Major policy and fiscal questions are expected to make the second half of the legislative session more complex than the first half, which ended Thursday.
House Appropriations Committee Chairman Jeff Delzer, R-Underwood, has seen a reduction in the introduction of policy bills because most understand the Legislature must work within tight budget constraints.
An updated revenue forecast is set for a March 9 release, and it’ll provide a clearer picture as to how much deeper cuts will be required.
Proposed amendments to the Public Employees Retirement System budget would change the PERS board’s makeup will be a major issue -- one that had been unresolved during the previous legislative session and required lawmakers to return for a special three-day summer session.
“I think there’s pretty good support for a number of those changes,” Delzer said. “(But) that’ll take some compromise.”
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Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman Ray Holmberg, R-Grand Forks, saw the higher education budget weather a smooth process.
“Most of the agencies were up front and most were very supportive of the governor’s budget,” Holmberg said.
House Human Services Committee Chairman Robin Weisz, R-Hurdsfield, said his committee has been seeing a fewer number of bills introduced.
A failed bill to ban discrimination based on sexual orientation was among those that drew the most headlines.
“The second half, we’ll have medical marijuana,” Weisz said of Senate Bill 2344. “We need to make sure it’s available. It’s got to be as safe as possible.”
Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Kelly Armstrong, R-Dickinson, said he’s expecting lengthy debate over criminal justice reform, firearms and any Dakota Access Pipeline protest-bills during the remainder of the legislative session. He indicated that attitudes on the part of law enforcement and the public have changed on criminal justice reform and tough sentencing laws.
“We’ve got to look at making criminal justice more efficient,” Armstrong said.
House Energy and Natural Resources Committee Chairman Todd Porter, R-Mandan, said he expects to see lengthy debate over a proposal to create an environmental department with a cabinet-level department head.
“That’s kind of a new direction for the state to look at,” Porter said.
Senate Finance and Taxation Committee Chairman Dwight Cook, R-Mandan, said the proposed state takeover of funding of county social services funding was a highlight during the first half of the legislative session.
“One of the largest bills of the session but was very easy to do,” Cook said.
Senate Bill 2206 aims to eliminate the county cap of 20 mills in property taxes to be levied for such programming. It’s been sold as a way to provide permanent property tax relief by making a 12 percent state-paid property tax credit passed in recent sessions permanent.
Cook’s counterpart in the other chamber, House Finance and Taxation Committee Chairman Craig Headland, R-Montpelier, said there are some concerns with SB2206 the chamber will want to consider.
“I’m pretty sure we’ll make some significant changes,” Headland said.
The primary concern is over the $80 million of the total cost for the biennium to hold each county harmless.
Headland said hold-harmless funding, such as in a similar K-12 formula passed in 2013, tends not to go away. The House may want to create a mechanism to phase out the hold harmless or eliminate it.
