Effort to Improve North Dakota Campaign Finance Reporting Fails

 State Sens. Kristin Roers, from left, Jose Castaneda and Jeff Barta. (Kyle Martin/For the North Dakota Monitor)

(By: Mary Steurer. –North Dakota Monitor) – A stripped-down campaign finance bill failed in the state4 Senate after a prolonged disagreement between chambers.

House Bill 1377 was the last bill on the House and Senate floor for the 2025 legislative session. Some lawmakers hoped it would be a vehicle for ambitious changes in campaign spending transparency, as well as for streamlining financial disclosure regulations for candidates.

It would have taken effect at the same time as the launch of the North Dakota Secretary of State’s Office’s new campaign finance system.

“We had a real opportunity this year with the new software coming in to take a big step forward in our campaign finance transparency and unfortunately, we failed,” said Sen. Kristin Roers, R-Fargo, who sat on the conference committee appointed to workshop the bill.