BISMARCK, N.D. (NewsDakota.com) – By Rep. Dwight Kiefert and Rep. Cole Christensen.
“This week the Members of the North Dakota House of Representatives continued their work on the floor, debating a number of important topics. The House has started to receive bills from the Senate which have now passed both chambers. The House will now either concur in the changes made by the Senate, or the bills will be sent to conference committee to work out the differences.
On Friday, the House passed Senate Bill 2278 by a vote of 78-15. This bill provides COVID-19 liability protections for school districts and school district employees in our state. In essence, this legislation holds that if a person were to contract COVID-19 while on school property, the school and its employee would be immune from any potential lawsuit as a result. Supporters of the bill argued that school employees and administrators should not have to face lawsuits resulting from decisions they believe are best for their students. Supporters also noted that it is not possible to know for sure where a person contracts COVID-19, thus lawsuits against teachers and administrators would be improper. The bill now heads to the Governor’s desk.
On Monday, the House overwhelmingly voted to pass Senate Bill 2344. This bill holds that no government entity in our state can limit the hours of operation of any government owned or privately owned shooting range. Additionally, the legislation provides a government entity also cannot limit the hours of operation of a business which sells or services firearms, unless such limitations apply to all businesses equally. Testimony heard in committee indicated that this legislation not only protects our Second Amendment rights, but it also encourages the safe and responsible use of firearms within properly licensed shooting ranges. There was no testimony given in opposition to this bill.
On Tuesday, the House received HB 1326 back from the Senate and voted to unanimously concur with all amendments made by the Senate. This legislation passed both chambers by unanimous votes. The bill ensures that any coronavirus stimulus money received is not considered countable income for elderly individuals on Medicaid. If these payments were to be counted as income, it may put some Medicaid recipients over the asset limit for the program. With the recent Coronavirus stimulus payments sent out by the federal government, the House felt it is vitally important to protect Medicaid recipients from having their eligibility impacted.
On Wednesday, the House passed SB 2233 by a vote of 68-25. This bill allows for the creation of a recruitment program designed to bring more attorneys to the rural areas in our state. Supporters of this legislation pointed out that North Dakota’s rural cities and counties face a serious shortage of attorneys. For example, 87% of the attorneys in our state are located in just 7 counties, and there a number of counties that have no attorneys at all. Attorneys in rural areas play a significant role in assisting with legal issues relating to agricultural law, tax law, family law, wills and probates, and more. It now heads to Governor for consideration.
On Thursday, the House passed SB 2161 by a vote of 84-9. This bill has two key features. First, this legislation directs the Department of Human services to create and maintain a registry of all mental health programs in our state. These programs will be required to annually to submit a report on their services to the DHS. Additionally, this bill also directs Legislative Management to consider studying the implementation of expanded behavioral health services in our state. The COVID-19 pandemic has shed light on the importance of adequate mental and behavioral health services. Supporters of this legislation argued this registry and the subsequent study will identify potential weaknesses and potential improvements for North Dakota’s mental health services.
You can contact Rep. Kiefert at dhkiefert@nd.gov and Rep. Christensen at colechristensen@nd.gov. During the session, mail can be sent to us at: ND House of Representatives, 600 East Boulevard, Bismarck, ND 58505-0360. If you want to leave a phone message you can call the incoming toll-free number 1-888-NDLEGIS (1-888-635-3447). For hearing-impaired individuals, the TTY toll-free number is 1-800-366-6888 to reach a relay operator. If you wish to watch videos of the floor session and committee hearings, you can access that at legis.nd.gov.
Another District 24 Legislative Forum will be announced at a later date.