Beadle: A republic of trust requires integrity

This week, as the nation marks 250 years of independence, a new landmark opened in North Dakota's Badlands: the Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library in Medora. It's a fitting coincidence. Roosevelt came to this state a grieving young man and left it having found, in his words, the "romance of my life." What he found here shaped a presidency built on the idea that public power is a trust, held on behalf of citizens, not a possession to be used carelessly.

That idea is as urgent now as it was in Roosevelt's day. The American founding was not simply a rejection of distant rule. It was an affirmation of something harder to build and easier to lose: a government worthy of the people's trust. Freedom is not sustained by slogans. It endures when public institutions are honest, competent, and accountable for the money citizens entrust to them.

A republic cannot stay strong if taxpayers believe their dollars are handled carelessly, hidden from view, or left vulnerable to fraud. Once that confidence is shaken, the damage runs deeper than any single budget line.

In North Dakota, public money is not abstract. It belongs to farmers making decisions in uncertain markets, energy workers powering the country, and small businesses balancing payroll against rising costs. Any tax dollars they pay deserve respect by institutions that treat stewardship as a duty, not a talking point.

That is why fiscal integrity is inseparable from independence. A self-governing people must trust that government acts as a careful custodian, not a careless middleman. When fraud seeps into public programs, or oversight can't keep pace with complexity, the cost doesn't vanish into some distant ledger. It lands back on citizens as waste, higher burdens, and a creeping sense that nobody is minding the store.

 As a member of the State Financial Officers Foundation — a network of state treasurers, auditors, and other financial officers who share best practices and coordinate on oversight — I see this work scale beyond any one office or state. The foundation turns local successes into models other states can adapt. Across dozens of states, elected treasurers and auditors have identified and prevented billions of dollars in waste, fraud, and abuse: money that would otherwise have been lost and eventually made up by taxpayers. Those results come from officials who answer directly to voters and insist on strong safeguards before and after a payment goes out the door.

 That experience shapes how I approach the job here. It means tightening our own safeguards, improving transparency around how funds public funds like our Legacy Fund are invested, and treating every tax dollar as if it came from a neighbor down the street, not an anonymous line on a balance sheet. Working with Governor Kelly Armstrong, we are launching a new platform to bring sunshine into how our dollars are invested. North Dakota's Legacy Fund has grown to over $14.5 Billion, and its earnings help finance state priorities and provide tax relief to our citizens in the form of a $1,600 Primary residence tax credit. Taxpayer funds of this size should be managed prudently — and explained clearly. Our citizens deserve that.

This is something my fellow financial officers and I know well, and we are committed to pushing for transparency, fiscal responsibility, and a strengthening of public trust. Roosevelt believed the presidency was a "bully pulpit" for defending the public interest against carelessness and self-dealing. Two hundred fifty years after independence, that same charge falls to those of us who guard the public purse today: keep the ledger open, the safeguards strong, and the office worthy of the people who created it.

Read the column as submitted to the Fargo Forum here:

https://www.inforum.com/opinion/columns/guest-column-a-republic-of-trust-requires-integrity