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North Dakota Senate rejects expanded organizational-session rules, approves broad package of bills including consumer protections for crypto kiosks
Summary
The Senate voted down a bill that would have written a prescriptive organizational-session schedule into statute and approved a series of bills on topics from virtual-currency kiosk consumer protections to AI disclosure for political advertising. Vote tallies and key provisions are listed.
BISMARCK, N.D. — The North Dakota Senate rejected a proposal to add detailed organizational-session requirements to state law but approved a slate of measures on Wednesday covering employee leave, traffic and emergency-vehicle lighting, cryptocurrency kiosks, artificial-intelligence disclosures in political ads, and other items.
The most contested measure, House Bill 1257, would have required a prescriptive set of orientation and training activities during the legislative organizational session. After floor debate in which senators argued the matter belonged in internal rules rather than in statute, the Senate voted 10 ayes, 36 nays, 1 absent; the bill failed.
Why it matters: Supporters said the bill would give newly elected legislators more time and structured instruction to perform duties effectively; opponents said legislative leadership can and should set orientation by rule so it can adapt over time. The bill carried a $9,407 fiscal note, which sponsors said was modest but illustrative of why prescriptive program details do not belong in the Century Code.
Votes at a glance (final tallies and short summaries)
- House Bill 15-99 — shared leave cleanup: Passed 45 ayes, 1 nay, 1 absent. Amends North Dakota Century Code section 54-06-14.7 to remove duplicative language and clarifies physician verification for shared leave; applies retroactively to July 1, 2023.
- House Bill 13-16 — temporary restricted licenses: Passed 45 ayes, 1 nay, 1 absent. Adds an additional fee for restricted-license holders with another moving offense and requires revocation after three moving violations following issuance of a temporary restricted license.
- House Bill 12-41 — authorized emergency vehicle lamps: Passed 46 ayes, 0 nays, 1 absent. Allows purple lights for funeral processions and adds limited blue-light authorization for tow operators at scenes; bill originated from funeral-home and towing-industry requests.
- House Bill 12-57 — organizational session requirements: Lost 10 ayes, 36 nays, 1 absent. Would have specified…
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