BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) - In the waning weeks of the North Dakota Legislature, conference committees are hard at work reconciling differing versions of bills that have been endorsed in the other chamber.
The bulk of the Legislature’s time will be taken up over the next few weeks by such meetings. Once agreements are met, the legislation is kicked back to the full Senate and House for approval.
The North Dakota Constitution limits the Legislature to 80 days of meetings every two years. The 2015 session will hit its 61st day on Monday.
LEGISLATIVE ACTION
The Legislature is running slightly ahead of the 2013 session.
The session opened in January with 853 measures. As of Friday, 221 had made it to Gov. Jack Dalrymple’s desk.
Data from the Legislative Council, the Legislature’s research arm, show 299 bills awaited action at midday Friday, compared with 336 bills that remained during the same period last session. There were 842 bills filed last session, or 11 fewer than the current session.
Data show 329 bills have failed so far this session, compared with 277 bills that failed during the same period last session.
Four bills have been withdrawn this session compared to 19 in the session prior.
AGENT ORANGE
Sen. Richard Marcellais, D-Belcourt, has been donning his orange blazer and matching loafers to bring attention to the need for more funding to Vietnam veterans who were exposed to Agent Orange.
Marcellais, a Vietnam veteran, says there are about 15,000 other Vietnam veterans living in North Dakota, and many of them may have been exposed to the defoliant that was sprayed over the jungle from U.S. planes from 1962 to 1971 to strip away cover for the North Vietnamese.
Marcellais is the prime sponsor of a bill that would provide funding to help identify and provide services Vietnam veterans who were exposed to Agent Orange.
The bill originally asked for $100,000 in funding over the next two years. The House cut the sum to $50,000, while the Senate wants $75,000.
The final amount is slated to be negotiated by both chambers this week.
HEITKAMP BILL
The Senate is slated to vote on a bill Monday that would prohibit the governor from appointing a successor to a vacant North Dakota congressional seat.
Republican Rep. Roscoe Streyle, a Minot banker, introduced the bill, which is response to a rumored gubernatorial bid next year by popular freshman Democratic U.S. Sen. Heidi Heitkamp.
She’s been mum on the subject.
The House approved the so-called Heitkamp bill in February and passed it on to the Senate.
Streyle says the goal is to allow voters to choose the successor instead of the governor.
North Dakota law already requires a special election if the state’s lone U.S. House seat is vacated.
Heitkamp is the only Democrat holding a statewide office in North Dakota. She unsuccessfully ran for governor in 2000.
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