Legislative Report: April 12, 2021

I want to express my appreciation to all the first responders, firefighters, and volunteers for all their hard work during the many fires experienced across the state. D-23 individuals stepped up to assist when and where needed. I also want to send my concern for all the individuals who lost property and suffered distress, as fires raged through their property. On Wednesday, March 31, I sent a request to Governor Burgum’s Chief of Staff to request that the Governor declare an emergency for the state because of the many fires and the extreme winds. I was pleased to see the Governor implement that emergency declaration on April 1. Hopefully, this will assist local county emergency managers in accessing funds for families for their property losses. It could also help the responders replenish equipment and supplies. I would encourage any of you who have had a fire disaster on your property to connect with your local county emergency manager. And as this dry spring continues, we all must take steps to follow local burn bans, as well as care for our property and families.

Ranchers are also experiencing dry conditions in pastures. Hopefully, water holes will not go dry. I visited with Agriculture Commissioner Goehring to see if there were any programs available for ranchers to retrench water holes, if these dry conditions continue. There are funds for new water holes and for digging wells and piping water to pastures, but the issue of retrenching old water holes seems to have been left out. I will continue to work on this issue.

Budgets I worked on this week include the Water Commission Budget, Department of Public Instruction, as well as HB 1388, which is the funding formula for per pupil payments. We are almost done with DPI and the funding formula bill, but I would guess that the House will want to have a conference committee on these bills, as we have made some changes to their version.

We also worked on two bills appropriating money to the state from federal CARES ACT money which has not been used by agencies. We will continue to get that money out to other agencies who still have a need for it. It amounts to a little over $108 million.

A few bills we voted on this week include HB 1272, which would have exempted firearms manufactured in the state from federal law or federal regulations. This bill came forward with a Do Not Pass recommendation and the Senate voted it down on a vote of 10 yes and 37 no votes.

HB 1282 passed. The language in this bill says North Dakota doesn’t have to follow federal law if the statute, regulation, or executive order is outside the scope of powers the feds have via the Constitution. I opposed the bill because I believe this will take us into further litigation and litigation is always costly to the state. But one main reason I opposed this, is that it seems to me that this withdraws North Dakota from many federal programs that benefit all our citizens. I worry about the consequences of this bill. At this point, the bill has been returned to the House for their concurrence. If they concur, then the bill goes to the governor for his approval. More to come on this bill.

HB 1323 is the anti-mask bill. I received a lot of emails on this bill on both sides, some wanting to pass this bill, and some wanting a no vote, because they feel that masks have been one of the factors that reduced the number of cases in the state. As of Friday, April 2, the Senate has three members out with COVID. I am not aware that any close contacts have been asked to quarantine, but I continue to wear my mask, check my temperature every morning at the entrance to the Capitol, and have gotten both of my vaccinations. I will continue to do my part to keep my friends and family safe.

Several agency bills have also passed the chamber and are on their way back to the House. If the Senate made any substantiative changes the House disagrees with, we will go to conference committee on these bills also.

Several Senate Committees have completed their hearing schedules and are now beginning conference committee work with the House. Conference committees are composed of three House members who have heard the bill and three Senate members who have heard the bill. An agreement must come forward from this conference committee and go to the chamber of origin for approval, before the bill can go to the governor for his signature. There are no options for bills in conference committee to be defeated. A compromise must occur.

I would estimate that we are about three weeks away from completing our work for this session. Thank you for contacting me about bills and for having some in-depth conversations on legislation important to you and your families.