North Dakota House and Senate Appropriations Committees are meeting today and tomorrow to begin work on crafting bills for the upcoming special Legislative session, on how to spend the $1 billion in American Rescue Plan act money.
Grand Forks Republican Senator Ray Holmberg chairs the Senate Appropriations Committee says it’s sort of like building an airplane while flying it. “Unlike typical legislative meetings you have a bill and you work on it. We are starting by writing the bill.”
The two Committees will meet two days a week for the next three weeks. Holmberg says the products of the committees’ deliberations will be then submitted to the Legislative Management for introduction into a November session.
Holmberg says what the Legislature is doing is exactly what the state’s Emergency Commission did two years ago when the state received $1.25 billion in COVID-19 relief money. The action was approved by the Legislature’s Budget Section. But the Legislature changed the law, so that the full Legislature would have a say.
The decision hasn’t yet been formally made on whether Gov. Doug Burgum will call a special session…which doesn’t have a time limit…or the Legislature will use the four days it saved – making it a reconvened session.
NDPPR/KNOX
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