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The Bismarck-Mandan Young Professionals Network is pleased to announce the creation of a government affairs task force. The purpose of this education-focused group is to update YPN members with information about legislation during the North Dakota legislative session. The nature of the task force will be non-partisan and will function in an educational capacity only.

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YP Legislative Process
Posted 2/03/09 (Tue)
By The BMYP Government Affairs Task Force
North Dakota has a very open and accessible legislative process. We have a citizen legislature which meets for 4 months every two years and then goes back to living their everyday lives under the laws that they approved. This is not the case everywhere. Most states have legislatures that meet annually and many have full-time legislators.

In our process great care is made so that every idea has its opportunity to be heard. Every bill that is introduced receives a hearing and gets a vote. We may take this for granted in North Dakota, but in some other states bills don’t make it to committee and even if they do make it to committee they don’t necessarily get an opportunity to be voted on by the full house.

Process
In North Dakota most bills are introduced by legislators, but they may also be introduced by interim committees, state agencies, and the governor in regards to his budget. Each legislatively sponsored bill has a prime sponsor and up to 5 co-sponsors. Bills prime sponsored by a Representative are considered house bills and go first to the House of Representatives. In the same way, bills prime sponsored by a Senator are considered senate bills and go first to the Senate. Bills are designated with four digit numbers and House Bills start with a “1” and Senate Bills start with a “2.”

Once introduced, bills are referred to a committee. Bills that deal with appropriations go to the appropriations committee and bills that deal with policy issues go to a policy committee. Many bills deal with both and they go through a policy committee first and then are rereffered to the appropriations committee.

Committees hold public hearings for each bill. The hearings traditionally start out with the sponsor providing an overview of the bill, which is followed by testimony in favor of the bill and then testimony in opposition of the bill.

Some time after the hearing, the committee will take action on the bill. Committees can recommend amendments to bills and make a formal recommendation of “Do Pass” or “Do Not Pass.”

Any amendments to bills are voted on by the full house. One difference between the Senate and House of Representatives is that the Senate can make amendments to bills on the floor. Each bill is introduced by a member of the committee that considered the bill. This person is called the “bill carrier” and their job is to give an overview of the bill and summarize the committee action. The floor is then opened for debate which could include questions being asked of the bill sponsor or the bill carrier. After debate is concluded, each bill receives a recorded roll call vote. Bills that are approved by the first house are then transferred to the second house. The time at which all bills must be transferred to the second house is called “cross-over.”

Bills go through the same process in the second house with committee hearings, possible amendments, and a vote by the house. If a bill is amended by the second house, the first house must vote on whether to accept the amendments or send the bill to a conference committee. A conference committee is comprised of three members from each chamber with two of the three members being from the majority and one being from the minority. The job of the conference committee is to come up with a solution for the bill that is acceptable to each house. Once the conference committee completes its work, each house votes on the conference committee’s version of the bill. If either house votes down the conference committee report, they can either send it back to conference committee or decide to kill the bill.

If a bill is approved by both houses, it goes to the Governor for his consideration. The Governor can either choose to sign a bill, which will place it into law, or he can veto it. A Governor’s veto can be overridden with a 2/3 vote of both houses. The Governor can line-item veto appropriations bills, which means he can strike out specific sections of the bill.

Once a bill is signed by the Governor, the Secretary of State publishes the law in the Session Laws, as well as the North Dakota Century Code.

Research and Tracking Bills
The Legislative website has a host of tools that can be used to research and follow legislation. If you know the bill number, a good place to start is the “Bill State Inquiry”.To read the version of the bill or check on its status enter in the four digit number in the appropriate box. If you don’t know the specific bill number you can check out the “Major Topic Index” and click on the topic you’re interested in.

To see what the House of Representatives or the Senate will be taking up on their floor session, you can check out their calendars. Clicking on their calendars will bring up a page that lists the amendments they’ll be considering, as well as bills that will be up for a vote. Their calendars also have links to live audio and video feeds.

To find out about committee hearings, you can check out the committee hearing schedules.

Contacting Legislators
Contact information for legislators can be found here. During the session, one way to leave a message for a legislator is by calling 1-888-635-3447. Another easy way to communicate with legislators is by e-mail, but keep in mind legislators receive a lot of e-mail during the session and may not always be able to respond to everyone.

Your local legislators are normally the best ones to contact first on an issue. If you’re not sure who your legislators are, look here. If you’re interested in a specific bill, it may be beneficial to contact your legislator in the house that the bill is being considered. So if it is a House Bill, you will want to contact your Representatives if it’s in the first half of the session and your Senator if it’s in the second half of the session.

You may also want to contact members of the committee that are considering the bill. You can find members of Senate committees and House committees.

Tips
Here are a few tips for being effective in dealing with legislators:
- Try to understand and learn about both sides of your issue. Knowing how the other side presents their arguments allows you to make the strongest case possible for yours.
- Anticipate questions and be prepared with answers.
- If you don’t know the answer, tell the legislator you will get back to them (AND THEN GET BACK TO THEM).
- Always be cordial with legislators, especially when you disagree with them. They may not vote your way now, but there may be times in the future when you’ll be asking for their vote again.
- Work with your local legislators when possible as they enjoy dealing with constituents.
- Understand the role of committees. Legislators can only do so much after a committee recommendation is made.
- There is power in numbers. Reach out to others that may support your bill and get them to contact legislators.
- Personal is better. Don’t spam legislators.