North Dakota House committee considers annual legislative sessions in new bill

BISMARCK, N.D. — North Dakota legislators  heard testimony on a bill that would have their current bi-annual sessions changed to occur annually.

The number of days of a legislative session would not increase from the current 80 days, but would split those days between the two years.

Proponents of the bill claimed that it would enhance the responsiveness of the legislature to current events and issues, allow the legislature to conduct more research on bills and increase public engagement.

Opponents of the bill say the shortened sessions would would leave legislators with less time to study bills, the number of which has grown from past years.

They also argued that it would make it more difficult for part-time legislators to get time off from their full-time jobs each session.

“I feel like it won’t fix the immediate problem of too many bills. Just push it down the road, temporarily fixing it to where ten years down the road we’re going to be exactly where we have 80-day sessions with a thousand bills every year instead of every two years,” said Felipe Vázquez, regional chair of North Dakota Young Republicans.

One committee member also voiced concern over the bill giving too much power to legislative management.

If passed, annual legislative sessions would begin in 2027.