North Dakota Senate Defeats Plan for Legislative Sessions Every Year

North Dakota Senate chambers. (Kyle Martin/For the North Dakota Monitor)

(By: Jeff Beach. North Dakota Monitor) – The North Dakota Legislature will continue to meet every other year after the Senate defeated a bill to meet annually.

House Bill 1408 called for shorter legislative sessions every year. It was seen by advocates as a way for North Dakota to be more nimble and to make it easier for more people to run for the Legislature, especially as the effects of the state’s term limits is expected to result in more turnover in the Legislature.

Sen. Robert Erbele, R-Lehr, said he felt some legislators were overreacting to the effect of a term limits law passed in 2022.

“Let’s see how it plays out,” Erbele said.

Sen. Brad Bekkedahl, R-Williston, chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, noted that much of North Dakota’s tax revenue is reliant on ag and energy commodities that are influenced by global events. He said annual sessions would allow legislators to react to fluctuations more quickly.