Weekly Legislative Update #6
We want to provide you with our most recent update on what happened at the Capitol this past week, each bill’s current status, and what to expect next week. As mentioned before, if you ever have questions about a particular bill, feel free to email us at mark@ndfamilyalliance.org or call 701-355-6425.
Last Week
As anticipated, submitting testimony is phasing out for us and we are spending more time these days focusing on floor votes and letting you know when your voice needs to be heard on critical bills. We testified in favor of two military-related bills last week. One would designate an official Prisoner of War and Missing in Action Day (HB 1403), and the other would officially establish Military Appreciation Month (HB 1148). A couple of other testimonies we submitted were on resolutions. One was to conduct a human trafficking study (HCR 3028) and the other was to tell Washington DC that they need to overturn the Obergefell v. Hodges SCOTUS ruling which legalized same-sex marriage (HCR 3013).
As already noted, we also spent more time focusing on floor votes and asking for your help in contacting legislators to influence their voting. Bills that passed in their respective chambers once again included many focused on education, such as human trafficking education for students (SB 2330), further preventing child access to obscene books in libraries, including school libraries (SB 2307), school compliance with the Century Code (SB 2104), and saying the Pledge of Allegiance in school (HB 1222). Also, HB 1181, which would define gender as a person’s biological sex, passed overwhelmingly in the House.
Next Week
Hundreds of remaining bills will come up for floor votes next week since crossover begins at the end of next week. These include all of the bills that don't have floor votes shown in our table, below. We will monitor these bills carefully and if we see one in danger of being voted on in the wrong direction, we will send out one of our Call-to-Action Alerts (CTAs) which allows you to contact as many legislators as necessary with a click of the button, as appropriate. As we’ve stated before, there are sometimes just a few hours between when we find out about a floor vote and it actually happens, so please respond to these CTAs as soon as you can. If good bills don’t make it out of their initial chamber, they are dead for the 2025 legislative session and no other action will be taken on them, so there is a lot riding on these votes that will happen next week.
Current Status
In the table below for this week, we wanted to provide you with the status of all of the bills we have worked on so far. Each bill’s most recent status is shown in the following table.
To double-check the most current status of any bill, you can go to this page, type the bill number into the upper right box (just need the number, not the HB or SB), and click the search button. Once you are on the bill’s page, click on the tab entitled “Actions”. This will indicate where the bill is in the process.
How to Take Action
1.) If a bill hearing has been scheduled, but not yet held, the table shows the date, time, and location of the hearing. If you want to testify, you need to write your comments about the bill into a PDF or txt file. This can be a paragraph or longer, but keep to the point. Once that is written, you can go to this page, type the bill number into the upper right box (just need the number, not the HB or SB), and click the search button. Once you are on the bill’s page, click on the tab entitled “Hearings”, identify the hearing, and click the link on the right where it says, “Submit Testimony”. Just follow the instructions after that. Note that there will be a deadline to submit testimony for bills, often early in the morning on the hearing day (this will show once you click on the “Submit Testimony” link). If you have questions about any of this, prepare your testimony document and then call us at 701-355-6425 and we can walk you through it.
2.) If the bill hearing is over, but it still needs to be voted on in a chamber, you can contact your appropriate legislator(s) and give them feedback. If you do not know who your legislators are or how to contact them, click here and then go to the top right corner and click on “Find my legislator.” Type your house number and zip code into the boxes and click the search button. From there, you should be able to find your Senator and Representatives and all their contact information such as phone numbers and email addresses.
3.) If the bill has passed both chambers and has been sent to Gov. Armstrong, you can contact the Governor via this link and provide input on the bill. Contact Governor Armstrong
Please remember to be respectful in all communications to our legislators and the Governor, and feel free to contact us with any legislative questions.
Here is a map of the Capitol, so you can find the indicated rooms. Please let us know if you have any questions.
Weekly Legislative Update #5
We want to provide you with our most recent update on what happened at the Capitol this past week, each bill’s current status, and what to expect next week. As mentioned before, if you ever have questions about a particular bill, feel free to email us at mark@ndfamilyalliance.org or call 701-355-6425.
Last Week
As I mentioned in our last update, we tackled 9 bills this past week. Most of the proposed legislation just happened to be either focused on pornography or education. Two of the pornography bills concerned age verification for internet pornography access (SB 2380 and HB 1593), another bill would restrict pornographic books in public and school libraries and also included a penalty for enforcement purposes (SB 2307), and finally, a resolution stating that pornography was a public health hazard (SCR 4017).
On the education side of things, there was a bill requiring that history of the Holocaust be taught in schools (HB 1527), another that required intelligent design be taught in schools (SB 2355), and a third that human trafficking education be provided to students (HB 1569). The final education bill would allow chaplains to provide counseling at schools (HB 1456). The remaining bill concerned approval processes for ballot measures (SB 2230).
