N.D. House Update for April 22, 2019

Members of the House of Representatives of the 66th Legislative Assembly joined their Senate colleagues and overrode the Governor's Veto of SB 2055. The House voted 89-3 for the override and in the Senate, it was unanimous. The bill clarifies the use of the legislative budget section and sets up the standards and guidelines by which it can operate when the legislature is not in session.

The change was made to reflect changes that were suggested by the some of the Justices of the North Dakota Supreme Court in a ruling after the last session when the legislature prevailed on 4 of 5 challenged vetoes by the Governor. The Court did not declare the Budget Section unconstitutional. The Chief Justice said the delegation to the Budget Section was not permissible only because the Legislative Assembly did not provide the Budget Section adequate guidelines and standards to make its decisions.

The members of the House continue to meet in conference committees and complete floor action on any policy bills remaining. The Appropriations Committee has finished action on the last few budget bills. Many of them have started to be scheduled for conference committee work.

The House completed work on SB 2124 recently and gave it a 82-3 do pass recommendation. The bill continues the Legislature's efforts to fully fund the direct costs of human service delivery with state dollars instead of property taxes. The bill also calls for enhancing the delivery of services in the state as they won't be limited to county lines any longer. We have worked on this issue for a long time. The Senate concurred with the House changes on Friday and passed it 46-1. It now moves on to the Governor for his signature.

The House passed SB 2346 this week which will transfer the regulation of the grain industry from the Public Service Commission to the Agriculture Department. There are 38 states that regulate the grain industry and 34 of them do it in the Ag Department. The bill was resisted by the PSC but supported by the industry.

Late last week, the House Appropriations Committee attached an amendment to SB 2016, the budget for the Adjutant General, the National Guard and the Department of Emergency Services. The amendment provides $8.1 million to townships in non-oil producing counties. The funding comes from the state disaster relief fund and will appropriate $5,000 for each township in a qualifying county.

The decision was based on the extraordinary snowfall this past winter in the eastern part of the state and excessive cost of road maintenance in western North Dakota. Some areas in the south-central portion of our state received between 80 and 110 inches of snow and are now dealing with washed out culverts and inundated roadways. Recognizing that many areas dealt with difficult winter conditions, it was decided that all townships in the qualifying counties could use some financial assistance. This House proposal will still have to be approved by the Senate.

HB 2297 provides bonding authority for several projects on university campuses throughout North Dakota. NDSU’s Dunbar Hall, Valley City State University’s communication and fine arts building, Undo's Gamble Hall project and Dickinson State University’s Pulver Hall, will utilize a general obligation bonding package totaling 80 million dollars. The projects at NDSU, UND and VCSU will require varying amounts of local matching dollars.

Additionally, HB 2297 provides for projects at the Bismarck State College nursing building, Dakota College at Bottineau and Lake Region State College. These capital projects will be paid for with general funds totaling $19.9 million from the current biennium. A replacement for Harris Hall, on the campus of NDSU, continues to be a topic of conversation but is not part of this funding package. The Senate has yet to agree with this House proposal.

The House also gave approval on Wednesday to SB 2265 which is the education funding bill for the next interim. We are very excited about the proposal and hope it will be approved by the Senate and signed by the Governor. It will help bring certainty to the funding questions school districts might have going into the next biennium.

The House Appropriations Human Services Sub-section completed work on SB 2012, which is the budget bill for the department of Human Services. They decided to reject a plan by the Governor to bring the management of the program into to the Department of Human Services instead of using a third-party administrator. They did vote to recommend that the management of the pharmacy benefit program be moved in house. We believe that will be very positive for rural pharmacies. The committee also is recommending that hospitals will continue to get paid on what is called a commercial rate. If they had changed that, it would have cost healthcare providers about $220 million over the biennium. Hospitals would have been the hardest hit. The House and Senate will be taking up the bill in the next few days. We are still visiting with members of the appropriations committee and leadership about increased funding for long-term care.

The House also passed SB 2006 which provides an income tax break for the people of North Dakota funded by Legacy Fund Earnings. The House had passed a similar bill earlier but it was defeated in the Senate. We are hopeful this bill will be passed by the Senate and signed by the Governor.

A very important bill for our District and many others across the state passed on Thursday. SB 2139 restores the funding for snagging to clear waterways across the state. We have worked with the appropriations committee as they went through the Water Commission Budget to ensure that the funding was provided for this vital use. On Friday the House passed SB 2020 which provides the money for all types of water projects across the state including snagging and clearing, water supplies for cities and rural areas, flood control and other projects. A total of $968,154.09 of special funds will be appropriated to pay for all the projects. The bill now goes to the Senate for further action.

SB 2315 was discussed by members of the House on Thursday. It has been one of the most contentious bills we have dealt with this session. Depending on which side you talk to, the bill is either a property rights bill or an anti-hunting bill. The bill will continue to be worked on in conference committee following a vote that approved part of the bill to go forward for further discussions.

District 23 residents who wish to contact us about what is being discussed or proposed can email us at: [email protected] and [email protected]. Constituents who wish to leave a message for us may call (888) 635-3447.