NDACo Legislative Update: April 9

This week Wednesday saw the first conference committee meeting to resolve House and Senate differences, and they have multiplied exponentially since. For those watching, these often have only an hour or so of notice, so periodically refreshing the conference committee link on the Legislative website is critical. This is an extremely important phase of the process, and we expect at least a dozen county priority bills will ultimately be resolved in conference.

The Bonding Bill (HB1431) took a very interesting turn this week. In round numbers, the House proposed bonding for almost $700 million – mostly for diversion/flood control projects. The Senate policy committee added amendments to increase the bonding to just over $1 billion, adding in several public building and energy projects, and notably $30 million for township roads – as they are ineligible for direct federal ARP (Relief) funding. The surprising move was action by the Senate Appropriations to send the committee back to the Senate floor, recommending that the Senate policy amendments be stripped off and the House version of the bill be sent directly to the Governor. Lots of discussion about some of the Senate priorities (including township roads) that fell off the table, and how state ARP funds, or other funding concepts may be leveraged.

The Streams Bill (HB1380) remains in Senate Appropriations, and still has $63.9 million in Legacy interest going into the Highway Distribution Fund. As this is an addition that the House did not consider, this will likely be a conference discussion, and we expect that a call for action will be made at some point to urge retaining this important piece.

You may recall that the Road Train Bill (SB2026) was amended in a manner requested by counties in the House, but as this has changed the Senate version significantly, a conference committee has been appointed to discuss their differences. If you are represented by the Senate conferees, (Senators Conley, Clemens, and Bakke) please urge them to support the House amendments that preserve county and township control of their own roadways.

HB1323, the bill to prohibit mask or face covering requirements, was voted on by the Senate on Wednesday. NDACo opposed it in its original form, focusing on its broad language that removed the ability of local government (as well as private employers) to mandate safety equipment within their operations. Counties were not alone in our opposition; cities, schools, medical facilities, and business organizations all provided testimony in opposition. Due to the response from local government and other constituents, the concerns recognized. Ultimately the Senate amended the bill to remove local government and business from the restrictions, leaving in place a prohibition on State officials issuing statewide mask requirements. The bill was then passed, although in a significantly altered form from the House version, so the battle may continue.

The final bill on our schedule to testify on was heard Thursday. HB 1253 is a massive, 80 page election reform bill. The Secretary of State's Office supported the bill and was involved in a majority of it's drafting. There are a few election related proposals that were defeated that have now made their way into the bill. NDACo supported the bill and offered further suggestions for amendments. The committee will continue to work on the bill Friday. 

The Senate acted on numerous firearm bills Thursday including a bill (HB 1498) that expands the state's "stand your ground" law to include any where an individual is legally authorized to be. The Senate passed 1498. They also approved HB 1383, which as proposed sought to prohibit local law enforcement from working with federal agents if firearms were involved. The committee worked on the bill following hearing testimony from law enforcement. The amended version approved in the Senate addressed the law enforcement concerns. The bill now accomplishes the intent of the bill to not allow local law enforcement to provide assistance to a federal agency in response to a federal order or statute that is more restrictive than state law unless the violation is related to: homicide, kidnapping, sex offenses, drug offenses, human trafficking or other felony offenses. This new language accomplishes the intent to not allow a federal order to impede on North Dakotan's 2nd amendment right but to also preserve the working relationship of federal, state and local law enforcement. 

No committee hearing schedule for next week as committees are done hearing bills. Committees will wrap up their work on the remaining bills to act on in committee and conference committee meetings and floor sessions will occupy most of the activity next week.