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Committee backs bill to merge Securities Department into Insurance Department
Summary
The House Appropriations Committee gave Senate Bill 2,214 a due-pass recommendation after hearing sponsors argue the move would strengthen enforcement capacity and provide succession depth amid financial-fraud investigations.
Chairman Jonathan Warrie, presenting Senate Bill 2,214, told the House Appropriations Committee the measure would merge the state Securities Department into the Department of Insurance. “What this bill does is it merges the securities department into the insurance department,” Warrie said, noting the change was recommended by a legislative policy group and requested by Governor Armstrong.
The bill’s supporters said the primary rationale is enforcement capacity. Warrie and other supporters said the Department of Insurance has deeper enforcement staff and legal capacity than the smaller Securities Department; that depth would help investigate and prosecute investment fraud that has harmed North Dakotans. Warrie cited examples of investment schemes and said the insurance agency has had success in restitution under prior legislation, referencing House Bill 1088 as a restorative measure the insurance department used effectively.
Tim Karski, securities commissioner, told the committee the agencies are working on how to combine budgets and staff if the bill advances. He said the agencies would integrate employees and review appropriate staffing levels if the merger proceeds.
Committee members pressed about details the policy committee discussed: the fee schedule the Securities Department recently adjusted, whether existing fee changes would carry forward, and what would happen to the securities commissioner role. Warrie said the securities commissioner would continue with reporting that would flow to the insurance commissioner, rather than simply dissolving oversight.
The appropriations committee voted to give the bill a due-pass recommendation. The committee later returned the bill to adopt technical language adding an emergency clause to make implementation effective earlier; that amendment was adopted and the committee approved a final due-pass motion on the amended bill.
Why it matters: The merger would move enforcement and regulatory oversight for securities into the larger insurance bureaucracy. Proponents say it strengthens the state’s ability to pursue fraud, while members pressed for clarity on fee schedules, staffing and budget alignment during implementation.
What’s next: The bill will go to the full floor; if enacted there will be further conference-level work on how to combine the two agencies’ budgets and staffing.
