Legislative Update for Week 2

One week in, 78 days left to gavel in. The first week of session is about setting a rhythm of how session will work. Committees are meeting and bills are dropping. Before the start of the week, GNDC was tracking 59 bills. We are running the gambit on topics from workforce to regulation to government competing with private industry.


SOME OF THE WORK WE ENGAGED IN:
 
SB 2066: Prison Industries

• OPPOSE
• Enable state employees to purchase items from Rough Rider Industries – a state agency that employs an incarcerated workforce to create goods. This creates direct competition with private businesses.

HB 1036: Apprenticeship Support System

• SUPPORT
• Establish an Office of Apprenticeship within the ND Dept of Labor to provide an additional resource to supplement the Federal Office of Apprenticeship and assist businesses in establishing their apprenticeship programs.

HB 1114: Insulin Mandate

• OPPOSE
• Would put a price cap on insulin, limiting the cost of insulin and supplies to $25. While this would reduce the price for patients, any costs above the price cap would be shifted to the employers. GNDC strongly opposes mandates that increase costs for businesses. 

HB 1122: Prison Industries Preference & Procurement

• OPPOSE
• Would create competition between government and private businesses by allowing state employees to purchase items from prison industries. Additionally, it would give preference to the prison industries state agency that employs incarcerated individuals.

SB 2026: Foreign Ownership

• OPPOSE
• Initiates property restrictions and institutes ownership reporting, resulting in high costs of compliance and create problems for publicly traded corporations. GNDC wants to ensure that businesses can compete in a global market and attract capital investment to the state. 

Why does GNDC care about these items? The impacts of these bills directly affect the state’s business climate, economic growth, and competitiveness. GNDC opposes policies that increase operational expenses for businesses—whether through unequal healthcare mandates, additional regulation, or unfair competition from state-subsidized operations. By aligning state policy with the needs of the business community, GNDC works to drive prosperity for North Dakota.
 
INSIDER'S PEEK: Check out a testimony snippet from our opposition of 1114
"Our members oppose mandates that increase business burdens and costs. That is exactly what this bill does. The fiscal note of this bill indicates that this is a cost shift.  Rather than making healthcare more affordable, this will increase costs for businesses by shifting them to the employer.  … This bill challenges the free-market system that GNDC strongly supports. Free markets work. They give strength to the consumer by enticing companies to compete among each other for their business." [See the bill here]
 
WHAT'S HITTING THIS WEEK:
-HB 1150 (reinstating blue law), check out how we feel about this garbage pile
-HB 1021 (WSI’s budget)
-HB 1176 (Armstrong’s Prop Tax Reform)
-SB 2012 (DOT’s budget)
-SB 2018 (Dept of Commerce’s budget)