This is a quick update on a short but important week at the Capitol. Lawmakers have hit the crossover deadline where bills need to be acted on by the chamber they were introduced in. The Senate wrapped up their work Tuesday afternoon and the House ended at 10:30 p.m. Tuesday evening. The Legislative Session will resume Wednesday, March 5th. 1,082 bills and resolutions were submitted during this 2025 Session, the most since 2009. Watch for a NDACo crossover report to come in next few days.

Property Tax Bills

The big anticipation this week was over how the House and Senate would vote on the several property tax relief and reform bills. The two bills in the Senate failed, while the House passed on three bills with varying options to provide relief and reform. Click here to view summary chart of active bills proposing relief and reform.

• SB 2363 – Focused on providing relief to Agriculture taxpayers only. It went to Appropriations with a 30 mill reduction using the school funding formula, The Appropriations committee decreased it to a 15 mill reduction and a floor amendment introduced as the bill was before the full Senate further reduced the relief to 7 mill reduction. Failed 23-23.
• HB 1176 – Provides $1450 in relief to property owners through the primary residence credit. The bill also includes a 3% cap on levies but allows taxing districts to exceed the cap by a specific percentage if approved by a majority vote in the general election. Emergency levies are also exempt from the cap. Taxing districts can also carry over any unused cap, once within 5 years. The bill also includes an increase in the homestead tax credit and renter’s refund. Passed 81-10
• HB 1575 – Provides property tax relief to all property classes (Residential, Agriculture, Commercial) by reducing the tax rate. The bill also increases the threshold to qualify for the homestead tax credit as well as increases the renter’s refund. The bill includes a 3% cap on increase of taxable valuation. Taxing districts can, with majority voter approval in the general or primary, increase the mill levy authority for up to 6 years. The vote must be for a specific number of mills, state the intended purpose and identify for how long. Passed 86-5
• HB 1168 – Provides a 10 mill buy-down using the school funding formula for all properties. Includes a 3% cap on taxes levied for all taxing districts except school districts. Taxing districts can carry over unused cap to the next year. Taxing districts can exceed the limitation with a supermajority of 60% of the vote in the general or primary for no more than 5 years at a time. Passed 88-3.

Other Bills worth highlighting that were acted on this week:

• SB 2012 – DOT Budget – Passed 47-0. As described in last week’s report, this bill includes new funding for counties, townships and cities. The greatest policy change is dedicating 100% of the motor vehicle excise tax to roads and bridges. Three other Senate bills that included road funding were killed as portions of those bills were merged into SB 2012.
• SB 2281 – Tobacco Tax Increase – Passed 26-21.
• SCR 4023 – Vote to Repeal 1 mill for State Medical Center – Failed 21-26.
• SB 2128 – Attorney General Truth in Sentencing – Passed 28-18.
• HB 1213 – Low Interest Loans for Jail Improvements – Passed 64-28.

Legislative Council does have a schedule for next week published.

Click here to view or download the schedule.