Legislative Update, Week 8

The North Dakota Legislature officially closed the first half of Session on February 24th.

The Senate finished first of the two chambers, adjourning on February 23rd before lunch. The House worked through 8:15 PM that night and finished up their work with adjournment on February 24, the next afternoon. We now enter the period of time called Crossover. This is when the bills that have passed their original houses of origins "cross" the hall to the other chamber. The work process does not alter - bills now will work in this second house in a similar fashion to the original house. There will be committee work before a full floor vote. Bills that are not amended or altered and are again passed/green-light by the majority during the floor vote will be presented to the Governor for signature (or veto). Bills that received changes will be further reviewed in the proverbial third period of the hockey game otherwise known as conference committee - more on that to come. 

Since January 5th, each chamber has held hearings, committee votes, and floor votes on over 900 bills in totality. Last week there were limited committee hearings but GNDC was watching the votes closely. Even though this is halfway (Day 36) through the length of sessions (80 days) it is by no means halftime as far work yet to complete. While the workload of the "second period" will not match that of January and February due to restrictions on introducing bills, the pace will remain unchanged. Legislators will strive to push forward and finish up bills. They have 80 total days to complete their work and given the redistricting requirement, they are planning to save a few days. Redistricting occurs every ten years by law after every completed United States census count. 

RECENT VOTES ON THE 11th ORDER 
HB 1012 [SUPPORT] – The Department of Human Services appropriation that includes Medicaid Expansion at commercial rates passed the House: PASS
HB 1420 [OPPOSED/MONITORING] – The Adult recreational marijuana bill passed along with the companion bill 1501 to tax the sale of marijuana: PASS
HB 1380 [SUPPORT] – The Legacy Fund earnings framework passed: PASS   

As the dust settles on the results of the first half, GNDC spotlights our Legislative Watchlist to compare the work that's been done with the needs and concerns of business. Below is a snippet of this full document. 

To see this full document, register to attend our Legislative Halftime Report Webinar, held at 1:00 PM on March 9 - it is part of our Business Impacts Webinar Series. Arik Spencer and Matt Gardner, GNDC's full-time lobbyists, will discuss the bills that could have or are impacting the ability and cost of doing business in North Dakota. Attendees will hear about the defeated bills, the pending legislation, be able to ask questions, or discover how to be involved.
 
Unable to attend this event? That's okay, members can request the recording and supplementary pieces by emailing ndchamber@ndchamber.com.