Every bill will have to be voted on in their chamber of origin by Friday, February 28th, and if passed move into the next chamber and committee hearings will start again. If you are interested in testifying on any of the bills, there will be an opportunity to do so again soon.
We have been lucky to see many bad bills get defeated in the last few days, however some of the bills that have the biggest impact on NDU members are still being decided and will likely be debated through most of the session.
LEARN
Voucher Schemes
After hearing all six bills that would send public tax dollars to private schools, we are left with the final two bills that will likely be moving forward. Four of the bills were killed on the floor and the remaining two will be heard in appropriations. SB 2400 is on the calendar for Tuesday, February 18th at 2:30 pm, and HB 1540 has yet to be scheduled.
You can view the remaining bills here:
Universal School Meals
HB 1553, introduced by Rep. Hager who brought a universal lunch bill last session, was unfortunately defeated on the floor this week. Without her work on this issue in 2023 we would not be nearly as close to universal school meals as we are today and we applaud her for bringing this important issue forward.
HB 1475, introduced by Rep. Hatlestad, was given a do pass recommendation out of the House Education committee and will be heard by appropriations next Thursday. We encourage our members to email the committee and encourage a do pass recommendation.
Funding
One of the longest debates every session is funding. Both K12 and public employees funding levels that have been introduced are far lower than what our members need and deserve. While we will continue to fight for more, a lot of funding bills are held up while the legislators figure out what they are doing with property tax relief and reform.
Other Bills of Interest
With the House doing evening floor sessions, there has been a lot of action on bills we are tracking this past week. I've listed a few of these below, but don't hesitate to reach out with any questions about these or others.
- HB 1530 passed the House. This bill allows the legislature to study the needs of special education teachers and the related special education teacher shortage.
- HB 1145 was defeated in the House. This would have required all schools to prominently place a display of the 10 commandments in the school cafeteria, including higher education institutions.
- HB 1437 as originally introduced would have prohibited tenure and North Dakota's two year institutions for new hires starting in 2026. The bill has been amended to no longer outlaw tenure, and requires institutions to implement a post tenure review process.
ACT
Action Alerts
Once bills have been heard in committee, testimony is closed until the bill moves to the other chamber. However, you can still contact legislators by email to urge either "do pass" or "do not pass" recommendations before the committee takes any action or to urge them to vote red or green on the floor.
Use our action alert links below to send emails about bills that impact our members.
Testify on Bills
When the legislature reconvenes after crossover on March 5th, committee hearings will get started up again giving members another opportunity to testify. Please reach out if you are interested and we can help you prep or make any arrangements!
