N.D. House Update: March 22, 2021

Members of the N.D. House of Representatives continue to work in committee on proposed legislation that has come over from the N.D. Senate. We will be taking final action on the house floor when the committee work is finished.

Legislators, others in state government, and citizens around the state, received very welcome news on Wednesday, as the Center for Medicaid and Medicaid Services (CMS) relaxed their rules for visitations at long-term care facilities in the state. The Governor also rescinded two of his emergency orders last Friday. The biggest holdup for relaxing visitations has been the federal rules. We don’t expect visitations to resume immediately, but we now see a light at the end of the tunnel.

We understand that the managers, employees, and others in the long-term care industry were starting specialized training this week, so they learn how to deal with the new rules. The lack of visitations by family members, to long-term care facilities, has been one of the most frustrating things legislators and others have tried to deal with this session. We kept running into federal requirements that we couldn’t change, and we are grateful that CMS has finally relaxed those rules.

The House Human Service Committee was scheduled to hear SB 2145 this past week. The bill would enable a long-term care resident to have one essential caregiver. That person would be able to enter a facility to provide in-person physical, spiritual or emotional support to the resident.

On Monday, the House passed SB 2039, which will expand the number of people serving on the Brain Injury Advisory Committee, to include more survivors of those injuries, as well as family members of the injured.

SB 2175, which expands the options for military members and military spouses to work in various occupations in the state, was passed on a 90-1 vote. This requires licensing boards to grant, on a case-by-case basis, exceptions to board licensing requirements to meet the needs of the military-related applicants. Members of the military and military spouses have the training and experience needed to fill various positions, and the legislature wants to make sure they have that opportunity.

On Tuesday, the House reviewed several proposed constitutional resolutions. In the end, they only passed HCR 3040, which will, if approved by the Senate and the voters of the state, restrict the ability of the legislature to raise taxes. If approved by voters, the constitutional resolution requires that any tax increase approved by the legislature, needs to be approved by a two-thirds vote in each chamber.

The House also passed SB 2260, which will clarify that counties can combine a couple of their road funds. Clarity in the law was needed after a State Auditor’s ruling. This bill will allow the counties to combine the county road levy funds, as well as the highway tax distribution allocations, when paying their road bills. That has been the longtime practice and is consistent with modern accounting procedures. The bill passed 92-0.

Wednesday, House members passed several bills. SB 2050 extends the state program which allows local locker plants to avoid regulation under federal meat inspection rules. Sponsors pointed to several, local locker plants that had opened in the state, since this change was made in a previous session to allow state inspections.

Representatives also voted down SB 2211, which would have greatly expanded the ability to hunt at night with artificial light. Game and Fish personnel pointed out in committee that it would be extremely challenging to tell some of the protected species from animals that aren’t protected. Examples included a mink and a protected martin, or a skunk and a protected fisher. There was little support for the proposed legislation across the state, and the bill was voted down 13-79.

The House voted down SB 2201, which would have allowed the state to move to daylight savings time year-round. However, unlike the bill the house passed earlier, the time change would only take place when Minn., Mont. and S.D. moved to Daylight Savings Time too.

Another bill of interest was HB 2135, which calls for a Dept. of Human Services report regarding department quality. The legislature is hopeful of getting meaningful data on the quality of the services provided by the department before July 1, 2022. They will be able to use that data as they work with the Dept. of Human Services and others included in the health information network.

On Thursday, the House approved SB 2123, which will allow a genetic sibling to receive a certified copy of a complete death record. The bill is to help family members researching family health-related issues.

House members also approved SB 2068, which updated the laws governing the removal of local officials, including officials in county government, city government and school boards. Once the Governor makes the determination that a local official should face the possibility of removal, the state’s attorney of that county will be able to contract with a state’s attorney from another county, or another competent attorney, or request that the attorney general prosecute the proceedings.

SB 2189 was also passed by the House. It seeks a legislative study of reduced-harm nicotine products. The study will look at the potential benefits of using products manufactured as tobacco-use reduction products, instead of more harmful products. If picked for an interim study, it will also review the possibility of looking at reducing taxes on that type of product to try and limit the use of other products.

The Government Operations Division of the House Appropriations Committee, chaired by Rep. Don Vigesaa, continues to review the 11 state agency budgets they have been assigned for the second half of legislative session.

The Industrial Commission was created in 1919 and it is made up of the Governor, the Attorney General and the Agricultural Commissioner. The Industrial Commission is responsible for overseeing the Bank of North Dakota, and the State Mill and Elevator. In addition, the Commission also oversees the Public Finance Authority, the Student Loan Trust, the North Dakota Building Authority, and the Housing Finance Agency.

In the area of natural resources and regulation, the Commission oversees the Department of Natural Resources, which includes oil and gas activity, geophysical exploration, subsurface mineral regulation and CO2 geological storage. It is also involved in research through the Lignite Research Program, the Oil and Gas Research Program, the Renewable Energy Program and the State Energy Research Center. The Industrial Commission is also the North Dakota Transmission Authority and the North Dakota Pipeline Authority. It has oversight of the Outdoor Heritage Fund, and the Western Area Water Supply Authority industrial sales. SB 2014 is the funding legislation for this diverse collection of agencies.

The Bank of North Dakota was established by legislative action in 1919. Its mission is to encourage and promote agriculture, commerce and industry in North Dakota. BND is a unique, competitive tool, which spurs economic development by assisting local financial institutions in delivering loans and loan programs in their communities. By law, BND serves as the state repository for revenues, and as directed by the legislature, administers loan programs to schools and local communities. It assists residents in securing higher education through student loans, and spurs college saving through its College Save Program. More importantly, BND supports state initiatives and provides a dividend by contributing a portion of its profits to the general fund each biennium. In the current period, the Bank of North Dakota is providing $140 million to the general fund. The bank recently recorded its 16th consecutive year of record profits.

When the Covid-19 pandemic took hold, BND teamed with local financial institutions, state associations, and the Small Business Administration to answer the call of distress coming from North Dakota residents. Coordinating with local banks and credit unions, BND assisted nearly 20,000 small businesses in securing more than $1.7 billion in PPP loans. Working with the Industrial Commission and the legislature, the bank utilized $50 million of its capital, and $70 million in CARE’s Act funding to create several relief programs that aided a broad variety of businesses.

The House Human Services Committee held hearings this week on several bills dealing with prescription drugs. They gave a do-pass recommendation to SB 2211, which will give pharmacists statutory authority to administer more immunizations and vaccines to children, ages three and up. They have a limited ability to give those shots now. The bill establishes limited prescriptive authority, through a statewide protocol, for public health issues within the scope of practice for a pharmacist. They also gave a do-pass recommendation to allow pharmacy technicians the authority to also administer certain shots under the direct supervision of the pharmacist. That expanded authority is contained in SB 2279.

They also reviewed SB 2133, which will expand the duties that might be performed by emergency medical services personnel to give vaccinations. They would have to complete extensive training requirements before doing so. The committee is seeking more information before bringing the bill forward.

We look forward to hearing from our constituents during the second half of the legislature. The process works best with citizen involvement and we appreciate everyone who has reached out to us. District 23 residents who wish to contact us with legislative ideas or comments on what is being discussed, 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.