What to know about North Dakota’s special legislative session

State Capitol (KFGO file photo)

By: Jacob Orledge

BISMARCK, N.D. (North Dakota Monitor) – North Dakota lawmakers plan to hold a three-day special session starting Wednesday, but it’s still unclear if they’ll discuss any bills other than five focused on the federal Rural Health Transformation Program.

Legislative leaders will decide Tuesday afternoon if additional bills will be allowed. That means the public will have a tight window to provide input on potential legislation. Gov. Kelly Armstrong will deliver a State of the State address at 10 a.m. Wednesday.

What we know

At least five bills will be introduced, focused on the federal rural health care funding, the reason Armstrong called the special session. One is an appropriations bill to approve spending $199 million of federal funding this year and authorizing $200 million anticipated for next year. A hearing is set for 10:30 a.m. Wednesday.

Four health policy bills also will be introduced. The one likely to get the most debate would expand the prescriptive authority of pharmacists, which proponents say could make it easier for rural North Dakotans to get treated for common conditions. A hearing for that bill is scheduled for 1 p.m. Wednesday.

Lawmakers also will consider a bill that would require K-12 students to take the presidential fitness test; a bill to require one-hour of continuing education for doctors related to healthy eating; and a bill to include physician assistants in a state licensure compact.

Hearings on those policy bills are scheduled between 10:30 a.m. and 1 p.m. Wednesday. For specific information, including links to submit written testimony, visit the committee hearing schedule. Some written testimony is due as early as 9:30 a.m. Wednesday.

Lawmakers also will accept public testimony in person and online, though they prioritize in-person testimony.

Lawmakers are proposing the policy bills in order to fulfill criteria for additional federal funding through the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid’s grant application process. Sen. Brad Bekkedahl, R-Williston, warned any substantial modifications to those bills come with the risk of losing some of the state’s $199 million grant.

“If any of those four policy bills do not pass in the form that we have them, or if they’re significantly changed from the form that CMS (Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services) wanted us to draft as policies, then we could see reductions in funding or clawbacks of that funding,” said Bekkedahl, who will co-chair a joint Appropriations Committee during the special session.

What we don’t know

The Legislative Management committee will meet at 1 p.m. Tuesday to hear pitches from lawmakers about other legislation for the special session. Lawmakers will have five minutes to explain their bill draft and why it’s an emergency that can’t wait until 2027.

We don’t know all of the topics that could be addressed. Those bill drafts are expected to become public on the legislative website on Monday on the Legislative Management meeting agenda.

One bill that will be pitched during that meeting is a proposal to provide free school meals to all K-12 students, similar to a ballot measure that’s circulating. It will be up to the bipartisan committee of legislative leaders to decide if the bill advances to the full Legislature on Wednesday.

If the committee does not advance a bill, a lawmaker could still attempt to introduce it from the Senate or House floor. The bill would need support from at least two-thirds of the members to be introduced.