Weekly Legislative Update #4
We want to provide you with our most recent update on what happened at the Capitol this past week, each bill’s current status, and what to expect next week. As mentioned before, if you ever have questions about a particular bill, feel free to email us at mark@ndfamilyalliance.org or call 701-355-6425.
Last Week
Remember when I said this week would be the busiest of the session? Well, I was right, but thanks to your support and prayers, we made it through. We testified on a total of 18 bills Mon-Wed of this past week, which was even higher than my initial estimate of 15, and meant that sometimes we were running to our next hearing. In spite of this schedule, we made it everywhere we needed to be and testified on your behalf when and where it needed to happen!
This past week was filled with a lot of time working on a couple of high-profile life bills. We also had a chance to have our trafficking education bill heard in the Senate Education Committee. We had a gentleman testify who has worked with trafficked women and girls for years. His stories were tragic and underscored the need for student education about this horrific crime.
The balance of this week’s bills focused on pornography, gambling, and a number of educational choice bills. In the process, a couple of us managed to get sick and I lost my voice. While Ruth wasn’t terribly sad that she didn’t have to listen to me talk politics all the time, I thankfully had enough voice left to testify on the bills assigned to me.
Next Week
Thankfully, next week should be a bit slower, with probably 9 bills requiring our testimony. These range from subjects such as explicit materials/pornography to requiring intelligent design and the history of the holocaust being taught in schools. Additionally, bills that we’ve already testified on will be coming up for floor votes, so please watch for our alerts. There are sometimes just a few hours between when we find out about a floor vote and it actually happens, so please respond as soon as you can. We know you all have busy lives, but reaching out to legislators as a citizen is something only you can do to defend your values. It only takes a few minutes, definitely makes a difference, and we deeply appreciate it.
Current Status
Each bill’s most recent status and future actions are shown in the following table. We only show “alive” bills in this table (i.e., those that have not been defeated in a chamber, not combined with another bill, etc.), since those are the ones on which you can still take some action. NOTE THAT THE STATUS OF EACH BILL CAN CHANGE MULTIPLE TIMES, IN EVEN A SINGLE DAY.
To double-check the most current status of any bill, you can go to this page, type the bill number into the upper right box (just need the number, not the HB or SB), and click the search button. Once you are on the bill’s page, click on the tab entitled “Actions”. This will indicate where the bill is in the process.
How to Take Action
1.) If a bill hearing has been scheduled, but not yet held, the table shows the date, time, and location of the hearing. If you want to testify, you need to write your comments about the bill into a PDF or txt file. This can be a paragraph or longer, but keep to the point. Once that is written, you can go to this page, type the bill number into the upper right box (just need the number, not the HB or SB), and click the search button. Once you are on the bill’s page, click on the tab entitled “Hearings”, identify the hearing, and click the link on the right where it says, “Submit Testimony”. Just follow the instructions after that. Note that there will be a deadline to submit testimony for bills, often early in the morning on the hearing day (this will show once you click on the “Submit Testimony” link). If you have questions about any of this, prepare your testimony document and then call us at 701-355-6425 and we can walk you through it.
2.) If the bill hearing is over, but it still needs to be voted on in a chamber, you can contact your appropriate legislator(s) and give them feedback. If you do not know who your legislators are or how to contact them, click here and then go to the top right corner and click on “Find my legislator.” Type your house number and zip code into the boxes and click the search button. From there, you should be able to find your Senator and Representatives and all their contact information such as phone numbers and email addresses.
3.) If the bill has passed both chambers and has been sent to Gov. Armstrong, you can contact the Governor via this link and provide input on the bill. Contact Governor Armstrong
Please remember to be respectful in all communications to our legislators and the Governor, and feel free to contact us with any legislative questions.
Here is a map of the Capitol, so you can find the indicated rooms. Please let us know if you have any questions.
Weekly Legislative Update #3
We want to provide you with our most recent update on what happened at the Capitol this past week, each bill’s current status, and what to expect next week. As mentioned before, if you ever have questions about a particular bill, feel free to email us at mark@ndfamilyalliance.org or call 701-355-6425.
Last Week
Last week was another busy time for us, testifying on a total of 9 bills. One of them was SB 2220, our bill related to additional training for law enforcement to deal with cases of human trafficking. Unfortunately, it came out of the Senate Judiciary Committee with a 6-1 “DO NOT PASS” recommendation, and the Senate floor voted along the same lines, defeating the bill with a 10-36 vote. We were obviously disappointed with the results, but other human trafficking bills are still in play and doing better. On that side of things, HB 1361, the bill to establish mandatory minimum sentences for human traffickers, passed the House by a wide margin of 70-23, so we were very pleased with that result.
Last week we also testified on bills concerning transgender restrooms, the relinquishment of adoptive parents’ rights, free speech, parental rights in education, oversight of charitable gaming, and more. We are starting to see more education-related bills, and there are also quite a few gaming bills that will have hearings in the near future.
