LobbyComply Blog

The Office of the North Dakota Secretary of State approved a petition for a proposed constitutional amendment.

This amendment will make several changes to election procedures, and make the Ethics Commission responsible for state legislative redistricting procedures.

The Legislature is responsible for redrawing district lines every 10 years following each U.S. Census and is scheduled to do so again in 2021.

The group proposing the measure, North Dakota Voters First, will need to obtain signatures of 4% of eligible voters by July 6 to get the proposal on the ballot in November.

The group has now filed a lawsuit against Secretary of State Al Jaeger in U.S. District Court claiming it should be allowed to collect electronic signatures during the pandemic.

The state law requiring petition circulators to collect necessary signatures in-person is unrealistic and dangerous.

Additionally, the inability to get the measure on the ballot this year would mean the current redistricting rules stay in place for another decade.

The North Dakota Ethics Commission website is now live.

The website, ethicscommission.nd.gov, includes board information, meeting minutes, and complaint forms.

At a recent meeting, the five-member board also discussed reconciling perceived conflicts in constitutional and statutory language related to commission procedures; additionally, they reviewed proposed 2021 ethics legislation covering legislators and executive branch officials.

The next meeting is scheduled in an online format for May 13.

David Thiele became the Executive Director of the newly formed Ethics Commission at the beginning of the year and chaired the first meeting of the commission January 22.

Thiele, a Bismarck resident and former judge advocate for the U.S. Army, said his background as an attorney and ethics counselor for the National Guard will help him establish ethics rules.

State law gives the commission nine months from its creation (April 2020) to take preliminary steps to create the new rules.

Thiele believes he can meet this goal, but noted the Commission will give members of the public a chance to comment and could ask for an extension, if necessary.

Rep. Jake Blum resigned from his District 42 seat on October 4, citing a move to Minnesota.

Republicans in District 42 will select a replacement to fill the vacant seat.

However, the replacement will not serve in the Legislature without winning a future election, since lawmakers will not meet in full session again until 2021 because of North Dakota’s biennial format.

The person selected will fill Blum’s committee assignments in the interim.

The next election for District 42 will be November 2020.

Gov. Doug Burgum and Senate leadership selected Ron Goodman, Ward Koeser, Cynthia Lindquist, Paul Richard, and David Anderson to North Dakota’s new state government ethics commission.

The candidates verbally accepted their appointments after the selection meeting.

Their terms will begin on September 1, with Goodman and Lindquist serving four-year terms.

Anderson will serve a three-year term, and Koeser and Richard will serve two-year terms.

The selection committee chose Goodman as chairman to convene the commission’s first meeting in September.

The Ethics Commission Selection Committee narrowed down the field of candidates from 24 to 17.

However, the July 1 deadline is being pushed back.

Gov. Doug Burgum stated there will be two more meetings in July to reach the final five candidates.

In order to be appointed to the ethics commission, a candidate must be unanimously approved by the governor, senate majority leader, and senate minority leader.

Top North Dakota officials are working towards forming a new panel to oversee ethical standards in state government as a result of last year’s passage of Measure 1.

Gov. Doug Burgum’s office is accepting applications for the new ethics commission through May 24 and hopes to have members selected by July 1.

The five commissioners will be chosen by consensus agreement of the governor and the Senate’s majority and minority leaders.

The state constitution bars certain people from serving on the commission including lobbyists, political party officials, and those who hold statewide elected or appointed office.

Gov. Doug Burgum signed the last 53 bills remaining from the 2019 North Dakota legislative session, including House Bill 1521 and Senate Bill 2148.

House Bill 1521 establishes an ethics commission to hold state elected officials and legislators accountable.

The bill also requires a lobbyist who expends an amount greater than $200 for the purpose of lobbying to file a report with the Office of Secretary of State.

The report must include the source of the funds and prohibits a lobbyist from giving, soliciting, or facilitating a gift to a public official with a value of over $60.

Additionally, the bill requires any person who expends an amount greater than $200 to influence state government action file a report with the Office of Secretary of State on or before August 1.

The sections of House Bill 1521 establishing an ethics commission became effective on May 2, while the sections on report filing become effective on January 5, 2021.

Senate Bill 2148 requires the legislative management to study the implementation and requirements of Article XIV of the Constitution of North Dakota.

The study concerns the transparency of funding sources, lobbyists, responsibilities of the ethics commission, and a review of existing laws and laws enacted to implement Article XIV.

The legislative management must report its findings and recommendations to the 67th Legislative Assembly, with any legislation necessary to implement the recommendations.

Senate Bill 2148 becomes effective on August 1.

The North Dakota Senate approved House Bill 1521 on Wednesday, April 17.

The bill would implement the state’s new ethics rules established by the voter’s passage of Measure 1 last year.

House Bill 1521 prohibits a lobbyist from giving, offering, soliciting, initiating, or facilitating a gift over $60 to a public official.

A lobbyist will also be required to file a report with the secretary of state if they spend more than $200 on lobbying.

The bill has been returned to the House for consideration before the end of the legislative session on April 26.

North Dakota lawmakers are dealing with dual proposals to create a state ethics commission, as required by the passage of Measure 1 in November.

House Bill 1521 and Senate Bill 2148 have held multiple hearings, and several senators have proposed amendments to alter the definition of a lobbyist, while the House version prohibits public officials from accepting gifts from lobbyists valued at more than $60 per event.

The next hearings will take place on Thursday.

North Dakota Congressman-elect Kelly Armstrong resigned his District 36 seat in the State Senate.

District 36 Republicans will nominate their replacement to finish the remaining two years of Armstrong’s term by November 30, 2018.

Armstrong will replace Kevin Cramer in the U.S. House of Representatives.

North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum finalized an ethics policy that applies to the governor, lieutenant governor, and employees of the governor’s office.

According to the new policy, lobbyists who request a meeting with the governor’s office will be encouraged to bring a principal of his or her client to the meeting. The policy also addresses conflicts of interests and gifts and honoraria.

No gift of any value may be accepted if offered with the intent to directly or indirectly influence the exercise of official action.

Any gift greater than $50 must be reported to the ethics officer and returned to the donor or given to charity.

North Dakota Secretary of State Al Jaeger approved the format of a petition to amend the state constitution to include an independent ethics commission.

If voters approve, the ethics commission would be responsible for adopting rules related to elections, lobbying, and for reporting and investigating alleged violations of those rules and related state laws.

Additionally, the measure prohibits gifts from lobbyists, prohibits the delivery of campaign contributions by lobbyists, restricts lobbying from former public officials, and restricts the use of campaign contributions, among other provisions.

Supporters of the petition have until July 9 to gather nearly 27,000 signatures to place the constitutional amendment on the November ballot.

A bipartisan group of lawmakers on the Legislative Management Committee voted 12-4 in favor of filing a lawsuit in North Dakota’s Supreme Court in response to Gov. Doug Burgum’s vetoes of legislation.

Legislators are upset over the governor’s use of his line-item veto to change parts of several spending bills, arguing that the intent of the legislation was changed by the deletion of the words and phrases.

Lawmakers argue their legislative authority to spend money has been violated, while the executive branch contends its executive authority is being violated by the challenge.