February 13, 2009-Bismarck Tribune Editorial

The bill, introduced by Sens. Potter, JoNell Bakke and Tom Fiebiger and Reps. Kari Conrad and Dwight Wrangham, calls for prohibiting elected officials from appearing in public service announcements or promotional messages using public funds. It also would prohibit public officials from placing names on public documents in larger type size than used to print their agency’s name.

Potter’s bill remains in the Senate Judiciary Committee after a Jan. 28 hearing.

The genesis of this specific bill started in August when Potter, during a particularly contentious race for insurance commissioner between Adam Hamm and Jasper Schneider, indicated he would introduce such legislation after the appointed state insurance commissioner, Hamm, appeared in a television ad.

At the time, the Tribune editorialized that any proposal for such legislation should be DOA if it gets to the Capitol. That remains our opinion.

We believe Potter is an effective legislator who has a lot to say about a lot of things and brings a certain balance and energy to his elected position. We commend him for that.

Nor is Potter shy about what he believes; more should be as honest and outspoken.

“These ‘talking head’ ads are widely regarded as ineffective, unless the purpose is to build name identification for the talking head,” Potter said. “If you want a PSA to be effective, it needs to focus on the issue, not on making a politician a celebrity.”

After Gov. John Hoeven’s budget surplus kickoff address to the Legislature, Potter said this: “I didn’t hear anything about our relationship with the native people of North Dakota. While so much of the state is doing really well, we know there are some pockets of poverty in North Dakota.”

His candor and interest on that topic is welcome.

But he’s still wrong about SB2275.

“If the tax commissioner (Cory Fong) believes that people should file their taxes electronically, he can create an ad that encourages people to file their taxes electronically,” Potter said. “He doesn’t not need to appear in it.”

Attorney and lobbyist Jack McDonald (not an elected official) disagrees. “It certainly is more of an incentive, and more attention-getting” if an elected official appears in an ad, McDonald said. “We just don’t think this is a problem.”