Conference committee advances rewrite of North Dakota campaign finance law, schedules further work

A joint conference committee met to reconcile House and Senate versions of House Bill 1377, a comprehensive rewrite of North Dakota’s campaign finance statutes that would reorganize Century Code sections, change reporting thresholds and dates, and fund a new online filing system.

The committee heard a briefing from Senator Rohrs and Michael Howard, North Dakota secretary of state, who said the bill’s primary aim is to improve transparency and make filings easier for candidates and the public. "The goals of any bill that we pass number one is transparency," Senator Rohrs said. Secretary Howard described the current chapter as "a mishmash of edits through over the years" and said the bill mainly relocates existing language and adds implementation details for a new campaign finance system.

The bill would move campaign finance language within the Century Code, change the minimum itemization threshold from $200 to $2.50 (with a $100 threshold remaining for ballot-measure committees), and adopt a rolling balance approach so beginning and…