Armstrong plans to sign a bill today that will allow a military spouse at Minot Air Force Base to sell her bakery products across state lines.

“I don’t know if anybody would have known this was a problem if she wouldn’t have brought it up,” he said. “This is what is so special about North Dakota. You can have a citizen get a hold of somebody. They run a bill. You’ve got citizen legislators who run it. And now, all of a sudden, next thing you know, we’re going to do a bill signing.

“That’s a tiny example of how deeply the North Dakota Legislature cares about our military men and women who serve here,” he said.

Armstrong also noted the $651 million of economic impact Minot AFB had last year.

Jill Schramm/MDN Gov. Kelly Armstrong addresses members of the Minot Area Chamber EDC at their annual meeting in The Regency Monday.

“That’s not just important to Minot but it’s important to the entire state. Combine that with the national security presence that North Dakota has on the world stage and where we stand in the strategic deterrence posture of making sure that the United States still is that beacon of freedom,” Armstrong said.

“We don’t need to talk base retention anymore. We’re talking more about how we make Minot even more important in the national defense strategy over the short term and the long term,” he added. “We’re way past base retention. That is a 1997 conversation in a 21st century world. What we’re about is making sure that we are a part of what makes the United States military the best fighting force in the history of the world – how we can be of service to the people who need us to protect freedom at home and to protect freedom overseas.”

Having the best fighting force isn’t about planes and missiles but about the people who serve, Armstrong said.

Armstrong also addressed investments the state looks to make this legislative session.

“We’re working really hard to deliver real property tax relief and real reform,” he said. “We can do it responsibly. We can do it so it’s durable, and we can do it so everybody who owns a home in this great state will see significant relief and reform.”

He spoke about funding for infrastructure projects, including flood control for Minot.

“But now more than ever we are going to need people’s help,” Armstrong said. “Term limits are coming into the North Dakota legislative process. We’re only as good as our citizen legislature, and we’re going to lose a lot of institutional knowledge when those things kick in. So, each and every one of you that cares about your community, think of running.

“We’ve done a really good job for the last 30 years, 40 years, of helping North Dakota grow through floods and drought and tornadoes and blizzards and high commodity prices and low community prices,” he said. “But it doesn’t work if we don’t have the right people doing it.”