North Dakota’s legislature meets once every two years, and our state Constitution requires they complete their business in 80 days or less. It means when they’re in session, they’re working and making news. Here’s a round-up of the latest from the legislature.
But before we get to the news, we’ve built a new tool that allows you to quickly get to the details on all of North Dakota’s legislation. Simply enter a bill number in the form below to get a link to the official legislative page for that bill.
Library Book Interventions Pass in Both Chambers
HB1205 and SB260 put lawmakers in front of librarians and library boards when it comes to curating our library collections. Both bills attempt to define sexually explicit content and then ban that content. Each passed in its respective chamber last week. Get the full story from the Dickinson Press here.
House Bill 1446 Puts Political Pressure on Professor Tenure, Recommended for ‘Do Pass’ out of Committee in Spite of Opposition
Tenure is a longstanding practice in higher education. It insulates professors from political or administrative retribution that comes from teaching controversial topics by providing job protection. House Bill 1446 puts direct political pressure on the practice by rewriting tenure rules in significant form. Get the full story on a potential foot-in-the-door pilot program that would first be implemented at DSU and BSC here.
Pipeline Bills Deliver Mixed Outcomes
A raft of bills related to the proposed Carbon Summit Pipeline project were treated with nuance by the Senate; some passed, and some failed. The bills are largely related to property rights and eminent domain; influential columnist Rob Port characterized them as a dangerous game of political retribution. Get the full story on the outcomes in this story from The Grand Forks Herald.
ND Senate Passes Vaccine Bill Study
The ND Senate wasn’t quite ready to get between you and your doctor regarding messenger RNA vaccines. SB 2384 would have banned the vaccine technology that delivered the COVID-19 vaccine; the Senate converted the bill into a study and passed it by a 26-21 vote. Get the full story from Inforum.com.
