N.D. House Update: March 1, 2021

Members of the North Dakota House of Representatives are finishing their final bill work in the 67th Legislative Assembly before cross-over break starting later this week. We will be on break until Wednesday, March 3. After the break we will start hearings on Senate bills in our chamber and they will be hearing House bills.

It has been such a different session, with the lack of visitors, mask mandates and the other issues we have dealt with as part of the pandemic. We are seeing more and more legislators and others getting their vaccinations, so we are hopeful things will return to a more normal situation in the weeks ahead.

Members were briefed on early budget projections as the week ended. It is very early in the process, but as the appropriations committee reviews the projected resources and planned expenditures, they say we could be looking at a deficit of nearly $600 million at the end of the next biennium. However, it is very early in the process and we won’t get the latest fiscal forecasts until the second week in March. The Appropriations Committee will carefully be reviewing each expenditure for potential savings as we move into the second half of the session.

The North Dakota House of Representatives overwhelmingly passed HB 1412 recently. The bill will provide over $35 million in tax relief to the coal industry. The tax relief is vitally important to not only the industry in the state, but the communities and families that rely on the coal industry for jobs and other benefits. It is one of many bills we are working on this session to help not only the coal industry, but the oil and gas industry as well.

In action this past week House members acted on several bills important to the citizens of our state. On Tuesday they defeated HB 1315 which would have raised the speed limit on interstate highways to 80 mph. The bill also has another section which would have set the minimum speed on the interstate to 40 mph. That would have had a very negative impact on farmers, ag companies, equipment dealers, house movers and others who need to use the interstate for at least part of the trip. The bill was divided into two sections on the floor, but ultimately the whole bill was defeated.

The House gave HB 1417 a 90-4 yes vote. It allows local governments, including tribal governments, to join in a mutual aid agreement to work together on cyber-security issues.

Representatives voted down a plan to raise the state’s minimum wage to $15 an hour over several years.

House members approved HB 1259, which requires a public hearing and a vote before local officials decide to participate in state or national coronavirus wastewater testing. The bill passed 87-5.

They also approved HB 1030 which will continue the efforts to bring the capital into compliance with the Americans with Disabilities act. The legislature funded improvements for parking, the public entrance and some other areas during the current biennium. They will continue that effort during the next biennium as they work to bring all restrooms, committee rooms and other areas into compliance.

HB 1493 which will continue to fund about one-hundred rural ambulance services for another two years was approved unanimously by the House Members. It provides about $60,000 in grant to each service which makes up over half of their budgets.

The House also gave their approval to HB 1173 which will make the full text of constitutional amendments, as well as initiated and referred measures, part of the official ballot. The bill requires that the full text is part of the public notices in the newspaper. Currently there is a summary of the issue on the ballot, but legislators are hearing from constituents who say they want to know exactly what they are voting on when they are casting their ballots.

The issue is one of 44 different election related bills the House is considering this session.

The House rejected HB 1313 which would have mandated that a medical provider committing an abortion, for any reason other than to save the life of the mother, would be prosecuted for murder. It also penalized any person that intentionally or knowingly aids, abets, facilitates, solicits, or incites another person to commit an abortion is guilty of a class C felony. The bill was not supported by any of the right-to-life groups, religious organizations or others that normally work for passage of anti-abortion laws. There are currently four bills seeking to overturn Roe vs Wade before the Supreme Court and another eight working their way through the federal court system. The Legislature passed a bill in 2007, that is still in effect, which would make most abortion procedures illegal in the state if Roe vs Wade is overturned.

The House gave overwhelming approval to HB 1368 which will forbid a company that is selling and financing a vehicle from putting a tracking device on it without the owner’s knowledge, unless several requirements were met.

Representatives also approved HB 1303 unanimously. It will provide for a legislative management study of noncompliance with open records requirements by county commissions and auditors, city councils and commissions, and school districts. They also gave unanimous approval to HB 1113 which will strengthen the laws requiring a land-owners permission before a person can place a trail camera or recording device on someone else’s property.

By a one vote margin the House approved HB 1152 which will allow cigar bars and lounges in the state.

The House also approved HB 1359 which will make some changes to the medical marijuana laws. It will allow edible products to be sold and also expands the number of designated caregivers a person in the program can utilize. The bill also expanded the number of persons that serve on the state advisory board for the program. Law enforcement had indicated opposition to the bill because of the danger to children from edible marijuana products to be in a home.

The Government Operations Section of Appropriations continued their thorough review of state agency budgets in their section this week. HB 1023 is the budget bill for the North Dakota Public Employees Retirement System, commonly referred to as PERS. Their program responsibilities fall under two broad categories— retirement and group insurance. PERS administers nine different retirement programs. Since 1977, the PERS plan has received approximately $2.31 billion in contributions and as of July 2020, had 3.15 billion of assets. During that period, they paid out about $2.42 billion in benefits. The group health and life insurance programs have been part of the agency since the early 1970s. The group health insurance covers about 60,000 individuals. Currently, Sanford Health Plan is the provider of group life insurance for state employees and their families. The appropriation for the next biennium for the agency is $9.5 million. Total full-time employees are 34.

The North Dakota Retirement and Investment Office, commonly referred to as RIO, was created by the legislature in 1989. Its mission is to capture administrative and investment cost savings in the management of the investment program of the State Investment Board and the retirement program of the Teacher’s Fund for Retirement. The State Investment Board is responsible for investment of over $18 billion in assets including the Legacy Fund, seven pension funds and 19 other non-pension funds. Active management by the board has generated over $300 million of incremental income in the last 5 years including over $150 million of above benchmark returns for the Legacy Fund. The Legacy Fund earned a net investment return of 7.91% for the 5 years ended 9/30/2020. HB 1022 is the agency funding bill and has an appropriation of just over $6 million for the upcoming biennium. There are no general fund dollars in this budget. All funds to run this agency are derived from investment earnings and contributions collected from members and employers participating in the retirement programs. The office has 19 full time employees.

The North Dakota Game and Fish Department has 165 employees and an appropriation of $91.5 million in HB 1017. The department derives 45% of its funding from the federal government and 55% from Game and Fish funds. Most of the G&F funds comes from hunting and fishing license fees. A good portion of the federal funds are derived from the sale of firearms and ammunition. Because the sales of these items have been increasing substantially in recent years, ND Game and Fish has enjoyed receiving additional funding. Five divisions comprise the department: Administrative Services, Fisheries, Enforcement, Conservation and Communication, and Wildlife. One of the many initiatives proposed for the next biennium is an additional $1,485,000 for landowner payments for Private Land Open to Sportsmen (PLOTS). This allows walk in access to the public for approximately 5,000 acres of new PLOTS for a ten-year period. The number of PLOTS acres for the 2020 hunting season was about 800,640. Also, the department has been contacted by several landowners to offer land for purchase. These are small tracts are near wildlife management areas. Up to $800,000 is authorized for these potential purchases. Finally, $250,000 is budgeted for shooting sports grants to schools, clubs, and organized groups in the state which are used to promote and facilitate increased shooting sports participation.

The full House followed the recommendation of the House Human Service Committee in dealing with four study resolutions. They approved HCR 3014 which asks that a study be done to see what can be done to better utilize telehealth in the state. They also approved HCR 3015 which asks for a study to consider the feasibility and desirability of implementing a community health worker program. They also gave approval to HCR 3030 which seeks a study of metabolic syndrome along with its associated costs, trends, and causes. They voted no on HCR 3022 that asks the legislature to consider a study to see if the state needs a hospital discharge database, because it would be a duplication of an existing government program. If any of the studies are picked by Legislative Management, they will be studied during the next interim.

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.