Week 7 Legislative Update

Crossover is coming next week, and everyone at the Capitol is aware of this important deadline. Crossover is when all bills must be acted on in their origin chamber—either failing(red) or passing (green) across to the other chamber for consideration.
 
Bill Count: 1073

• House count: 649
• Senate count: 424

Active bills: 857 (213 have failed/withdrawn, +72 from last week)
GNDC tracking: 250 (roughly 24% of the total bills)
Days left in the session: 52 (max)
Signed into law/filed with Sec of State: 3 (+1 from last week. Concurrent resolution related to Giving Hearts Day)

Our role has shifted from supplying testimony/show casing our stance to helping guide discussions, identifying impacts, and pointing out any unintended consequences. We focus on the business issues, which is a broad area but still just a piece of the many topics legislators handle. While we represent our members, we also serve as a resource for legislators—a role we take great pride in.

SOME OF THE WORK WE ENGAGED IN:
HB 1452: Antiobesity Medication Mandate

• OPPOSE
• Would establish a pilot program under NDPERS health insurance to cover at least two anti-obesity medications. After the two-year pilot, legislation would be drafted to extend coverage to the private sector.
• Result: DEFEATED

SB 2380: Big Brother Verification, But for Everyone

• OPPOSE
• Would shifts the responsibility for age verification from content providers to technology manufacturers, requiring real-time verification for all users, regardless of the content being accessed.

SB 2370: Another Insulin Mandate

• OPPOSE
• Insulin mandate that would be applied to the private sector and increase healthcare costs.
• Amended to only apply to state employees through PERS.

HB 1442: Government Efficiency & Accountability Taskforce

• SUPPORT
• Proposes a legislative committee on government/executive branch efficiency and accountability, with an amendment suggesting a task force instead, set to expire in 2031 and include the Chief Information Officer, OMB Director, and Governor’s Chief Operating Officer.

HB 1584: State Oversight on Self-Funded Insurance

• OPPOSE
• Would subject self-funded health plans under ERISA (Employee Retirement Income Security Act) to the jurisdiction of the State Insurance Commissioner. This would increase these groups' healthcare costs due to state-imposed mandates.

SB 2321: Em. Domain Expert Witness and Fees

• OPPOSE
• Would require expert witness fees to be included in eminent domain proceedings. Allowing courts to award these costs, regardless of case outcomes, could lead to increased public expenses.

SB 2208: Play Nice for Infrastructure Progress

• SUPPORT
• Prevent communities from receiving grant funding if they adopt policies or ordinances that interfere with state-approved energy infrastructure projects.

RECALL
Here’s an update on action from bills that we’ve previously mentioned.
Support
> 2147 (Career Builders - Workforce Retention Tool): Passed
Oppose
> 2066 (Prison Industries): Defeated
> 1608 (Redundant Day of Rest): Defeated