N.D. House Update: April 26, 2021

Members of the House and Senate are completing the action needed on the various bills and resolutions as we work to finish up the 67th Legislative Session. This will be our last legislative report, until we do a wrap-up of the session, after everything is completed. We greatly appreciate the willingness of the newspapers in our district for making the space available each week. We are grateful to everyone who has read the reports and contacted us about various issues and legislation. The process works much better when the citizens of our district and state are fully engaged in the work we do in Bismarck.

The House started going into session twice a day on April 12. The rest of the day is spent in conference committee or a regular committee meetings as they finish up their work. In the final days, we will be in floor session multiple times a day.

Representatives passed some major funding bills this week including the budget for the Department of Transportation. SB 2012 affects all parts of District 23 and every district in the state in some manner. Statewide funding for roads and bridges is included. Funding for public transit grants, which provide transportation services in rural, as well as urban counties, was included. There is $750,000 in the bill to provide grants to townships to match FEMA dollars for road repairs, when other funds aren’t available. The appropriation bill provides a positive impact for all areas of the state.

The House also passed SB 2230, which provides funding for the Strategic Investment and Improvement Fund. The fund was increased from $50 million dollars to $80 million dollars. The program provides increased funding for value-added agriculture and energy programs in the state. Sponsors and supporters of the legislation stated that the funding was critical to the continued success of North Dakota agriculture.

Representatives also gave their support to SB 2019, which provides funding for the Department of Career and Technical Education. The program provides funding for programs designed to deliver workforce training and education that is more responsive to changing employer and student needs. It helps expand and enhance the ability of businesses to help and retrain a well-trained workforce in the state.

Representatives unanimously approved SB 2281, which will legally enforce the establishment of a statewide rape kit tracking system with a victim portal, as well as a requirement of annual reports on tested and untested rape kits.

House members passed HB 1323 again, with the Senate changes. The bill will prohibit the Governor, State Health Officer, or anyone else from instituting a statewide mask mandate. It left in place the ability for local schools, local elected boards, and local businesses to keep the mask mandates in place if they wish.

The Representatives passed SB 2290, which will limit the amount of money that the executive branch or legislative budget committees can spend, when the full legislature is not in session. The bill requires the full legislature be brought back in to make those decisions in a special session, to be called by the Governor.

The House rejected a request to have the state fund a new trophy paid for by the state to replace the nickel trophy. The nickel trophy was previously played for in a football game between UND and NDSU. That trophy is permanently displayed in the Heritage Center. After extensive debate, the idea to fund a new trophy was defeated. Questions were raised about whether the state should fund that trophy, while there are a lot of other rivalries among other colleges in the state, and nothing was being done for those situations. Feelings were also expressed that the two football programs could easily fund a new trophy themselves, if they wished.

The House passed SB 2212, which provides a complete legislative interim study on the many questions of drug pricing. The study will look at prescription drug pricing importation, and the role pharmacy benefit managers play in drug pricing issues. The legislature looked at several bills dealing with this issue during this session, but most legislators did not feel they had all the information they needed to make the decisions needed.

The House also passed SB 2145, which will require certain long-term care facilities to work with families to see if they can designate an essential care giver who would have access to the facility on behalf of the families and residents. The bill is person-centered and honors the rights of residents that should not be waived.

Representatives passed SB 2213, which will expand the property tax credit for disabled veterans. The bill will provide an inflationary adjustment to the existing program. Sponsors said it had been eight years since an inflationary tax credit had been applied to the disabled veteran’s property tax credit.

They also passed SB 2146, which will provide funding to continue to bring the capital building into compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act. The legislature provided funding last session to start the process, and the south public entry was brought into compliance. There is additional work to be done on restrooms, committee rooms, other entrances, the cafeteria, and other public areas.

House members gave approval to the changes made by the Senate in HB 1205. The bill will provide clarity and improve the coordination to and function of the emergency services systems in the state.

They also gave approval to changes made on HB 1410 and re-passed the bill. The legislation prohibits the Department of Human Services and the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation from substantially burdening the exercise of religion in programs or facilities.

Representatives gave their approval to HB 1298, with Senate changes. The bill mandates that athletes competing in elementary and secondary school events must be competing based on their biological sex at birth. The bill does not prohibit a female from participating in a school-sponsored athletic team or event that is exclusively for males.

They approved HB 1471, which provides some clarity on property tax exemptions for church property. Apparently not all church property in the state was being treated equally when the property is used predominantly for religious purposes.

Another bill passed this week was SB 2021, which defrays the expenses for the Information Technology Department. The department oversees the information technology for state agencies, K-12 education, the statewide interoperable radio network, the Health Information technology, and others. Cybersecurity is a huge issue for the state and local subdivisions, and we are spending millions of dollars to stay ahead of those problems.

The House dealt with a several gun-related bills and resolutions this week. We had passed some of them before, but changes were made at the conference committee and the House had to approve the new versions.

The House passed HCR 3006, which urges Congress and the President of the United States to protect the Second Amendment of the United States Constitution, which is to protect our right to bear arms. It also asks the President and Congress to not assess any federal fees on firearms or ammunition. A copy of the resolution will be sent to each member of our congressional delegation and the President of the United States.

Another Second Amendment-related resolution also passed the assembly this week. HCR 3021 directs Legislative Management to consider studying the factors contributing to the nation’s firearm and ammunition shortage, along with the impact the shortage has had on the quality of life for North Dakota citizens.

HB 1293 was passed overwhelmingly again by the House. It is the constitutional carry bill and the bill made some changes that expands our citizens’ rights to carry firearms.

HB 1297 was also passed again. The bill will bring our statutes into conformity with true Constitutional carry bills in several other states.

The House passed HB 1396 to help provide immunity for civil actions against firearm or ammunition manufacturers.

The House passed SB 2208, which calls for a study of water laws including combining assessment drain procedure statutes; establishment of an appeals and mediation process; water management by watershed; cost-benefit analysis projects; and the relationship between the State Water Commission and water resource districts.

Representatives also passed HB 1397, which sets up the procedures to complete the redistricting process for the legislative body. The amended bill clarifies that any time a plan or draft plan is presented to the committee, legislature, or other legislative committee, it is deemed to be an open record and available to the public.

The House gave their approval to HB 1288, which will provide Continuous Glucose Monitors to eligible children and adults who are covered by Medicaid and Medicaid Expansion in the state. The devices are covered by most private insurers in the state. The devices have become the “standard of care” in diabetes management because they can improve health outcomes and prevent expensive in-patient and emergency services.