Saturday, April 28, was the 75th legislative day and turned out to be our final day of the 68th legislative session.
We adjourned Sine Die at 2:51 a.m., Sunday morning.
One legislative day is the 24-hour period starting at 7 a.m. through 6:59 a.m. the following morning.
The Legislature is limited by the North Dakota constitution to meet for up to 80 days per biennium.
This means we have five days that can be used in case we should need to go back into a special session during the biennium to address an issue that may come up. The new biennium starts July 1, and goes through June 30, 2025.
The final few days of the session is where the “sausage making” takes place in the conference committees to make sure all the budgets balance.
The final three bills that we acted on were agency budget bills.
The Industrial Commission oversees the Department of Mineral Resources, Bank of North Dakota, North Dakota Housing Authority and North Dakota Mill and Elevator.
The Health and Human Services budget is the largest budget in the state when federal and state money is added together and is more than $5 billion.
One in five North Dakotans receive some type of service from HHS.
The Office of Management and Budget is typically the final bill to be acted on each session.
This bill ends up being the catch-all for technical corrections in legislation that was passed earlier in the session, fund transfers between agencies and formula adjustments.
Five million dollars was added to the $20 million in the emergency snow removal fund that was passed earlier this session to help municipalities with expenses incurred battling heavy snow throughout the winter season.
It is good to be home and I am looking forward to shifting gears and getting the crop in the ground. It is an honor to serve District 20 in Bismarck this session. Thank you all for your support.
Randy D. Lemm
District 20 Senator
701-430-1536