Aside from this testimony, a number of bills hit the chamber floors for votes, including two very high-profile bills. HB 1373, which would have criminalized mothers who had abortions, was defeated by a wide margin of 16-77, after coming out of committee with an 11-1 DO NOT PASS recommendation. HB 1488, a loosening of abortion restrictions was also soundly defeated with a 6-87 vote on the House floor. Finally, the chaplaincy bill noted in the previous paragraph was heard on the House floor Friday and unfortunately failed by a 35-46 margin.
Next Week
We are now at a point in the session where we are approaching “crossover” when bills passing votes in their initial chamber are now sent to the other chamber for consideration. This means that testimony will probably be ending next week, until after crossover at the beginning of March, when it all begins again for bills that are still alive. In the meantime, all these bills that we’ve already testified on will be coming up for floor votes, so please watch for our alerts. There are sometimes just a few hours between when we find out about a floor vote and it actually happens, so please respond as soon as you can. We know you all have busy lives, but reaching out to legislators as a citizen is something only you can do to defend your values. It only takes a few minutes, definitely makes a difference, and we deeply appreciate it.
Current Status
Each bill’s most recent status and future actions are shown in the following table. We only show “alive” bills in this table (i.e., those that have not been defeated in a chamber, not combined with another bill, etc.), since those are the ones on which you can still take some action. NOTE THAT THE STATUS OF EACH BILL CAN CHANGE MULTIPLE TIMES, IN EVEN A SINGLE DAY.
To double-check the most current status of any bill, you can go to this page, type the bill number into the upper right box (just need the number, not the HB or SB), and click the search button. Once you are on the bill’s page, click on the tab entitled “Actions”. This will indicate where the bill is in the process.
How to Take Action
1.) If a bill hearing has been scheduled, but not yet held, the table shows the date, time, and location of the hearing. If you want to testify, you need to write your comments about the bill into a PDF or txt file. This can be a paragraph or longer, but keep to the point. Once that is written, you can go to this page, type the bill number into the upper right box (just need the number, not the HB or SB), and click the search button. Once you are on the bill’s page, click on the tab entitled “Hearings”, identify the hearing, and click the link on the right where it says, “Submit Testimony”. Just follow the instructions after that. Note that there will be a deadline to submit testimony for bills, often early in the morning on the hearing day (this will show once you click on the “Submit Testimony” link). If you have questions about any of this, prepare your testimony document and then call us at 701-355-6425 and we can walk you through it.
2.) If the bill hearing is over, but it still needs to be voted on in a chamber, you can contact your appropriate legislator(s) and give them feedback. If you do not know who your legislators are or how to contact them, click here and then go to the top right corner and click on “Find my legislator.” Type your house number and zip code into the boxes and click the search button. From there, you should be able to find your Senator and Representatives and all their contact information such as phone numbers and email addresses.
3.) If the bill has passed both chambers and has been sent to Gov. Armstrong, you can contact the Governor via this link and provide input on the bill. Contact Governor Armstrong
Please remember to be respectful in all communications to our legislators and the Governor, and feel free to contact us with any legislative questions.
Here is a map of the Capitol, so you can find the indicated rooms. Please let us know if you have any questions.
Weekly Legislative Update #4
We want to provide you with our most recent update on what happened at the Capitol this past week, each bill’s current status, and what to expect next week. As mentioned before, if you ever have questions about a particular bill, feel free to email us at mark@ndfamilyalliance.org or call 701-355-6425.
Last Week
Remember when I said this week would be the busiest of the session? Well, I was right, but thanks to your support and prayers, we made it through. We testified on a total of 18 bills Mon-Wed of this past week, which was even higher than my initial estimate of 15, and meant that sometimes we were running to our next hearing. In spite of this schedule, we made it everywhere we needed to be and testified on your behalf when and where it needed to happen!
This past week was filled with a lot of time working on a couple of high-profile life bills. We also had a chance to have our trafficking education bill heard in the Senate Education Committee. We had a gentleman testify who has worked with trafficked women and girls for years. His stories were tragic and underscored the need for student education about this horrific crime.
The balance of this week’s bills focused on pornography, gambling, and a number of educational choice bills. In the process, a couple of us managed to get sick and I lost my voice. While Ruth wasn’t terribly sad that she didn’t have to listen to me talk politics all the time, I thankfully had enough voice left to testify on the bills assigned to me.
