N.D. House Update: March 8, 2021

The House of Representatives completed all their work this past week as they took action on all bills and resolutions before adjourning for crossover. The House started with over five hundred bills.

We are disappointed that so many of the citizens of our state were unable to attend the first half of the session, due to the pandemic.

However, we are very pleased with the efforts by leadership, in both chambers, as well as the bipartisan Legislative Council to help make the legislature much more accessible by video or even with the use of remote testimony this year. We had citizens from all over the state testifying remotely on various bills. Last week Legislative Council reported there had been over 200,000 video accesses and over 2 million minutes of video that had been viewed since the beginning of the session.

Many of the bills coming up in the final days of the first half will have major implications for the citizens of our state if they are passed by the Senate and signed by the Governor.

The House passed HB 1431, which is a $680 million bonding package by a 74-17 margin. Concerns were expressed by a number of legislators about putting forth a package that would force future legislatures to pay $88.4 million in each of the next ten legislative sessions to pay for this bill. The bonding package included $435.5 million dollars for Fargo flood control, $74.3 million for Minot area flood control, $70 million for highway and bridge infrastructure funding and $50 million for an agriculture development center at North Dakota State University in Fargo. The bonds are supposed to be paid back over the next 20 years using earnings from the Legacy Fund.

The House approved HB 1452, which will establish a Clean Sustainable Energy Authority in the state. The bill will establish that the state, acting as a partner with private entities, will fund research and large demonstration clean energy projects to bring new and emerging technologies into use for the energy industry. The bill came to the House floor with a $40 million appropriation to the Clean Sustainable Energy Fund, which was created by this legislation.

We all know that our state has extensive oil, gas and coal resources. By working together, we can help ensure that North Dakota is a leading producer of energy from these sources as well as alternative energy sources. The bill passed the Energy and Natural Resources Committee earlier by a 11-2 vote.

The House, following the lead of the Appropriations Committee, has provided for a 1.5% pay increase for state employees each of the two years in the upcoming biennium. As the funding bills left the House, they also had a minimum salary increase of $100 for each employee and a maximum of $250. That will be the same for elected officials. The House had several department budgets in the first half including, the State Treasure, Insurance Commissioner, Secretary of State, Governor’s office, Game and Fish Department, the Public Service Commission, Workplace Safety and Insurance, as well as the State Water Commission. The Appropriations Committees also reviewed and gave do-pass recommendations to the budgets for Protection and Advocacy, State Historical Society as well as the Ethics Commission, before sending them to the full House for a vote.

In a potential major change to state government the House gave approval to HB 1247 which will merge the Department of Health with the Department of Human Services. Supporters said merging the two departments will create many efficiencies and potential costs savings.

The House members had extensive discussion about the importance of preschool programs. A bill that combined the oversight of some preschool programs into the Department of Human Services was passed by the House Members. No new programs were added, it was just a consolidation of the oversight of the programs.

The House also gave narrow approval to a three-cent increase in the gas tax. HB 1464 also included an increase in the fees for operating an electric vehicle in the state. It was felt an increase in the gas tax was needed to fund the maintenance and repair of roads and bridges. The increase in the fees to operate an electric vehicle, was fair according to the committee, as it would help pay for the maintenance of the roads and other infrastructure costs that those vehicles are using. Under the bill, which now goes to the Senate, a $200 fee would be assessed for each electric vehicle registered in the state, a plug-in hybrid vehicle would pay a $100 and an electric motorcycle would pay a $50 fee. The last time the state gas tax was raised was 2005.

On Monday, the House narrowly approved HB 1323 which will eliminate the ability of state or local governments to put a mask mandate in place.

We have worked hard on a number of Juvenile Justice bills this session including HB 1035 which passed the House this past week. The bills tend to focus more on getting young people help that they need instead of just punishment. There are several bills dealing with the situation in different manners which may be combined together by the end of this session.

The House dealt with a number of gambling issues in their final week before Crossover. They approved HCR 3032, which will send a constitutional measure to the voters of the state to authorize sports betting to be conducted in the state and licensed and regulated by the state. They approved HCR 3012 which will also go to the voters of the state, seeking their approval to authorize internet live poker to be conducted, licensed and regulated by the state. Both of those constitutional measures will have to be approved by the Senate before they will go to the voters. The House rejected HB 1083 which would have established virtual horse racing in the state.

Representatives also gave approval to HB 1072 which will make electronic motor operator licenses legal in the state. They narrowly approved HB 1281 which will provide for an income tax credit for taxpayers whose children receive nonpublic school or home education. The credit is equal to $500 per student.

House members voted to approve HB 1418 which will change the employment requirements for the State Health Officer. The bill requires that the Health Officer, at the time of employment, must be a physician with substantive private or public administrative experience and public health experience.

The House passed HB 1420, which will legalize and place some restrictions on recreational marijuana in the state. They also passed HB 1501 which will put in place a tax policy to deal with the issue. Supporters expressed concerns that the marijuana issue might be brought to the people again as a constitutional measure and feel it would be better to have it in state law, where changes can be made more easily if needed. The bill, if passed by the Senate and signed by the Governor, would provide a well-regulated program. The bill, as by the House, does not allow for home-grown marijuana in the state.

In other action this past week, the House approved HB 1498 by a 77-16 margin. It makes changes to the state’s gun regulations. It would allow a resident to use deadly force, to protect themselves against an assailant without attempting to retreat from the situation. It would make a major change in the existing law, known as the Castle Law, which requires a person to retreat first, before using deadly force. It would not apply if the person using deadly force provoked the attacker. Similar legislation has been adopted in over twenty states.

The Representatives also gave approval to HB 1012, which is the budget for the Department of Human Services. The bill restores funding for the substance abuse voucher program for the full biennium. Currently funded at 8 million, the voucher program ran out of funding one year into the biennium. We added an additional $4 million for a total of $12 million, with a limit of 30% of that total to be used for residential or IMD services which will allow more funding for additional outpatient and Medicaid leveraged residential care in other areas of the state. Additionally, the legislation provided up to $1 Million/ per facility for up to three grants for these out-patient and under 17 bed residential service facilities in the most underserved areas of the state.

The bill also funded the new nursing home rate setting formula which will limit the property cost component that is currently causing differential payments to nursing homes in that area. The new formula will also allow nursing homes to retain up to 3% of any efficiencies they can find in their operations. Medicaid expansion will continue to be provided with the same commercial ration formula that currently exists with the exception of the 19 and 20-year-old population of approximately 1,000 clients which will now be added to the traditional Medicaid population.

HB 1012 also added 50% of the executive recommendation to home and community-based service providers and others that will now be able to utilize 1915i reimbursement to their rates. 1915i is a federal program and was just implemented. It will take some time to be implemented fully, but ultimately will allow for more services to be provided utilizing Medicaid leveraged reimbursement.

The legislation also includes a comprehensive study regarding the future building needs for the North Dakota State Hospital. The study can look at building a new hospital, look at remodeling the current facility or a different model of less beds in Jamestown, with other areas of the state acquiring some of the behavioral health and addiction services. An additional aspect is the role of the North Dakota Department of Corrections in this discussion as they share parts of the existing campus and how they might be affected with any changes to the state hospital.

HB 1012 also added an additional $13 million to the county social service zone program which provides state funding for formerly county funded social service programs. This does provide direct property tax relief for local property owners at a total of nearly $188 million for the 21-23 biennium. The bill also plans for continued funding for utilization increases in long term care, home and community based services, DD providers, and medical services which provides services to all North Dakota citizens that qualify for these services.

It has been a very busy first half. We look forward to hearing from our constituents during the second half. 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, N.D. 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