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House reopens House Bill 1,300 and ultimately refuses to concur with Senate amendment, sending bill back to chair
Summary
After multiple procedural reconsideration votes, the North Dakota House voted to "do not concur" on Senate amendments to House Bill 1,300 (term limits calculation) and returned the bill to the chair for further action.
House members debated procedural options and the substance of House Bill 1,300 — a measure addressing how prior service counts toward legislative term limits — on April 8. After a series of verification votes and floor exchanges, the House adopted a motion of "do not concur" on the Senate amendment and returned the bill to the chair.
Representative Martin moved to reconsider the House's earlier action on HB 1,300 and explained the original House language intended to clarify how partial terms served by members elected or appointed prior to the 2022 election would count under the term-limits measure. He said a Senate amendment changed the operative date from Nov. 7, 2022 (the day before the 2022 election) to Jan. 1, 2023 (the effective date of the term limits law), which he said would effectively extend allowable service for some members from eight to 12 years. Martin asked colleagues to reconsider so the House could pursue conference committee resolution.
The House conducted verification votes as required by rules. A verification vote on Martin's motion to reconsider showed 58 yea, 35 nay and the motion passed. Later, Representative Koppelman moved to reconsider the House's concurrence with the Senate amendment; a verification vote on that motion passed 62 yea, 31 nay. The House subsequently voted on the concurrence motion (do concur) and the motion failed.
On the eighth order, Representative Bosch moved a "do not concur" on House Bill 1,300. The motion carried and the bill was returned to the chair's desk for further action, including the possibility of conference committee consideration.
Floor discussion centered on whether the Senate change to the date altered the intent of the voters who approved term limits and whether the House should pursue conference committee negotiations. Representative Shower, supporting conference committee action, urged a red vote to send the matter to conference committee. Representative Koppelman explained the procedural path to undo concurrence and seek conference.
The transcript records the key verification tallies and the final procedural outcome of returning the bill to the chair; there was no final passage of substantive language during this floor sequence.
