701-566-9300Legislative sessions in our state are comprised of two halves and overtime. We just finished the first half on the 33rd day and rather than turnovers, it is Crossover. We will start again Wednesday of next week, probably go another 33 or so and the last possible or 80th day is April 30. How long the Conference Committee (overtime) goes is something many people get into a betting pool for.
So what do we know that we did not two months ago? Changes in the farm home exemption (2360) have a fighting chance. So does corporate farming as second cousins language passed the House yesterday. Another old battle that may well go forward is the automatic posting of land (2315) except for hunting which would adapt to new technology by using a phone app with land color coded. The attempt to give back Water Resource Districts (WRD) some of their control over tile drainage was defeated, as was the try to get rid of permitting for it altogether. WRDs, cities, DOT, airports and other entities survived an attempt (1184) to kill their ability to use Quick Take. All of this action took place in the last 4 legislative days from Friday through Wednesday. APUC has a chance to move from the Department of Commerce to the Dept. of Agriculture, but the Trade office does not. Restoring cost share for snagging and clearing (2139) has a chance, but electing WRD boards does not. The Dept. of Agriculture could still end up with the current PSC responsibility of warehouse inspection and grain licensing (1467) or not. SB2346 would bring some changes to that same responsibility including a couple of more inspectors and an opt-out provision for an expanded grain indemnity fund. Keeping the same old $3 million trigger and shut off upon reaching $6 million, it would cover more crops but have a smaller contribution should the trigger kick in again. Confidentiality of financial records would also be part of the effort to prevent more insolvency cases. Go to nd.gov, find the legislative branch of state government, the 66th session and find the bills you are interested in if you wish. And remember, in Overtime, nothing is over till it’s over
