The North Dakota Legislature will convene Special Session at 8 a.m. on Monday, November 8 with the Administrative Committees adopting rules of operation and appointing members to serve on the Joint Technical Corrections Committee and the Redistricting Committee. Both the House and Senate will convene at 9 a.m., and Governor Burgum will provide a State of the State address at 9:30 a.m. Legislators will then continue committee work and floor sessions to work on federal American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) of 2021 funding proposals, the redistricting bill and any additional bills approved by the Delayed Bills Committee.

 

Legislators have submitted 26 policy bill drafts for approval by the Delayed Bills Committee, but it is unlikely all of these bills will be approved for introduction. Proposed bills are related to a variety of topics, including COVID-19 vaccinations, critical race theory, election fraud, income tax relief, Legacy Fund investments, and paid family medical leave. When the Delayed Bills Committee meets, only the prime sponsor of each bill will be allowed to introduce the bill and testify. A two-thirds vote of legislators on the House or Senate Floor can also be used to introduce a bill to a committee.

The Joint Redistricting, House Appropriations and Senate Appropriations Committees will likely contain the same members as during the interim. Bills not related to funding or redistricting will go before the yet-to-be-named Joint Technical Corrections Committee.

The House Appropriations Committee will meet Monday Nov. 8 starting at 4:30 p.m. and wrap up later that evening. They will take about a half hour of testimony on House Bill 1505. HB 1505 covers Coronavirus Capitol Projects Funds, Section 7 includes $317 million to DOT for state roads and bridge projects, country bridge projects, and transportation funding for townships.

The Senate Appropriations Committee will meet Monday Nov. 8 starting at 4:30 p.m. and finish around noon on Tuesday Nov. 9. They will hear testimony on Senate Bill 2345, which contains the bulk of the appropriation of American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) dollars received by the state from the federal government. SB 2345 includes funds for the natural gas pipeline, oil well conversion to water supply grant program, research extension center capital projects, livestock brand inspection program conversion, fuel facility loan forgiveness program and autonomous agriculture matching grant program.

 

Lawmakers consider Rural and Ag Funding

The following is legislation affects rural areas and the ag industry in North Dakota:

  • $317 million – Provides for state, county and township roads and bridges (HB 1505 section 7) See here for NDCGA’s support of this: NDCGA testimony local roads bridges
  • $150 million – Begins natural gas pipeline to bring western North Dakota natural gas to eastern North Dakota (SB 2345 section 1 subsection 1)
  • $3.2 million – Creates abandoned oil well conversion to water supply grant program to convert 10 to 15 abandoned wells to livestock freshwater supply wells for permanent drought resiliency. (SB 2345 section 1 subsection 2)
  • $8 million – Provides for research extension center (REC) capital projects including $446,000 at the Carrington REC, $2.2 million at the Dickinson REC, $1.93 million at the Central Grasslands REC, and $3.42 million at the Hettinger REC (SB 2345 section 1 subsection 6)
  • $401,000 – Provides a grant for the conversion of a paper-based livestock brand inspection program to an electronic system (SB 2345 section 1 subsection 23)
  • $21 million – Provides for fuel production facility loan forgiveness program (SB 2345 section 1 subsection 34)
  • $10 million – Provides for autonomous agriculture matching grant program to accelerate innovation and research within the autonomous agriculture industry (Grand Farm Initiative) (SB 2345 section 1 subsection 37) See here for comments from NDCGA: NDCGA testimony ethanol partners

We encourage you to reach out to your local legislators during this time and voice the importance of HB 1505 and SB 2345.

Contact Your Legislator
During the special session, legislators can be reached at the Capitol through Contact My Legislators or by leaving a message at 888-NDLEGIS (635-3447) or 701-328-3373 (local). A legislator can also be reached by email, phone or mail as listed in the legislator’s online bio: Senate or House. Detailed information on legislative activities is available on the Legislative Assembly website.

Legislative Information
Additional information on the special session can be found here.