Next Week
Thankfully, next week should be a bit slower, with probably 9 bills requiring our testimony. These range from subjects such as explicit materials/pornography to requiring intelligent design and the history of the holocaust being taught in schools. Additionally, bills that we’ve already testified on will be coming up for floor votes, so please watch for our alerts. There are sometimes just a few hours between when we find out about a floor vote and it actually happens, so please respond as soon as you can. We know you all have busy lives, but reaching out to legislators as a citizen is something only you can do to defend your values. It only takes a few minutes, definitely makes a difference, and we deeply appreciate it.
Current Status
Each bill’s most recent status and future actions are shown in the following table. We only show “alive” bills in this table (i.e., those that have not been defeated in a chamber, not combined with another bill, etc.), since those are the ones on which you can still take some action. NOTE THAT THE STATUS OF EACH BILL CAN CHANGE MULTIPLE TIMES, IN EVEN A SINGLE DAY.
To double-check the most current status of any bill, you can go to this page, type the bill number into the upper right box (just need the number, not the HB or SB), and click the search button. Once you are on the bill’s page, click on the tab entitled “Actions”. This will indicate where the bill is in the process.
How to Take Action
1.) If a bill hearing has been scheduled, but not yet held, the table shows the date, time, and location of the hearing. If you want to testify, you need to write your comments about the bill into a PDF or txt file. This can be a paragraph or longer, but keep to the point. Once that is written, you can go to this page, type the bill number into the upper right box (just need the number, not the HB or SB), and click the search button. Once you are on the bill’s page, click on the tab entitled “Hearings”, identify the hearing, and click the link on the right where it says, “Submit Testimony”. Just follow the instructions after that. Note that there will be a deadline to submit testimony for bills, often early in the morning on the hearing day (this will show once you click on the “Submit Testimony” link). If you have questions about any of this, prepare your testimony document and then call us at 701-355-6425 and we can walk you through it.
2.) If the bill hearing is over, but it still needs to be voted on in a chamber, you can contact your appropriate legislator(s) and give them feedback. If you do not know who your legislators are or how to contact them, click here and then go to the top right corner and click on “Find my legislator.” Type your house number and zip code into the boxes and click the search button. From there, you should be able to find your Senator and Representatives and all their contact information such as phone numbers and email addresses.
3.) If the bill has passed both chambers and has been sent to Gov. Armstrong, you can contact the Governor via this link and provide input on the bill. Contact Governor Armstrong
Please remember to be respectful in all communications to our legislators and the Governor, and feel free to contact us with any legislative questions.
Here is a map of the Capitol, so you can find the indicated rooms. Please let us know if you have any questions.
Weekly Legislative Update #3
We want to provide you with our most recent update on what happened at the Capitol this past week, each bill’s current status, and what to expect next week. As mentioned before, if you ever have questions about a particular bill, feel free to email us at mark@ndfamilyalliance.org or call 701-355-6425.
Last Week
Last week was another busy time for us, testifying on a total of 9 bills. One of them was SB 2220, our bill related to additional training for law enforcement to deal with cases of human trafficking. Unfortunately, it came out of the Senate Judiciary Committee with a 6-1 “DO NOT PASS” recommendation, and the Senate floor voted along the same lines, defeating the bill with a 10-36 vote. We were obviously disappointed with the results, but other human trafficking bills are still in play and doing better. On that side of things, HB 1361, the bill to establish mandatory minimum sentences for human traffickers, passed the House by a wide margin of 70-23, so we were very pleased with that result.
Last week we also testified on bills concerning transgender restrooms, the relinquishment of adoptive parents’ rights, free speech, parental rights in education, oversight of charitable gaming, and more. We are starting to see more education-related bills, and there are also quite a few gaming bills that will have hearings in the near future.
Next Week
Next week promises to possibly be the busiest of the session, certainly when it comes to hearings. On top of that, some key bills of the session will be heard. Over the course of Monday-Wednesday, we will be testifying on bills related to criminalizing mothers for abortions, human trafficking education for students, education savings accounts, and the Pledge of Allegiance. In all, we will be testifying on 13 bills in less than three days. Even with three lobbyists at the Capitol, this will be a stretch, so we appreciate your prayers. You will also very likely be getting more Call-to-Action emails. We really appreciate your engagement on these – the emails sent through our system definitely make a difference.
Current Status
Each bill’s most recent status and future actions are shown in the following table. We only show “alive” bills in this table (i.e., those that have not been defeated in a chamber, not combined with another bill, etc.), since those are the ones on which you can still take some action. NOTE THAT THE STATUS OF EACH BILL CAN CHANGE MULTIPLE TIMES, IN EVEN A SINGLE DAY.
To double-check the most current status of any bill, you can go to this page, type the bill number into the upper right box (just need the number, not the HB or SB), and click the search button. Once you are on the bill’s page, click on the tab entitled “Actions”. This will indicate where the bill is in the process.
