ND Legislative Update

by Kayla Pulvermacher, State Legislative Director

​Crossover is coming for the ND legislative session; our priority bills recapped; and a heads up for a coming action alert. 

Crossover Coming
As we head into February, we will start to see legislative action really ramp up. Crossover is the day which all bills passed by the house of origin are sent to the other house for consideration and final passage. Legislators also get a brief break during this time. Crossover is set for February 26.

As of today, there are 843 bills that have been introduced and 39 resolutions: 500 bills in the House; 343 in the Senate; 28 resolutions in the House; and 11 in the Senate. In 2019, there were 905 bills (545 in the House and 360 in the Senate), 79 resolutions (59 in the House, 18 in the Senate, and 2 memorial resolutions) introduced during the regular session. 

As we get closer to Crossover, we will see few to no bill hearings, and longer floor sessions. On the week of Crossover, floor sessions will take all day until all bills have been voted on.

DakCU Priority Bills
Here’s a quick update on a few of our priority bills this session:

HB 1172 makes changes to Agricultural Mediation and Negotiation Services. Last week, the bill sponsor offered amendments to change the bill to requiring banks and credit unions to go through mediation. A subcommittee was created, and the bill will be worked on this Thursday.

HB 1175 creates immunity for businesses against COVID-19 claims if the businesses had followed state law and state orders. The bill was heard last week and garnered broad businesses support. The bill has not been voted on.

SB 2223 originally made changes to the Deed In Lieu Of Foreclosure process. The bill sponsor offered amendments to change the bill to affect those who had a debt management plans from 2006; these amendments were not readily adopted. The bill will most likely be worked on this week.

​To see the rest of our priority bills, check out our tracking list here.

Action Alert Next Week
Although I’m starting to feel like a broken record, HB 1366 (The Repairman Lien Bill) has not been scheduled for a hearing this week.  We have been assured that the hearing will take place next week, so stay tuned!
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Be sure to contact me with any questions regarding ND legislation or advocacy.