April 21, 2023 - Update

Posted: Apr 21 2023

This Week at the Legislature

Legislators Move Closer to Adjournment – But not Quite.

Today is day 69 of 80 of the 2023 Legislative Session. The legislative assembly is moving SLOWLY toward adjournment, but no one really knows when that will occur. The House and Senate Sargent at Arms have scheduled the end of the session sine die party for this coming Thursday evening, which is a good indication they will be in session until at least Friday. Don’t be surprised if they don’t finish up until next Monday or Tuesday, May 1 or 2.

Appropriators faced the news this week that ongoing spending is currently $900 million over the typical ongoing appropriation level, saddling 2025 lawmakers with nearly $1 billion in funding as a starting place—a number usually between $400-800 million. The directive was given to cut $225 million from this number in the remaining budgets.

Political observers occasionally joke North Dakota has two political parties – the House and Senate. While the differences of opinion may not be obvious to the casual observer, there have been plenty of disagreements between the two chambers in the past couple of weeks. The best example is the number of conference committees still in existence. As of Friday morning, there are roughly 90 bills still in conference, which includes SB 2014, the appropriation bill that contains BND’s and ND Housing Finance’s Budget.

FYI – Sine Die is from Latin meaning “without assigning a day for a further meeting or hearing”. A legislative body adjourns “sine die” when it adjourns without appointing a day on which to appear or assemble again.

