Rep. Lori VanWinkle, R-Minot, speaks on the House floor on April 14, 2025. (Michael Achterling/North Dakota Monitor)BISMARCK, N.D. (North Dakota Monitor) — North Dakota’s House majority leader urged a state lawmaker Monday to forgo her legislative pay for a week of the session she missed while taking a family vacation. Rep. Lori VanWinkle, R-Minot, returned Monday after missing five days…
Rep. Bernie Satrom, R-Jamestown, speaks on the House floor on April 14, 2025. (Michael Achterling/North Dakota Monitor)BISMARCK, N.D. (North Dakota Monitor) — A bill requiring school and public libraries to relocate content deemed “sexually explicit” passed the House on a 49-45 vote Monday after nearly 90 minutes of debate. Senate Bill 2307, sponsored by Sen. Keith Boehm, R-Mandan, would allow…
Protesters opposing a bill that would raise the standard for proving liability for lawsuits involving pesticides peer through the windows of the Capitol on April 14, 2025. (Michael Achterling/North Dakota Monitor)BISMARCK, N.D. (North Dakota Monitor) — The North Dakota Senate on Monday passed a bill that backers say ensures farmers in the state will have access to needed ag chemicals,…
Rebecca Binstock, executive director of the North Dakota Ethics Commission, speaks during a committee hearing on Jan. 31, 2025. (Michael Achterling/North Dakota Monitor)BISMARCK, N.D. (North Dakota Monitor) — The North Dakota House on Monday voted to give the Ethics Commission a six-month deadline to resolve ethics complaints while also removing a new position approved by the Senate. The amended bill,…
BISMARCK, N.D. (North Dakota Monitor) — North Dakota legislators have been wrestling with a pesticide bill backed by agricultural groups that would make it harder for people to win cancer liability lawsuits against the farm chemical industry. House Bill 1318 would shield the maker of Roundup and other farm chemical manufacturers from lawsuits from people who say they were not adequately…
The state flag of North Dakota waves in the wind outside of the Capitol in Bismarck on Feb. 27, 2025. (Michael Achterling/North Dakota Monitor)BISMARCK, N.D. (North Dakota Monitor) — The North Dakota House Appropriations Committee voted 22-1 Friday to issue a do-not-pass recommendation on a bill that would require school and public libraries to relocate books deemed “sexually explicit” to…
BISMARCK, N.D. (North Dakota Monitor) — North Dakota’s Legacy Fund lost about $1 billion in value last week as the stock market plunged, but the investments are managed to weather volatility, according to testimony from a legislative hearing this week. Jodi Smith, interim executive director of the Retirement and Investment Office, commented on the impact of the stock market fluctuations…
Rep. Bill Tveit, R-Hazen, speaks during a Jan. 27, 2025, committee hearing on a bill to enforce school compliance with a law barring transgender students from using restrooms that align with their genders. (Michael Achterling/North Dakota Monitor)BISMARCK, N.D. (North Dakota Monitor) The North Dakota Senate voted 40-7 on Thursday to pass a bill that prevents K-12 public schools from having…
Monticello Nuclear Generating Plant 2016BISMARCK, N.D. (North Dakota Monitor) — The North Dakota Legislature is opening the door for nuclear energy research in the state. The House of Representatives on Wednesday passed Senate Bill 2159 to allow the Energy and Environmental Research Center in Grand Forks to study nuclear energy. The House passed the EERC bill 57-32. The bill previously passed the…
Sen. Janne Myrdal, R-Edinburg, speaks on the Senate floor on April 9, 2025. (Michael Achterling/North Dakota Monitor)BISMARCK, N.D. (North Dakota Monitor) — A bill that sought to reduce penalties for possessing small amounts of marijuana in North Dakota failed in the Senate Wednesday on a 33-13 vote. House Bill 1596 would have reduced the penalty for possessing less than a half…
