*Important Note: Legislative Council is experiencing some delays in scheduling next week’s hearing schedule. It is our plan to update the blog when the schedule is complete.

Update for Week 1:

The 68^th Legislative Session kicked off this week. There is a new energy in the House and Senate Chambers with 41 new lawmakers and big change ups in leadership positions. Your NDACo Legislative Team has spent most of the week introducing themselves to new members, getting to know their interests and asking how “counties” can help.

Governor Doug Burgum provided a welcome to lawmakers and providing his “State of the State” address. He highlighted North Dakota’s strong economic situation emphasizing the opportunities the state has to grow and diversify along with addressing the state’s workforce challenges.

The Governor asked lawmakers to support $20 million in emergency snow removal grants to be awarded to state, local and tribal governments who have already exceeded their average snow removal budgets, and urged lawmakers to expedite the funding.

Burgum also highlighted as a way to support local law enforcement, $5 million to be used to drive recruitment and retention at the local level.

Infrastructure funding will continue to be a priority this session as the Governor is proposing an unprecedented $2.4 billion investment in infrastructure projects across the state.

He also challenged the legislature to break down restrictions that currently exist in agriculture and allow for growth in the industry, he termed this proposal as “Freedom to Farm”.

Committees spent most of the week getting oriented with new members and organized. However, there were a few hearings of county interest including a bill to add $500,000 into the guardianship program. This is in addition to the funding proposed in the OMB budget. The committee recognized that there is a great need to inject millions into the guardianship system to really address the needs with the state’s most vulnerable citizens.

The North Dakota Legislative Council launched a revamped website www.legis.nd.gov and we urge you to get familiar with it. There are many resources on this site and is the landing site to find lawmaker contact information and bill details.

We also hope you have already signed up for the new NDACo Legislative Blog at ndcounties.blog. NDACo will post weekly hearing schedules at this site along with legislative updates throughout the Legislative Session. Sign up for email alerts when the site is updated at the bottom of the page.

*Important Note: Legislative Council is experiencing some delays in scheduling next week’s hearing schedule. It is our plan to update the blog when the schedule is complete.