N.D. House Update: February 22, 2021

Members of the North Dakota House of Representatives in the 67th Legislative Assembly continue their work on various bills and resolutions. Most policy committees have completed their review of bills assigned to their committee. However, there are a few left waiting for final committee action. Many of those will see extensive debate in committee and on the house floor before final House action is taken.

The Government Operations Division of Appropriations continues their review of various budgets as part of the appropriation process. HB 1016 is the budget bill for the Office of Adjutant General, which funds the National Guard and the Department of Emergency Services. The men and women of the North Dakota National Guard and the Department of Emergency Services continue to demonstrate remarkable commitment, dedication and selfless service in the current response to COVID-19 and they stand prepared to protect the citizens of our state. The National Guard also stands ready to deploy as an operational force to protect the homeland, fight and win America’s wars. Whether it be floods, fires, protests or disease in the state or mobilizing and deploying soldiers and airmen around the globe, the National Guard has always been ready and will always be there. The Department of Emergency Services consists of the Division of Homeland Security and the Division of State Radio. The Department of Homeland Security administers federal disaster recovery programs as well as several federal grant programs. They also provide administrative support for the North Dakota Civil Air Patrol. State radio has over 4000 users representing 287 agencies of the local, state and federal governments.

The governor’s recommended funding level for this agency is $180 million dollars and included authority for 222 employees. Approximately 70-75% of funding is provided through federal cooperative agreements and federal grants. A major request for this upcoming biennium is funding for expansion of Camp Grafton South, which is in Eddy County. Total request is $2.88 million dollars for expected land purchases of 1,600 acres and lease agreements for 5,371 acres. House Appropriations is unlikely to approve this request. The Dickinson Readiness Center is another project for which the agency is requesting authority to receive $15.5 million in federal funds for the construction of the facility. This facility will house the 816th Military Police Combat Support Company. The third capital asset request is a Line of Communication Bridge to be located at Camp Grafton. This $6 million project will be 100% federally funded and will be one of two training locations in the United States.

HB 1024 is the funding legislation for the newly formed Ethics Commission. It was created pursuant to Article XIV of the North Dakota Constitution which became effective January 5, 2019. Employees consist of an Executive Director and a part time office manager. Five Commissioners were appointed in August 2019. Thus far, only five ethics complaints have been filed with the commission and no violations have been issued. The total budget for this small agency is just under $500,000.

The Office of Management and Budget consists of five divisions. The Central Services Division operates state procurement to obtain needed goods, services, printing and information technology through a legal, fair and competitive process. OMB is seeking funding for an e-procurement software program that will drastically streamline and modernize that process. That program will cost just over $2 million. The Facility Management Division maintains the state Capital complex, approves all leases for space outside the complex and provides space utilization and facility planning guidance to state agencies. They are proposing $2.3 million in repairs, building automation projects and interior and exterior signage. The Fiscal Management Division provides financial management and services to state government, including budgeting, accounting, payroll and financial reporting. The Human Resources Management Division provides HR guidance, assistance and services to state agencies. In addition, they provide professional development and leadership training to state team members. The Risk Management Division promotes safety and loss control practices and maintains cyber security insurance coverage for state government. Guardianship grants and state funding for Prairie Public Broadcasting are requested in this budget. The base level general fund spending in HB 1015 is $32.9 million.

The entire Appropriations Committee is busy considering what action to take on funding bills coming out of the divisions. They also must review all the bills, which passed the policy committees, with fiscal notes.

The House Human Services Committee gave a do not pass recommendation to HB 1415 which have allowed physician-assisted suicide and euthanasia in some end-of-life situations. The bill was strongly opposed by medical providers who said the bill would allow a practice that was fundamentally incompatible with the providers role as a healer. It was opposed by the right to life groups as well as several other groups and individuals. Support came from two families who went through very difficult situations with a family member at the end of their life.

The Committee also passed HB1259 which will force a vote from a political sub-division before a city or other entity can participate in a national wastewater surveillance system program for disease control and prevention. Supporters believe the bill is needed to prevent universities, neighborhoods, apartment complexes and other areas from being targeted for a study without the residents’ permission.

The House Energy and Natural Resources Committee is finishing up the review of several gun bills. They were all placed together in a sub-committee and most likely will be combined into one or two bills.

The committee also gave a do-pass recommendation to HB 1215 which will take 10% of the outdoor heritage fund and put it into a revolving loan fund. The funding has been used on a grant basis, but the feeling of the committee was that it may be time to provide future funding for projects, for a time when there is less funds available through the oil and gas production tax.

There were several bills and resolutions of interest to our constituents debated and voted on this week in the House. The House approved HB 1492 which will add pharmacists to the list of medical providers who can administer SARS-CoV-2 tests. The House defeated HB 1182 which would have allowed candidates for local offices, including county commissioners, city councils and school board members to have their political party affiliation be listed on the ballot.

They also passed HB 1471 which seeks to clarify the issue of property tax exemptions for churches and church property. It says that land and any buildings on a parcel on which a church building is located used primarily for religious purposes are exempt from property taxes. It also exempts land and buildings on parcels of land contiguous to the parcel where the church is located if the property and building is used primarily for religious purposes.

House members defeated HB 1487 which sought to make some changes to the beef checkoff system. The bill was opposed by the North Dakota Stockmen’s Association and most farmers and ranchers from our District that wrote to us.

They also passed HB 1343, which expanded the Bill of Rights for residents of Long-Term Care Facilities. The bill expanded the rights of residents to receive unopened personal mail to include electronic mail. The legislation added the right to use electronic devices for private conversations. Without the changes the law limits the resident’s rights to regular mail and telephones. Most, if not all facilities, have already updated their policies, but a change in the law was needed to bring the code up to date.

The House approved HB 1298, Thursday afternoon. The bill, according to its sponsors, will prevent a transgender student from competing in school sports against athletes who are participating based on their sex at birth. They said it was needed to protect girls’ sports. Opponents felt it should be up to the schools and the High School Activities Association to make the decision. It will not affect college sports, as it is limited to students under 18 years of age.

Two tobacco tax increase bills, HB 1403 and HB 1422, were defeated by the House also on Thursday. Supporters said the tax increases would help curb youth smoking and provide dollars to offset healthcare costs to the state due to the use of tobacco. Opponents said the tax would hit low-income citizens the hardest. They also pointed out that an initiated measure to raise tobacco taxes in the state was defeated by the citizens by a wide margin in 2016.

District 23 residents who wish to contact us with legislative ideas or comments on what is being discussed or proposed can e-mail us at: [email protected] and [email protected]. During the session, mail can be sent to us at: ND House of Representatives, 600 East Boulevard, Bismarck, ND 58505-0360.

If you want to leave a phone message you can call the incoming toll-free number 1-888-NDLEGIS (1-888-635-3447). For hearing-impaired individuals, the TTY toll-free number is 1-800-366-6888 to reach a relay operator. If you wish to watch videos of the floor session and committee hearings you can access that at legis.nd.gov.