Official Newspaper of Eddy County since 1883
Official Newspaper of Eddy County since 1883
The Senate completed its work for the first half of the session on the morning of Wednesday, Feb. 20. We will have a few days off while staff take time to remove bills from the bill books in committees and place the House bills in the Senate Committee bill books. It is also a time for us to rejuvenate and prepare for the second half of the session.
The Senate passed several bills of interest, defeated a few bills, and left us shaking our heads about a couple of bills.
SB 2148, which is the Senate bill to implement Article XIV of the North Dakota Constitution which is the new Ethics provision was approved Tuesday afternoon. This bill received a unanimous vote with 46 yes votes and one member absent and not voting. The process in SB 2148 includes clear implementation dates, the duties of the Ethics Commission, and the appointment process for the Ethics Commission. I will have the opportunity, along with the Senate Majority Leader, and the Governor, to appoint the five-person commission. If you are interested in a position on the commission, go to the Governor's web page and sign up on the Boards and Commissions link for the Ethics Commission.
We also passed SB 2012, which is the Human Services budget. It was good to see the work the Appropriations Committee did along with the Human Services Committee in moving several initiatives in to the budget. The Human Services budget is one of the larger ones in the state with a general fund expenditure at this point in the session of $1,539,428,315 and $2,609,725,166 of special funds which are mostly federal funds. There are over 2,300 state employees that provide services across this state for the Human Services Department.
SB 2315 also passed Tuesday afternoon. This is a controversial bill relating to property rights and hunting. The bill ended up with several amendments and while neither group is excited about the current outcome, passing this bill will give everyone a second chance to make it better when the House hears it. If it would have failed in the Senate, there would not be that second chance the rest of the session to work collaboratively.
The budget for the Office of Management and Budget was passed Wednesday morning. This budget is really a collection of several funding mechanisms for not only the OMB, but it also carries provisions for other agencies. One of the great additions to the OMB budget was the amendment presented by Sen. Grabinger to provide a minimum raise of at least $80 per month for state employees who would not reach that level given the 2 percent increase proposed by the Senate. As the Chairman of Appropriations alluded to, this bill will certainly be modified in House Appropriations. Like most agency budgets, the OMB budget will end up in a conference committee near the end of session.
Along with my caucus, I continue to work to create opportunities for North Dakota, strengthen communities and families, ensure good public services, and build a vibrant economy. My bill to invest more of the Legacy Fund in North Dakota is a big step forward in building strong communities.
We continue to work on a plan for pay and funding increases for K-12 education, higher education, long term care and our DD providers.
In K-12 education, we not only need to increase the per pupil payments so schools can keep up with increasing expenses, we need to hear the call from our youth to address behavior health issues. The suicide awareness bill does just that and was championed by one brave young lady. Also, additional work needs to be done to address the use of e-cigarettes and its impact on our young people.
Workforce shortages continue to be an issue that can be addressed with policies that attract people to our state. Whether that is by providing equal access to opportunities or by providing programs that serve the needs of families and communities, North Dakota can do a better job in keeping and attracting people to this state.
While the first half of the session has been productive, we have much more work to do the second half when the chambers will complete final votes on each bill that is left.
Please keep in touch and have a great week.
Sen. Joan Heckaman
(701) 302-0355
