North Dakota House Approves Bill Seeking to Clarify Lawmaker Term Limits Measure

Rep. Vicki Steiner, R-Dickinson. (Michael Achterling/North Dakota Monitor)

(Amy Dalrymple – North Dakota Monitor) – North Dakota House members voted 64-28 Monday to advance a bill that makes a change to lawmaker term limits approved by voters in 2022.

House Bill 1300 addresses what Rep. Vicky Steiner, R-Dickinson, called a gray area in the constitutional measure approved by voters that limits lawmakers to serving no more than eight years in the state House and eight years in the state Senate.

For lawmakers elected in 2020, the measure effectively limits them to six years after the passage of the ballot measure. If those lawmakers were to run for office in 2028, they would hit the eight-year limit in the middle of the term.

The bill states that the clock on calculating term limits doesn’t start until after the November 2022 general election. It would allow lawmakers elected in 2020 and reelected in 2024 to serve through 2032, or a total of 10 years after the passage of the ballot measure.