Next Week
Next week promises to possibly be the busiest of the session, certainly when it comes to hearings. On top of that, some key bills of the session will be heard. Over the course of Monday-Wednesday, we will be testifying on bills related to criminalizing mothers for abortions, human trafficking education for students, education savings accounts, and the Pledge of Allegiance. In all, we will be testifying on 13 bills in less than three days. Even with three lobbyists at the Capitol, this will be a stretch, so we appreciate your prayers. You will also very likely be getting more Call-to-Action emails. We really appreciate your engagement on these – the emails sent through our system definitely make a difference.
Current Status
Each bill’s most recent status and future actions are shown in the following table. We only show “alive” bills in this table (i.e., those that have not been defeated in a chamber, not combined with another bill, etc.), since those are the ones on which you can still take some action. NOTE THAT THE STATUS OF EACH BILL CAN CHANGE MULTIPLE TIMES, IN EVEN A SINGLE DAY.
To double-check the most current status of any bill, you can go to this page, type the bill number into the upper right box (just need the number, not the HB or SB), and click the search button. Once you are on the bill’s page, click on the tab entitled “Actions”. This will indicate where the bill is in the process.
How to Take Action
1.) If a bill hearing has been scheduled, but not yet held, the table shows the date, time, and location of the hearing. If you want to testify, you need to write your comments about the bill into a PDF or txt file. This can be a paragraph or longer, but keep to the point. Once that is written, you can go to this page, type the bill number into the upper right box (just need the number, not the HB or SB), and click the search button. Once you are on the bill’s page, click on the tab entitled “Hearings”, identify the hearing, and click the link on the right where it says, “Submit Testimony”. Just follow the instructions after that. Note that there will be a deadline to submit testimony for bills, often early in the morning on the hearing day (this will show once you click on the “Submit Testimony” link). If you have questions about any of this, prepare your testimony document and then call us at 701-355-6425 and we can walk you through it.
2.) If the bill hearing is over, but it still needs to be voted on in a chamber, you can contact your appropriate legislator(s) and give them feedback. If you do not know who your legislators are or how to contact them, click here and then go to the top right corner and click on “Find my legislator.” Type your house number and zip code into the boxes and click the search button. From there, you should be able to find your Senator and Representatives and all their contact information such as phone numbers and email addresses.
3.) If the bill has passed both chambers and has been sent to Gov. Armstrong, you can contact the Governor via this link and provide input on the bill. Contact Governor Armstrong
Please remember to be respectful in all communications to our legislators and the Governor, and feel free to contact us with any legislative questions.
Here is a map of the Capitol, so you can find the indicated rooms. Please let us know if you have any questions.
Weekly Legislative Update #2
We want to provide you with our most recent update on what happened this past week at the Capitol, each bill’s current status, as well as what to expect next week. As mentioned before, if you ever have questions about a particular bill, feel free to email us at mark@ndfamilyalliance.org or call 701-355-6425.
Last Week
Over the first three days of this past week, we provided testimony on 15 bills! On top of that, we made appearances on two local TV shows and hosted our ND Pro-Life Conference. We are tired! But rest assured, that will not stop us from defending your values and representing you at the Capitol every day this session.
Most bills we’ve testified on to date are still in committee discussions, but a few of them moved to floor votes. SB 2167, a bill to require those convicted of sex crimes to pay fees for internet investigations, passed unanimously in the Senate. Similarly, SB 2043, a bill that would deny/revoke a teaching license for crimes against a child and sexual offenses, also passed unanimously in the Senate with a 47-0 vote. HCR 3002, which would have allowed for legalized sports betting to be put on the ballot, was defeated 24-70 on the House Floor! On the other side of things, the bill to institute Sunday closing laws (HB 1150) failed by a significant margin in the House.
Current Status
Each bill’s most recent status and future actions are shown in the following table. We only show “alive” bills in this table (i.e., those that have not been defeated in a chamber, not combined with another bill, etc.), since those are the ones on which you can still take some action. NOTE THAT THE STATUS OF EACH BILL CAN CHANGE MULTIPLE TIMES, IN EVEN A SINGLE DAY.
To double check the most current status of any bill, you can go to this page, type the bill number into the upper right box (just need the number, not the HB or SB), and click the search button. Once you are on the bill’s page, click on the tab entitled “Actions”. This will indicate where the bill is in the process.
How to Take Action
Find the bill in the following table and look at the “Possible Action to Take” column. Based on the next planned action, follow the appropriate step outlined below.
1.) If a bill hearing has been scheduled, but not yet held, the table shows the date, time, and location of the hearing. If you want to testify, you need to write your comments about the bill into a pdf or txt file. This can be a paragraph or longer, but keep to the point. Once that is written, you can go to this page, type the bill number into the upper right box (just need the number, not the HB or SB), and click the search button. Once you are on the bill’s page, click on the tab entitled “Hearings”, identify the hearing, and click the link on the right where it says, “Submit Testimony”. Just follow the instructions after that. Note that there will be a deadline to submit testimony for bills, often early in the morning on the hearing day (this will show once you click on the “Submit Testimony” link). If you have questions about any of this, prepare your testimony document and then call us at 701-355-6425 and we can walk you through it.
