Summary — North Dakota HB 1406 (69th Legislative Assembly)
Status: Introduced Nov 19, 2024; referred to Industry, Business and Labor Committee; amendment adopted Jan 21, 2025. Second reading: failed to pass (yeas 32, nays 60).
Purpose
- To add a new section to chapter 54‑03 of the North Dakota Century Code limiting when executive branch agencies and the judicial branch may submit legislative bills prepared by those branches for introduction to the Legislative Assembly.
- The intent, as reflected in committee language, is to align the timing of agency- and judiciary‑prepared bills with the filing schedule used by legislators and to require advance notice of the applicable deadline.
Key provisions (as reported by committee)
- Prohibition on early submission: Executive branch agencies and the judicial branch may not submit a legislative bill prepared by them for introduction to the Legislative Assembly until the first legislative filing deadline for legislators.
- Notice requirement: The Legislative Council must provide notice of that filing deadline to executive branch agencies and the judicial branch in December of each even‑numbered year.
- Placement in code: The prohibition/notice requirement would appear as a new section in NDCC chapter 54‑03 (legislative procedures).
Who would be affected
- Executive branch agencies and their legislative drafting units — would be restricted from submitting agency‑prepared bills prior to the first legislator filing deadline.
- The judicial branch — similarly restricted from early submission of court‑prepared bills.
- Legislators and the Legislative Council — Legislative Council gains an express duty to notify agencies and the judiciary of filing deadlines; legislators’ filing schedule defines when agencies/judiciary may submit.
- Legislative process and scheduling — could reduce late or off‑cycle agency bills, but also affect the timing of agency or court proposals (including technical fixes and emergent requests).
Procedural/timeline notes
- The bill would have created a recurring notice obligation in December of even‑numbered years (i.e., prior to sessions in odd‑numbered years under North Dakota practice).
- HB 1406 did not become law: it failed on second reading (32–60).
- Because it failed, no change to NDCC chapter 54‑03 was enacted.
Context and considerations
- Supporters likely framed the measure as promoting parity between legislators and other branches and reducing last‑minute or late‑filed branch-sponsored bills.
- Opponents likely raised concerns about restricting the executive or judiciary’s ability to bring timely or necessary proposals (e.g., responses to emergent needs or technical corrections).
- The committee-adopted language is procedural and narrow (timing and notice), not a substantive limitation on content; however, timing restrictions can have practical policy impacts.
Note: Multiple unrelated bills in other states also use the number “HB 1406”; this summary covers the North Dakota measure described above (new section to NDCC chapter 54‑03).
