If North Dakotans want policies addressed during the legislative session that starts Tuesday, they need to act quickly.
The deadline for House members to introduce new legislation is Jan. 20 while state Senators may introduce bills until Jan. 27.
“If you want someone to introduce something, you need to reach out to your legislator ASAP,” said Amy Jacobson, executive director of Prairie Action ND Institute, an organization advocating for more citizen involvement in state government.
After those deadlines, bills can only be introduced through a delayed bills committee, said John Bjornson, director of the North Dakota Legislative Council.
“They are very judicious about letting things in after those deadlines,” Bjornson said. “And that’s just because we have 80 days.”
Legislative Council, which assists lawmakers in drafting their bills, has already received about 1,000 bill draft requests from legislators, committees and executive branch agencies.
Bjornson said he anticipates another 450 to 500 draft requests before the end of the month.
During the 2023 session, lawmakers introduced 990 bills out of about 1,200 bills that were drafted by legislative staff, he said.
“The numbers are up,” he said.
In the North Dakota Legislature, every bill gets a vote.
More than 260 measures are already prefiled on the Legislative Council website, Bjornson said.
Some bills have hearings scheduled starting Wednesday with the first floor votes expected Friday.
With new committee chairs, some new lawmakers and legislative clerks, Bjornson said some of the prefiled bills are short and should give those people a taste of the process during the first days of the session.
The legislative session begins at 10 a.m. Tuesday with a joint session of the House and Senate. Standing Rock Tribal Chair Janet Alkire will deliver the state-tribal relations address followed by North Dakota Supreme Court Chief Justice Jon Jensen’s address on the state of the judiciary.
Gov. Kelly Armstrong will deliver his first state of the state address at 1 p.m. Tuesday. All speeches will be livestreamed through the legislative website.
Lawmakers meet for up to 80 legislative days by law, which would tentatively put the end of session at May 2. However, members must hold a floor session in either chamber for a day to count as a legislative day. If lawmakers do not gavel in, it does not count as a legislative day. Legislators often like to save days in case they want to reconvene without a special session, Bjornson said.
The date for crossover – when bills that advance are sent to the opposite chamber for consideration – is expected to be Feb. 28.
Every third Saturday during the session, Prairie Action ND Institute will hold virtual meetings at 10 a.m. CT that focus on hot-button topics and bills making their way through the Legislature.
The event series, called Amplify North Dakota, is free but participants must register ahead of the meetings.
“It’s really about getting information to people as quickly as possible for people to be able to participate,” said Jacobson, noting that the session moves rapidly and not everyone can travel to Bismarck in the winter.
Jacobson also suggested North Dakotans join an organization that advocates for interests they are passionate about if they don’t have time to do their own advocacy during the session.
