Rebecca Binstock, executive director of the North Dakota Ethics Commission. (Michael Achterling/North Dakota Monitor)
(North Dakota Monitor) – The North Dakota House voted to give the Ethics Commission a six-month deadline to resolve ethics complaints while also removing a new position approved by the Senate.
The amended bill, which passed by a 65-29 vote, will head to the Senate for a concurrence vote before it can go to Gov. Kelly Armstrong’s desk for his signature.
Rep. Mike Nathe, who brought the amendments, said that he believes some North Dakotans are “weaponizing” the Ethics Commission to lodge frivolous complaints against public officials that can drag on indefinitely. The commission has some complaints that are more than two years old.
Supporters of the bill say its policy changes would address the Ethics Commission’s growing backlog of ethics complaints. The commission has received more than 60 complaints since the beginning of this year.
