2023 Legislative Update

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.

This report was written during crossover, the break the Legislature takes halfway through the session before all bills passed in one chamber go to the other for consideration. Changes and action on these bills may take place before this issue of United Voices arrived in your mailbox.

You can get the most up-to-date information at www.ndunited.org/issues-action/ or by emailing your questions to legislative@ndunited.org

Vouchers — HB 1532

After receiving a do not pass recommendation out of House Appropriations, we were hoping for a vote on House Bill 1532 on our Feb. 20 Lobby Day while our members attended the House Floor session, 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 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 — HB 1040 (bad bill) & SB 2239 (good bill)

HB 1040 would replace the current defined-benefit pension plan with a less stable defined contribution plan by 2025. The defined benefit retirement plan is a valuable recruiting tool for North Dakota job growth and provides stable retirement savings for our workers. Eliminating the plan will cost upwards of $5.5 billion over the next 20 years, covered by taxpayers. We should be focused on investing in our pensions, not eliminating them, which is why we oppose House Bill 1040. Unfortunately, HB 1040 passed the House 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, aims to invest in our current defined-benefit pension plan and preserve a popular benefit for under $1 billion. On the other hand, HB 1040 above would cost $5.5 BILLION over 20 years. More than five times the cost! Not only does SB 2239 maintain and invest in our defined-benefit pension plan, it is also clearly the more fiscally responsible choice. SB 2239 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.

Funding — SB 2284 (K-12), SB 2001 (State Agencies), and HB 1003 (Higher Ed)

This session, we have consistently advocated for increased funding for equitable salary increases of at least 8% for all education and public employees. SB 2284 was passed with a placeholder of 3% in each year of the biennium, subject to the March Revenue Forecast. It will now be considered in the House. SB 2001 and HB 1003 were both passed in their respective chambers and will crossover to the other chamber for consideration.

Child Care — SB 2301

North Dakota United supports a long and lasting investment by the State of North Dakota in quality pre-K and child care that pays particular attention to the workers providing these services to set our kids up for success in school and ease the the March Revenue Forecast. It will now be considered in the House. SB 2001 and HB 1003 were both passed in their respective chambers and will crossover to the other chamber for consideration. burdens on working families. SB 2301 is a good start to investing in our state’s child care system. NDU supports this bill and will continue to push to invest $150 million into child care.

House Bill 1446, meant to weaken tenure and give more power to university presidents, passed in the House on Feb. 20 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!

Censorship in our Libraries — HB 1205

We are hearing from more and more members, particularly our librarians, about their concerns surrounding this bill. We have been working with partner organizations to help lift up the voices of our members.

School Lunches and Anti-Lunch Shaming — HB 1491 & 1494

North Dakota United has been a strong advocate for universal school lunches and ending the practices of lunch shaming. We are excited that we are seeing movement on each of these items with these bills. HB 1494 makes a $6 million investment to help expand the number of families who are eligible for free and reduced meals, and HB 1494 would outlaw lunch shaming practices that harm our students and families. We will continue to share coalition efforts to pass both of these bills.

Lifetime Licensure Requirements — HB 1329

Thanks to the idea that sprouted from a member, we were able to work with Representative Ista from Grand Forks to introduce, and pass in the House, a bill that will reduce the years of service needed for a lifetime license from 30 years to 20. This will help recognize our long-term educators and assist with the retainment crisis we are facing across the state.

Left to right: Anita Fettig, program director of Fettig Daycare in Napoleon, N.D.; Erin Laverdure, president of Energy Capital Cooperative Child Care; Landis Larson, president of North Dakota AFL-CIO; Nick Archuleta, president of North Dakota United; Josh Kramer, executive vice president and general manager of North Dakota Association of Rural Electric Cooperatives; Brian Gion, cooperative development specialist for North Dakota Association of Rural Electric Cooperatives ; Mohamed Hussein, vice president of operations at Jasmin Services; and Robin Fuehrer, director of Community Church Child Care.

Photo by Kelly Hagen, NDU Communications

North Dakota United President Nick Archuleta testifies in support of SB 2301, relating to the establishment of a child care stabilization program.

Photo by Kelly Hagen, NDU Communications

North Dakota United President Nick Archuleta and our staff also presented testimony on the following bills that are still being considered:

HB 1219 – Retired teachers’ calculated benefit and service credit for return to classroom. Support

HB 1329 - Allows ESPB to issue lifetime license after 20 years (currently 30). Support

HB 1337 – Requires schools to report safety expenditures to DPI. Oppose

HB 1362 – Takes curriculum decision-making authority from the district. Oppose

HB 2032 – Appropriation to DPI for the paraprofessional-to-teacher program. Support

HB 2033 – Teacher shortage loan forgiveness. Support

SB 2247 – Applies to institutions of higher education and “divisive concepts.” Oppose

SB 2258 – Retired teachers’ benefits in a critical shortage area. Oppose

SB 2260 – Takes curriculum decision-making authority from the district. Oppose

SB 2284 – K-12 funding bill. Support

SB 2354 – Pilot stipend program to K-3 teachers teaching a foreign language. Support

Testimony was also presented on the following bills that failed and will no longer be considered by the other chamber:

HB 1039

HB 1271

HB 1403

HB 1486

HB 1505

SB 2250

SB 2270

SB 2369