(North Dakota Monitor)- North Dakota lawmakers will consider a temporary ban on nondisclosure agreements for data centers and other industrial developments during a September special session.
Legislative leaders also voted Monday to consider a line of credit for a stalled Military Gallery project, advance a technical correction to a property tax credit and debate two bills related to regulating kratom, the reason the governor called the special session.
An overall moratorium on data center development did not advance. Nor did a proposal to add funding to state childcare assistance, which has nearly 1,900 households on a waitlist.
No members of the committee voiced support for a controversial resolution to urge President Donald Trump to grant clemency for the men convicted of killing two federal officers in the 1983 Medina shootout.
Legislative Management also voted to set aside Sept. 1 to hear public testimony on the proposals, with the special session beginning Sept. 2.
Data center proposals
Sen. Tim Mathern, D-Fargo, proposed that lawmakers consider outlawing nondisclosure agreements between data center developers and public officials.
After feedback from other lawmakers, the proposal was expanded to include all industrial development, and the length of the ban was narrowed to the duration of this biennium ending June 30, 2027.
“I believe it gets to the heart of concern of citizens around the state,” Mathern said.
The subject will be studied by the Artificial Intelligence and Data Centers Committee, chaired by Rep. Jonathan Warrey, R-Casselton, in advance of the 2027 legislative session.
Some legislators expressed reservations about the proposal. Sen. Brad Bekkedahl, R-Williston, said he’d like to hear the impact it would have on the Department of Commerce’s economic development efforts during the session, but voted in favor of advancing it for further consideration.
Mathern also proposed a moratorium on data center development, pausing new construction and expansion of existing facilities, through the end of the biennium.
“The people are telling us they want a moratorium,” said Rep. LaurieBeth Hager, D-Fargo. “They want more time for things to be figured out before these big facilities go in their area.”
The bill did not advance, with Bekkedahl voicing concern about a moratorium preventing data centers in communities that support them. Sen. Janne Myrdal, R-Edinburg, encouraged the public to bring their concerns to the Artificial Intelligence and Data Centers Committee.
“To move a moratorium out of fear and suspicion, instead of using discernment and wisdom and digging into it openly, doesn’t solve the problem,” Myrdal said.
The committee is scheduled to meet Sept. 1, but that may be rescheduled.
Military Gallery funding
Lawmakers advanced a proposal for a $35 million line of credit from the state-owned Bank of North Dakota to resume construction of the state’s Military Gallery project on the Capitol grounds. The bill directs the line of credit to be paid back by the State Historical Society with donations.
Senate Majority Leader Sen. David Hogue, chair of Legislative Management, who is the primary sponsor, said the state is in “breach of contract” for the project.
“The reason for that is that the North Dakota Historical Society, which is a state agency, has run out of money,” Hogue said. “What the bill does is allow construction to continue on as contemplated.”
Construction was paused on the project in early July. The Historical Society confirmed the project has two unpaid invoices for the months of June and July, totaling nearly $4.5 million. A representative for Kraus-Anderson Construction, which is leading the project, declined to comment Monday.
If the project hasn’t raised sufficient donations by March 2029, the proposal directs the Historical Society to request a deficiency appropriation from the Legislature.
The $78 million project is so far coming in under budget at closer to $74.5 million, Hogue said. But if the Legislature doesn’t act, the project will start incurring additional costs, such as a temporary roof to winterize the uncompleted structure.
Hogue’s bill would also shift oversight for the construction from an advisory committee to the Capitol Grounds Planning Commission, which includes four state lawmakers.
Myrdal voted to advance the proposal but said she plans to oppose the Military Gallery funding during the special session. She said she’s worried the fundraising will not be fulfilled.
“Going forward, we cannot put our state and our taxpayer monies at risk like this,” Myrdal said.
Legislative leaders did not advance a bill draft by Sen. Sean Cleary, R-Bismarck, that would require state agencies to secure 75% of nonstate funding before starting construction. Myrdal said that proposal could be revisited during the regular legislative session in January.
Childcare assistance
Legislators in a 6-10 vote rejected a proposal from Senate Minority Leader Kathy Hogan to add $9 million for the Child Care Assistance Program. Hogan, D-Fargo, said her goal was to get low-income families off of a growing waitlist for childcare aid.
“We know we have an emerging childcare crisis that’s bad today, but if we don’t start addressing it now, we could lose, I think, up to 50% of our childcare slots within the next two years,” Hogan said.
Hogue said childcare funding across all of the state’s programs has increased from nearly $28 million during the 2021-23 biennium to about $112 million during the 2025-27 biennium.
Bekkedahl called the increasing amount the state spends on childcare “unsustainable.”
“The childcare crisis is very serious and growing in every community, so I think it’s really important for you to go home and learn about it in your own districts,” Hogan, who is retiring from the Legislature, told the lawmakers. “Because childcare is in trouble.”
No clemency for Medina shootout
Sen. Jeff Magrum, R-Hazelton, asked lawmakers to consider a symbolic resolution urging Trump to grant clemency to Scott Faul and Yorie Kahl for the 1983 Medina shootout. They were convicted of killing U.S. Marshal Kenneth Muir and Deputy Marshal Robert S. Cheshire Jr. and are serving life sentences.
Magrum told lawmakers both men have spent 43 years in federal prison and had “paid their debt” to society.
The proposal will not go to the special session because no committee member made a motion to advance it.
In an interview, Myrdal, who chairs the interim Judiciary Committee, said people should trust the judiciary and parole system in the United States. She added the two men still have avenues to secure clemency through federal procedures.
“It was never going to pass,” she said. “No chance.”
Correction to property tax program
Lawmakers voted to advance a proposal from Sen. Dean Rummel, R-Dickinson, to make a technical correction related to the primary residence property tax credit. During January’s special session, lawmakers approved House Bill 1626, which changes how counties apply a 5% discount to homeowners who pay property taxes early.
The passage of that bill has had unintended consequences and is causing complications for property tax statements that need to be printed by the end of the year, Rummel said. The proposal would undo the action taken during the January special session, said Donnell Preskey, executive director of the North Dakota Auditors Association.
Other proposals
No other proposals advanced, including a bill draft from Rep. SuAnn Olson, R-Baldwin, to require North Dakota driver’s license tests to be conducted in English.
Hogan pointed out no data was presented to suggest non-English speakers have a higher rate of traffic accidents than English speakers. The lawmaker said the employment rate for immigrants in Cass County is around 90% and that driving is often a necessity for a person to get to work in North Dakota.
“This will become a huge employment barrier if they can’t get a driver’s license,” Hogan said.
FOLLOW US FOR INSTANT UPDATES!
