Hello, NDU members!
Thank you to our Lobby Day attendees and supporters! We had a successful day, filled with direct conversations with legislators, a Q&A session with the House Education Committee, a North Dakota United press conference and plenty of member camaraderie. Check out a wrap-up of our day here!
The Legislature is in recess until Wednesday, so let’s all take a breath and recap our wins and the work ahead. Once the recess ends, all bills passed in the House will be heard in the Senate and vice versa.
Didn’t catch our previous emails? Check our Issues and Action page to read about our priorities.
Learn
Vouchers
After receiving a “do not pass” recommendation out of House Appropriations last week, we were hoping for a vote on House Bill 1532 on Monday while our members attended the House Floor session for Lobby Day, but the bill was laid over and heard on Tuesday, instead. It’s likely the supporters of this bill were nervous about our presence! Discussion continued for over an hour, with many legislators mentioning the number of emails they received opposing HB 1532. Representative Novak, who sits on the House Education Committee and originally voted to pass this bill, spoke about how she received an email from the teacher (an NDU member!) of one of her children urging her to vote no on HB 1532. For that reason, Representative Novak joined in opposition, voting against the voucher bill. After additional discussion, the vote was recorded and – unfortunately – HB 1532 passed 54-40.
While this was not the outcome we were hoping for, your pressure was an integral part of ensuring this was a close vote. Representative Novak flipping her vote is clear evidence that your personal emails are working. Many of the representatives who opposed this bill shared the same reasons that we are concerned about 1532. Now we take our fight to the Senate. Keep up the pressure! Stay tuned for more opportunities to do so.
Pensions
House Bill 1040, which would eliminate the defined benefit pension plan, was voted on in the House Wednesday after being laid over two days, likely in part because of our presence at the Capitol. Unfortunately, HB 1040 passed by a vote of 77-16. Like the voucher bill above, this bill will now go to the Senate for additional discussion and amendments before a final vote. We will continue our fight to defeat HB 1040 and save the defined benefit pension plan!
Meanwhile, Senate Bill 2239, which would invest in our pensions, passed in the Senate with a vote of 34-13. As expected, state pensions are a major concern this session. Given how pressing this issue is, we expect this fight to continue to the very end of the session, and we are glad to have Representative Boschee and Senators Cleary and Dever with us to pass SB 2239.
Tenure
House Bill 1446, meant to weaken tenure and give more power to University Presidents, passed in the House on Monday by a vote of 66-27. If this bill passes, the Presidents at Bismarck State and Dickinson State would have nearly unilateral power to fire a tenured professor, with no fear of retaliation and a minimal appeals process available to professors. We will need your help to defeat this bill in the Senate, so please stay tuned for updates!
Recap
It was an eventful first half of session that started with nearly 1,000 bills. Though we are monitoring 150 bills, the list below are those that will need your attention and engagement in the second half of the session. If you’re unsure how your Representative voted, reach out to us!
NDU Opposes:
- HB 1532 – Passed 54-40 – headed to Senate
- HB 1040 – Passed 77-16 – headed to Senate
- HB 1446 – Passed 66-27 – headed to Senate
NDU Supports:
- SB 2239 – Passed 34-13 – headed to House
- HB 1491 – Passed 80-11 – headed to Senate
- HB 1494 – Passed 89-1 – headed to Senate
Up next …
Legislators are Back Home
We encourage you to check out social media (legislators, city, district party) to find events that your legislators may be attending while they are on recess. These events are a great opportunity to engage in conversations on a more personal level with your representatives!
Advocacy Training
Whether you have been involved for years or are interested in getting started for the first time, we will be providing advocacy trainings where members can learn more about the importance of their advocacy, how to get started, and some best practices. The same training will be provided every two weeks starting Tuesday, February 28th at 6pm, so choose the Tuesday that works best for you. You only need to attend once to get all the information!
Legislative Debrief Calls
These calls are not only an exciting way to interact with the team at the Capitol representing you, but also an excellent opportunity to ask questions about legislation that is on your mind. Join us via Zoom on March 7th at 6pm for the call.
These updates involve the most urgent matters relating to our top priorities. We’re monitoring many more bills and issues and encourage you to stay tuned to your email for action alerts as the session progresses. Head to our Bills of Interest page to stay informed on other bills we’re monitoring!
If you have any questions, comments, ideas, etc. please contact us at ali.hoffman@ndunited.org, sarah.grossbauer@ndunited.org, or andrew.winter@ndunited.org.
We hope to see you soon!