Weekly Legislative Update #7
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
This week was all about the race to the finish. Well, race to the finish of the first two months and crossover. Both chambers needed to hold a floor vote on every bill that originated in their chamber (i.e., bill numbers beginning with a 1 in the House and beginning with a 2 in the Senate), and any resolutions also brought forth in their chamber. Altogether, that amounted to a total of 1,083 bills and resolutions. The due date for all this was Tuesday, and amazingly, both the Senate and House managed to vote on every one of them by Tuesday evening!
While there were a lot of bills voted on Monday and Tuesday, a few stood out. HB 1540, which would create an education savings account program for students, passed by a 51-39 margin. House Concurrent Resolution 3013 was another piece of legislation of high interest to many. It urged SCOTUS to restore the definition of marriage to a union between one man and one woman, as opposed to their 2015 ruling in the Obergefell v. Hodges case. The resolution passed with a 52-40 vote in the House. Other bills that passed this week included one requiring education about the Holocaust, requiring the Secretary of State to clarify ballot issues, and a resolution recognizing pornography as a public health hazard. Unfortunately, an important bill on teaching intelligent design came up just short with a 22-25 vote in the Senate.
Next Week
The legislature is now in recess and all bills are switching chambers for the second half of the session. Our organization will once again be testifying and working on these bills in the second chambers just as diligently as before, making sure your deeply held values are protected! Hearings will start next Wednesday, March 5, so your prayers and support are greatly appreciated.
As we’ve stated before, there are sometimes just a few hours between when we find out about a committee or floor vote and when it actually happens, so please respond to our Call-to-Action emails as soon as you can. Many of you are doing just that and we thank you for it, so hang in there for another few weeks, and let’s see them through to completion.
Current Status
Each bill’s most recent status and future actions are shown in the following table. 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. If you want to testify on a bill or have a question, you are always welcome to reach out to us (mark@ndfamilyalliance.org) and we’ll get back to you as soon as we can.
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.