NDBA’s 2023 Legislative Tracking List

Bill	Status	Title
HB 1008	House: PASSED House 87 – 3 Senate: PASSED Senate 46 – 1 Governor NDBA Supports	A BILL for an Act to provide an appropriation for defraying the expenses of the department of financial institutions.
HB 1014	House: PASSED House 84 – 9 Senate: PASSED Senate 44 – 2 Governor NDBA Supports	A BILL for an Act to provide an appropriation for defraying the expenses of the industrial commission and the agencies under its control; to provide for a transfer; and to provide an exemption. In Conference Committee
HB 1082	House: PASSED House 84 – 9 Senate: PASSED Senate 34 – 12 Governor: SIGNED NDBA Supports	Relating to the adoption of the Uniform Commercial Code amendments (2022) relating transactions involving digital assets especially relating to (a) negotiability for virtual (non-fiat) currencies, (b) certain electronic payment rights, (c) secured lending against virtual (non-fiat) currencies, and (d) security interests in electronic (fiat) money, such as central bank digital currencies. The amendments also address other technological developments affecting electronic chattel paper, negotiable instruments, payment systems, electronic documents of title, and sales and leases of goods.
HB 1083	House: PASSED House 92 – 0 Senate: PASSED Senate 46 – 0 Governor: SIGNED NDBA Supports	Relating to the adoption of the Revised Uniform Law on Notarial Acts (2021).
HB 1106	House: FAILED House 6 – 87 NDBA Neutral	Relating to appraisal management companies.
HB 1107	House: PASSED House 90 – 3 Senate: PASSED Senate 46 – 0 House: PASSED House: 88 – 2 Governor: SIGNED NDBA Neutral	Relating to the regulation of real estate appraisers; and to provide a penalty.
HB 1228	House: PASSED House 90 – 0 Senate: PASSED Senate 47 – 0 House: PASSED House: 91 – 0 Governor: SIGNED	Relating to the use of certain marketing practices involving an agreement containing a provision for automatic renewal; and to provide for application.
HB 1278	House: PASSED House 92 – 1 Senate: FAILED Senate 10 – 36	Relating to the prudent investor rule; and to amend and reenact section 21-10-02, subsection 1 of section 21-10-08.1, and subsection 2 of section 21-10-11 of the North Dakota Century Code, relating to the state investment board and the legacy fund.
HB 1283	House: FAILED House 8 – 85 NDBA Opposes!	Relating to fair access to financial products and services; and to provide a penalty.
HB 1345	House: PASSED House 85 – 8 Senate: FAILED Senate 12 – 34 NDBA Opposes!	Relating to state purchasing contracts.
HB 1347	House: FAILED House 3 – 90 NDBA Opposes!	Relating to the state treasurer and financial institutions engaged in boycotts of energy companies; and to amend and reenact section 6-01-02 of the North Dakota Century Code, relating to definitions.
HB 1356	House: FAILED House 3 – 90 NDBA Opposes!	Relating to the state treasurer and financial institutions engaged in boycotts of energy companies; and to amend and reenact section 6-01-02 of the North Dakota Century Code, relating to definitions.
HB 1368	House: PASSED House 86 – 7 Senate: PASSED Senate 43 – 3 House: PASSED House: 87 – 4 Governor: SIGNED	Relating to contracts with companies that boycott Israel and a prohibition on investments.
HB 1429	House: PASSED House 93 – 0 Senate: PASSED Senate 42 – 4 House: PASSED House 89 – 1	Relating to state contracts with certain companies that boycott energy, mining, and production agriculture.
HB 1469	House: FAILED House 6 – 87 NDBA Opposes!	Relating to the investment and management of public funds.
HB 1487	House: PASSED House 83 – 9 Senate: PASSED Senate 46 – 1 NDBA Supports	Relating to financial institutions use of merchant codes to track firearm and ammunition-related purchases; and to provide a penalty.
HN 1499	House: PASSED House 76 – 14 Senate: FAILED Senate 13 – 34	Relating to an interest rate buydown program for homeowners with a primary residence mortgage.
SB 2111	Senate: PASSED Senate 44 – 3 House: PASSED House 74 – 11 Governor: SIGNED	Relating to certificate of title to be allowed in electronic form.
SB 2210	Senate: PASSED Senate 47 – 0 House: PASSED House 92 – 0 Governor: SIGNED	Relating to individual retirement and employee benefit trusts.
HB 2217	Senate: PASSED Senate 26 – 21 House: FAILED House 29 – 64 NDBA Opposes!	Relating to the calculation of interchange fees for electronic payment transactions; and to provide a penalty.
SB 2220	Senate: FAILED Senate 16 – 31	Relating to an allocation from the legacy earnings fund and eligible projects under the housing incentive fund; to provide an effective date; and to declare an emergency.
SB 2263	Senate: PASSED Senate 47 – 0 House: PASSED House 93 – 0 Senate: PASSED Senate: 47 – 0 Governor: SIGNED NDBA Supports	Relating to escrow accounts.
SB 2266	Senate: PASSED Senate 24 – 23 House: FAILED House 39 – 53 NDBA Opposes!	Relating to credit union field-of-membership.
SB 2300	Senate: FAILED Senate 0 – 47	Relating to notice to owner and law enforcement of abandoned vehicles.
SB 2392	Senate: PASSED Senate 42 – 5 House: PASSED House 82 – 8 Governor:	Relating to the definition of deposit account.
HCR 3036	House: PASSED House 84 – 5 Senate: PASSED Senate: Voice Vote NDBA Supports	Relating to the adoption of a Central Bank Digital Currency in the United States.

How to Contact Your Legislators

During a legislative session, a legislator can be reached at the State Capitol through:

Contact My Legislators:
https://www.ndlegis.gov/legend/constituent/views/public/contact_legislator/
or by leaving a message with the legislative telephone message center at
1-888-NDLEGIS (635-3447) or 701-328-3373 (local).

Otherwise, a legislator can be reached by mail, telephone or email at the address listed in the legislator’s biography, or one of the lists provided below. Individual legislator contact information is listed here:

Senate
https://www.ndlegis.gov/sites/default/files/resource/miscellaneous/2023senateroster.pdf
House
https://www.ndlegis.gov/sites/default/files/resource/miscellaneous/2023houseroster.pdf

Over the course of the session, NDBA may ask you to call your Senator or Representative to talk to them about a particular bill or to ask them to support or oppose a particular bill.

Legislator contacts from local bankers are extremely important, so, please, if we ask, contact your legislators!

Also, local legislative forums are great to attend because they inform you about issues beyond banking and let you get to know your legislators at home where they are most responsive to your interests and concerns.

Don’t be a stranger; get to know your representatives in Bismarck!