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.