2.) If the bill hearing is over, but it still needs to be voted on in a chamber, you can contact your appropriate legislator(s) and give them feedback. If you do not know who your legislators are or how to contact them, click here and then go to the top right corner and click on “Find my legislator.” Type your house number and zip code into the boxes and click the search button. From there, you should be able to find your Senator and Representatives and all their contact information such as phone numbers and email addresses.
3.) If the bill has passed both chambers and has been sent to Gov. Armstrong, you can contact the Governor via this link and provide input on the bill. Contact Governor Armstrong
Please remember to be respectful in all communications to our legislators and the Governor, and feel free to contact us with any legislative questions.
Here is a map of the Capitol, so you can find the indicated rooms. Please let us know if you have any questions.
Weekly Legislative Update #1
This is the first of many weekly updates we will be providing to you, our ministry partners, about what’s going on in the halls of Bismarck during the 2025 Legislative Session, and how we are defending your deeply held values every day. If you ever have questions about a particular bill, feel free to email us at mark@ndfamilyalliance.org or call 701-355-6425. It may take a bit before you hear back from us, but we promise to get back to you. Now on to the good stuff.
The first full week of the session is over. What a week it was! Last week started a bit slowly, with Legislative Council (the State agency that drafts the final bills) releasing bills in groups, instead of doing a “dump” of 1,000 bills all at once, which usually happens. As I write this, they have released roughly 700 bills, and the bills are being assigned to committees. If some behind- the-scenes discussions are correct, there could be as many as 1,200 bills this session – definitely higher than the 986 bills last session.
The first thing we do when a group of bills is released into the wild is review them 3 times to spot any possible pro-life or pro-family bills. We don’t want to miss anything! We then read every bill and determine whether we should engage on it in some way. This can be everything from formal testimony at a hearing, to simply written testimony, or even just talking to legislators before a floor vote. Or all of these, and more. Of the 700 bills released so far, we’ve identified about 30 on which we will engage in some manner.
This week, our work started with providing supporting testimony for the Attorney General’s office in their critical work of enforcing our laws. This was followed by bills related to sports betting, blue laws, military appreciation month, and a number of other topics. In all, we provided testimony on 7 bills and resolutions during the week. Next week looks pretty busy with testimony planned for as many as 15 bills, as well as hosting our 2025 Pro-Life Conference on Wednesday, so please keep us in your prayers.
Below is the list of bills on which we will engage and their current status, as of COB today. This list will undoubtedly grow as more bills are released. If you are interested in more information any of these bills, go to ndlegis.gov and type the 4-digit bill number in the search bar in the top right corner, and you will be taken to the menu for that particular bill.
Announcing North Dakota's 2025 Annual Pro-Life Conference!
Please mark your calendars for Wed. January 22nd, 2025, and join us at 9am at the Heritage Center in Bismarck as we celebrate North Dakota’s annual Right-To-Life Day! We’ll have life-affirming messages from several speakers, a delicious lunch, and fellowship as we give thanks for God’s precious gift of life! You can purchase tickets for $25 here.
We’re excited to welcome Melissa Ohden as our keynote speaker this year. She is the Founder and Director of The Abortion Survivors Network, the only healing and advocacy organization for abortion survivors and their families. She will share her profound experiences as an abortion survivor.
Melissa Ohden is the survivor of a failed saline infusion abortion. Despite the initial concerns regarding Melissa’s future after surviving the attempt to end her life at approximately seven months gestation, she has not only survived but thrived. She is a Master’s level prepared Social Worker and the author of two books: You Carried Me: A Daughter’s Memoir and Abortion Survivors Break Their Silence. Melissa speaks at events around the world, inspiring audiences with her powerful life story, and she is a sought-after expert on abortion survivors.
We’ll also be privileged to hear from several other impactful speakers including:
Dr. Patti Giebink, MD, is an OB/GYN physician who has over 30 years’ experience delivering babies here and in hospitals overseas. While working in her private practice in Sioux Falls, SD, she began working part-time performing abortions at Planned Parenthood, the only abortion clinic in South Dakota. After shifting to full-time at Planned Parenthood she eventually left September 1997 and has not performed any abortions since. Her book, Unexpected Choice – An Abortion Doctor’s Journey To Pro-Life chronicles her career, and her transformation, and gives readers insight into both sides of this divisive issue.
*Bridget Turbide, Executive Director of North Dakota Right To Life
*Dr. David Tamisiea, Executive Director of North Dakota Catholic Conference
*Nadia Smetana, RN, BSN, Clinic Director at Dakota Hope Clinics
*Senator Janne Myrdal, Chair of the ND Legislative Pro-Life Caucus
Tickets will be $25 and can be purchased here or they can be purchased at a group rate by calling 701-355-6425. We hope to see you on Wed. January 22nd as we seek to reaffirm the dignity and value of every human being!