college tuition assistance plan is the first step in doing that and building a North Dakota graduate workforce. His plan would reimburse the full cost of tuition at any state school for somebody who stays and works in North Dakota for eight years. "This is do-able. This is the greatest return of our university education, college education, vocational education is a young person, a graduate deciding to stay in North Dakota," Mathern said. "Covering the full tuition cost for all students, as opposed to a gimmick plan that only covers a small part of the cost, is the kind of investment we need to make in our future." Mathern's college tuition assistance plan begins as an $11 million program designed to invest in students and their skills they can bring to North Dakota businesses. Mathern said he's had many of his opponents ask him, what if all graduates stay here? "I don't see that as a problem at all," Mathern said. "In fact, if they don't stay here there is no money spent." If graduates do stay, then the state benefits, he added, because North Dakota would have that many more workers. "I think it sustains itself because of the benefit to the entire state and the economy," Mathern said. A second step in getting North Dakota graduates to stay and invest in careers here is offering competitive wages. The current administration advertises North Dakota as the "low wage state" as a selling point to bring jobs here. "I say we need to turn that around and say we've got good wages, we've got what I call family wages," Mathern said. His plan is improve the state's economic development strategy and attract high-wage jobs in areas like new energy, agricultural science and technology. For Mathern, rebuilding the state's workforce includes taking a look at what types of industry will last for 100 years. "It's looking at ourselves and saying what is our base and how do we build that base for better jobs?," Mathern said.