N.D. House Update- March 25, 2019

Members of 66th Legislative Assembly reviewed the latest revenue forecasts this past week. The forecasts provided the members with a solid estimate of the dollars they will have to work with as they finish the session. The House and Senate Appropriations Committees agreed that they would use the estimates that forecast an extra $26 million in ongoing funding as they complete the legislative budget work. There is also an increase in oil revenues which will refill the reserve funds for the future. That is critical for future legislative sessions.

The increase in oil revenues is fantastic news for supporters of the Prairie Dog Bill. The legislation will provide cities, counties and townships across the state funding for infrastructure needs. A breakdown shows $115 million for cities, $110 million for counties, $15 million for townships and $20 million for airports. The township money, which equals $8,000 per township, is particularly critical this session after the Governor vetoed similar township funding legislation last session. It is an unprecedented funding for local governments from the state, and it appears the money will go out to local governments a couple months earlier than expected in the next biennium.

The Government Operations Division of Appropriations continues reviewing the various budget bills that were approved by the Senate. SB 2011 is the budget appropriation for the Securities Department. The agency has nine employees and generates $22 million each biennium from securities registrations and filings such as mutual funds, unit investment trusts, non-traded real estate investment trusts, and small business capital formation filings. Investment industry registrations include broker-dealer and investment adviser firms and their registered professionals and totaled 90,618 at the end of 2018. In addition, the department investigates investment fraud and takes necessary enforcement action. Their budget request is for just over $2.3 million. Revenue collected more than the appropriation, about 20 million dollars, is deposited in the state’s general fund. The commissioner is requesting one additional employee, a financial technology analyst and investigator. This FTE would specialize in digital and virtual investment fraud perpetrated through initial coin or token offerings.

SB 2003 is the funding legislation for the Office of Attorney General. The Attorney General represents and defends the interests of the citizens of North Dakota by executing the responsibilities charged by the North Dakota Constitution, state statutes and administrative rules, case law, and common law. The office consists of twelve divisions, some of which are the Bureau of Criminal Investigation, Crime Lab, Fire Marshal, Gaming, Lottery, and Consumer Protection and Antitrust. The office currently has 237 FTEs but is seeking an additional seven employees to form a Medicaid Fraud Unit. The federal government has been insisting on the establishment of this unit, but up until now, has issued a waiver for North Dakota. Federal funds will cover 90 percent of the cost for three years and then 75 percent thereafter. The Attorney General indicates losses recovered through investigations will more than cover the state’s expenses of the fraud unit.

The Human Service Committee heard SB 2124 which will continue the process of having the state take over social services from the counties. This is vital for our counties and we have supported this issue for many sessions. The bill is 137 pages long and it will take some work to get it into a little better condition, so it can pass the House. The bill will be worked on in committee over the next few days.

In other action this week, the committee heard SB 2210 which will increase the number of marijuana plants that an official growing facility in the state can grow. It is currently limited to 1,000 plants and officials say that is not enough capacity to meet the potential medical marijuana needs of residents in the state.

The committee also heard several different licensing bills for medical professions. An effort is being made in many of the bills to allow increased access to North Dakota from out of state medical providers. We also heard SB 2231 which will allow pharmacists to perform a limited number of medical procedures that currently must be done by other medical providers.

The Energy and Natural Resources Committee, in a joint meeting with the Ag Committee, on Thursday heard over six hours of testimony on SB 2315. The bill was written to help end the problems between landowners and sportsmen over access to land. It was also written to ensure that people trespassing on private land for any reason could be successfully prosecuted. It originally started in the Senate as a bill that would make all land in the state posted. It was amended there to establish an electronic database that would allow landowners to list on a website whether their land was open to hunting, closed to hunting or open to hunting by permission only. If it wasn't listed as open it would be closed. Landowners testified that they want to know who is on their land at any time. They say it is a property rights bill and not an anti-hunting bill. Because of the weather conditions on Thursday, the hearing was kept open until next Thursday to allow everyone to testify. The bill will be voted on in the Ag Committee before it comes to the House floor.

District 23 residents who wish to contact us about what is being discussed or proposed can email us at: [email protected] and [email protected]. Mail can be sent to us in Bismarck; c/o North Dakota House of Representatives, State Capital, 600 East Boulevard, Bismarck, ND 58505.

During the session constituents that wish to leave a message for us may call 1-888-635-3447.