How to Take Action
1.) If a bill hearing has been scheduled, but not yet held, the table shows the date, time, and location of the hearing. If you want to testify, you need to write your comments about the bill into a PDF or txt file. This can be a paragraph or longer, but keep to the point. Once that is written, you can go to this page, type the bill number into the upper right box (just need the number, not the HB or SB), and click the search button. Once you are on the bill’s page, click on the tab entitled “Hearings”, identify the hearing, and click the link on the right where it says, “Submit Testimony”. Just follow the instructions after that. Note that there will be a deadline to submit testimony for bills, often early in the morning on the hearing day (this will show once you click on the “Submit Testimony” link). If you have questions about any of this, prepare your testimony document and then call us at 701-355-6425 and we can walk you through it.
2.) If the bill hearing is over, but it still needs to be voted on in a chamber, you can contact your appropriate legislator(s) and give them feedback. If you do not know who your legislators are or how to contact them, click here and then go to the top right corner and click on “Find my legislator.” Type your house number and zip code into the boxes and click the search button. From there, you should be able to find your Senator and Representatives and all their contact information such as phone numbers and email addresses.
3.) If the bill has passed both chambers and has been sent to Gov. Armstrong, you can contact the Governor via this link and provide input on the bill. Contact Governor Armstrong
Please remember to be respectful in all communications to our legislators and the Governor, and feel free to contact us with any legislative questions.
Here is a map of the Capitol, so you can find the indicated rooms. Please let us know if you have any questions.
Weekly Legislative Update #2
We want to provide you with our most recent update on what happened this past week at the Capitol, each bill’s current status, as well as what to expect next week. As mentioned before, if you ever have questions about a particular bill, feel free to email us at mark@ndfamilyalliance.org or call 701-355-6425.
Last Week
Over the first three days of this past week, we provided testimony on 15 bills! On top of that, we made appearances on two local TV shows and hosted our ND Pro-Life Conference. We are tired! But rest assured, that will not stop us from defending your values and representing you at the Capitol every day this session.
Most bills we’ve testified on to date are still in committee discussions, but a few of them moved to floor votes. SB 2167, a bill to require those convicted of sex crimes to pay fees for internet investigations, passed unanimously in the Senate. Similarly, SB 2043, a bill that would deny/revoke a teaching license for crimes against a child and sexual offenses, also passed unanimously in the Senate with a 47-0 vote. HCR 3002, which would have allowed for legalized sports betting to be put on the ballot, was defeated 24-70 on the House Floor! On the other side of things, the bill to institute Sunday closing laws (HB 1150) failed by a significant margin in the House.
Current Status
Each bill’s most recent status and future actions are shown in the following table. We only show “alive” bills in this table (i.e., those that have not been defeated in a chamber, not combined with another bill, etc.), since those are the ones on which you can still take some action. NOTE THAT THE STATUS OF EACH BILL CAN CHANGE MULTIPLE TIMES, IN EVEN A SINGLE DAY.
To double check the most current status of any bill, you can go to this page, type the bill number into the upper right box (just need the number, not the HB or SB), and click the search button. Once you are on the bill’s page, click on the tab entitled “Actions”. This will indicate where the bill is in the process.
How to Take Action
Find the bill in the following table and look at the “Possible Action to Take” column. Based on the next planned action, follow the appropriate step outlined below.
1.) If a bill hearing has been scheduled, but not yet held, the table shows the date, time, and location of the hearing. If you want to testify, you need to write your comments about the bill into a pdf or txt file. This can be a paragraph or longer, but keep to the point. Once that is written, you can go to this page, type the bill number into the upper right box (just need the number, not the HB or SB), and click the search button. Once you are on the bill’s page, click on the tab entitled “Hearings”, identify the hearing, and click the link on the right where it says, “Submit Testimony”. Just follow the instructions after that. Note that there will be a deadline to submit testimony for bills, often early in the morning on the hearing day (this will show once you click on the “Submit Testimony” link). If you have questions about any of this, prepare your testimony document and then call us at 701-355-6425 and we can walk you through it.
2.) If the bill hearing is over, but it still needs to be voted on in a chamber, you can contact your appropriate legislator(s) and give them feedback. If you do not know who your legislators are or how to contact them, click here and then go to the top right corner and click on “Find my legislator.” Type your house number and zip code into the boxes and click the search button. From there, you should be able to find your Senator and Representatives and all their contact information such as phone numbers and email addresses.
3.) If the bill has passed both chambers and has been sent to Gov. Armstrong, you can contact the Governor via this link and provide input on the bill. Contact Governor Armstrong
Please remember to be respectful in all communications to our legislators and the Governor, and feel free to contact us with any legislative questions.
Here is a map of the Capitol, so you can find the indicated rooms. Please let us know if you have any questions.