Click here to view NDACo tracking of bills to be heard January 16-20

Update from Week 2:

SB2044 that would have moved the transportation funding reports required of counties, cities and townships from the Tax Dept. to the NDDOT was defeated on the Senate floor.  There was some discussion of eliminating the requirement, but the NDDOT said they needed the data, but didn’t have the staff to collect it.

Rep. Heinert’ s bill (HB1119) to require all communication of property taxes to be in dollars instead of mills was passed unanimously in the House.

After vigorous debate, a bill to give a 15-year property tax exemption to natural gas pipelines serving currently unserved communities was passed in the House 92-2.

The State Librarian’s bill (SB2050) to establish greater uniformity in determining local funding efforts for libraries was passed in the Senate  and reported over to the House.

The Senate unanimously passed SB2113 as requested by NDDOT.  This bill creates a separate fund which would permit the State to fund local road projects connected to a state improvement – something currently prohibited for moneys in the state highway fund.

The bill to add “last year’s specials” onto the estimated property tax notice (SB2121) passed the Senate unanimously.

The House Human Services Committee heard testimony on HB1046 to provide updates to direct and indirect Zone costs and outlined a process for making Zone changes. The bill was developed collaboratively with Zone Director’s although several amendments for better clarity were offered by NDACo. No action was taken as the committee will redraft the amendments for consideration.

Sen. Judy Lee introduced SB2136 to increase the maximum taxable value for the homestead property tax credit program. This state-funded assistance for low-income elderly and disabled folks is an important element in efforts to keep people in their own homes as long as possible. NDACo supported the bill but also suggested a possible amendment to index both the income and value limits so that each year they would automatically adjust without bringing legislation every two years. The committee’s seemed interested in the indexing idea, but took no action.

About 20 ND Sheriffs & Deputies attended Law Day at the Capitol Thursday. They met with legislators and sat with their Representatives and Senators during floor sessions. Many attended a hearing to support changes to the ND State Crime Lab.

ND Assoc of County Engineers representative Jason Benson, Cass Co. and Ward County Engineer Dana Larson testified in support of HB 1127 to the House Political Subdivision Committee.  This bill aligns the bidding requirements of the highway and bridge sections of the Century Code.  This bill also increases the bid threshold to $200,000 for bridges and highways.  The committee voted 14-0 as a do pass for the bill.

Friday morning starting at 8:30, the House Government & Veterans Affairs Committee will hear 1039 and 1040, the bills to close the NDPERS Defined Benefit Plan and move new employees to a Defined Contribution Plan. This would impact new hires and apply to the main plan. You can watch the hearing here: https://video.ndlegis.gov/en/PowerBrowser/PowerBrowserV2/20230112/-1/28396

Click here to view Legislative hearing schedule for Jan 9-13

It is important to note the bill to close the NDPERS defined benefit and move to a defined contribution plan will be heard Friday starting at 8:30. There are two bills that are identical with exception to the closing date. HB 1039 would make the change 1/1/24 and HB 1040 on 1/1/25. To watch the hearing live or recorded, visit this page on the legislative council website: https://video.ndlegis.gov/

*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.

Forty-one new lawmakers were sworn in this week during the ND Legislature’s Organizational Session. This means nearly one-third of the legislators are new to the process and new to county issues. In addition, the House and Senate recently elected new Republican and Democrat leaders. Three out of the four Majority and Minority leaders are new to the role.

During the Organizational Session, legislators heard Governor Burgum’s Budget Address, where he highlighted his priorities for the upcoming session. Lawmakers also picked their desk in their respective chamber and received their committee assignments. Some highlights are:

• New Appropriations chairs in both House and Senate
  • Senate added three appropriations sub committees
  • New chairmen in 13 committees
  • Senate added a Workforce Development Committee
  • Senate combined part of Government Veterans Affairs and Agriculture to create a Veterans Affairs & Ag committee (House will continue to have both GVA and Ag Committees)
  • Senate revamped Political Subs committee by combining part of GVA to create State and Local Government Committee (House will continue to have Political Subs)

This really highlights how important it is for county folks to meet with their lawmakers in the upcoming weeks to help educate on county government and the issues counties face.

Make sure to tune into the NDACo ILG training Monday, December 12th on the Legislative Process to learn more! Register at ndaco.org

As the 2023 Legislative Session is fast approaching, we at ND Association of Counties will be posting information about legislation that affects counties. At the bottom of the blog, there’s a space for you to enter your email address so you can get notified when we publish new content. Sorry, but if you subscribed to our previous blog, you are not automatically subscribed here, so please do us a favor and drop that email address down there now. Thanks!