BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) - The North Dakota Legislature is entering its first full week after its midsession break, with each chamber considering bills approved by the other.
Highlights include governance of higher education, medical marijuana, a tribal oil tax agreement and Sunday shopping.
HIGHER ED GOVERNANCE
Republican Sen. Donald Schaible is to unveil a proposal to double the size of the state Board of Higher Education.
Schaible is the chairman of the Senate Education Committee, and his proposal is somewhat of a compromise over longstanding disagreement over higher education governance.
The House last month rejected legislation supported by Gov. Doug Burgum that would have the state change its higher education governance from one board to two.
Burgum continues to push for multiple boards, saying it would make North Dakota’s 11 colleges and universities “more accountable to their governing boards and taxpayers.”
The current board is made up of seven citizen members and one student appointed by the governor.
Schaible wants to expand the board to 15 members, and one student representative. Schaible says the bigger board could break out into subcommittees that would share the workload and oversight.
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TRIBAL OIL TAX
Republican Gov. Doug Burgum and Three Affiliated Tribes Chairman Mark Fox have signed an accord aimed at ending disagreement over shared revenues on the oil-rich Fort Berthold Indian reservation.
The accord was signed last week in a ceremony at the state Capitol. The Senate agreement is part of a measure that already has been approved by the Senate. The House is scheduled to vote on it this week.
The bill reworks a tax-sharing agreement that favors the tribes on the reservation that accounts for about a fifth of the state’s oil production.
The state Tax Department estimates the tribes will gain an additional $33 million in revenue over the next two-year budget cycle under the legislation.
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MEDICAL MARIJUANA
North Dakota’s Senate will consider several proposed changes to the state’s medical marijuana law that already have been approved by the House.
Representatives approved adding 13 illnesses to the list of 17 approved medical conditions, along with terminal illnesses. They would include Tourette syndrome, migraines, rheumatoid arthritis, opioid withdrawal and autism spectrum disorders.
Another change would add edibles to the approved forms of the drug, as long as the edibles aren’t in a form like gummy candy that could be marketed to children.
Other changes would add physician assistants to the list of health professionals who can certify patients, and would remove a requirement that health professionals attest medical marijuana will help a patient. That has made some wary of certifying patients.
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SPORTS GAMBLING
A move to allow charities to conduct legal gambling on college and professional sports betting in North Dakota will be considered by the Senate this week.
The measure passed the House last month, but only after it was reconsidered after the first vote failed.
North Dakota is one of many states attempting to capitalize on the U.S. Supreme Court’s lifting of a federal ban on sports gambling.
Backers say sports betting would generate revenue for charities and the state. Opponents believe that would cause more gambling.
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BLUE LAWS
The Senate will again decide whether North Dakotans should be allowed to shop on Sunday mornings.
The bipartisan measure lifting the state’s so-called blue laws passed the House last month. Representatives also passed a similar bill two years ago but the Senate killed it by a handful of votes.
The National Conference of State Legislatures says about a dozen states have some form of Sunday sales laws, but only North Dakota prohibits shopping on Sunday morning.
Republican Rep. Shannon Roers Jones of Fargo is the main sponsor of the bill. Her father, Fargo GOP Sen. Jim Roers, voted against the repeal last time and is expected to do the same this session.
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