Published: March 31, 2023
Key Takeaways
- The Senate voted against the tenure bill that would give Presidents at Dickinson State University and Bismarck State College unchecked power to fire tenured professors.
- House Bill 1491 would have raised the eligibility of free school lunch to students whose parents or guardians make less than $60k/year. The bill was killed in the Senate earlier this week.
- The Senate killed a bill would have lowered the requirement to qualify for a lifetime teaching license from 30 years to 20 years of experience.
You may have noticed a few more Action Alert emails than usual these past two weeks. We are in what we call “silly season” in the legislative session. Bills are moving and being amended at a rapid pace, final votes are being made, and the Governor is vetoing or signing bills as they arrive at his desk. This is a time for over-communication of the issues that will most impact North Dakota United members, so please keep an eye out for actions you can take to ensure we keep up the fight to the end of the 2023 session. Only one month to go.
Tenure
Let’s start off with great news! House Bill 1446 would give Presidents at Dickinson State University and Bismarck State College unchecked power to fire tenured professors, putting our educators and institutions at extreme risk. Though the bill received a 6-0 do pass recommendation out of committee, the Senate voted against it on the floor with a 21-23 vote. This would not have happened without your messages to legislators throughout the session urging them to vote NO on HB 1446. Email the Senators who voted against this bill to say thank you! We are hearing rumblings of reconsideration, so it’s important to reach out to them to make sure they know we are paying attention.
Pensions
House Bill 1040, which would close the defined benefit pension plan and cost $5.5 billion dollars to taxpayers, came out of Senate State and Local Government with a 4-2 “do not pass” recommendation last week. This week, the bill was brought back to committee and reconsidered before members came to a 3-3 no recommendation decision, with Senator Estenson changing her vote. House Bill 1040 is likely to be heard on the Senate floor next week.
School Lunch
House Bill 1491 would have raised the eligibility of free school lunch to students whose parents or guardians make less than 200% of the federal poverty line ($60k/year). The bill was unfortunately killed in the Senate earlier this week on a 23-24 vote. A motion to reconsider the final vote was made the next day, but failed 20-27. The bill itself is dead, but the House Education Committee added language from HB 1491 into the public school funding bill (SB 2284), which is now in House Appropriations. There is still hope to expand free school meal eligibility!
Teaching Licensure
The Senate killed another bill that would have benefited our members and the state by defeating House Bill 1329. This bill would have lowered the requirement to qualify for a lifetime teaching license from 30 years to 20 years of experience. The bill breezed through the House on an 87-6 vote, but failed in the Senate 23-23 after picking up misguided opposition. A motion to reconsider the final vote failed and the bill has now been defeated.
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Keeping the Promise of Quality Public Education & Public Services
With more than 11,500 members across the state, NDU supports equal opportunities for success for ALL North Dakota students, and respect and support for all educators. NDU members are teachers, community college professors, speech pathologists, bus drivers, secretaries, retired educators and student teachers.