North Dakota House approves K-12 transportation formula, historical society budget and several bills

Bismarck — The North Dakota House of Representatives on April 28, 2025, approved a group of conference committee reports and final bills that included changes to K‑12 transportation funding, the State Historical Society budget and new standards and oversight related to water wells.

The most consequential votes for this session day were: House Bill 12 14 (K‑12 transportation funding formula) passed 86‑5; House Bill 10 18 (State Historical Society appropriation) passed 64‑27 with the emergency clause; Senate Bill 23 08 (well‑drilling and related boards) passed 78‑12; Senate Bill 21 88 (Clean Sustainable Energy Authority funding) passed 65‑26; and Senate Bill 20 10 (Council on the Arts appropriation allowing use of endowment interest) passed 61‑30.

The transportation bill Representative Richter, sponsor of House Bill 12 14, described the measure as a new funding formula for school‑district transportation and said the conference committee added a hold‑harmless clause for the next biennium to prevent districts from losing funding. The bill passed the House 86‑5. The House clerk recorded the final tally and declared House Bill 12 14 passed.

State Historical Society budget and NAGPRA positions The House adopted the conference committee report for House Bill 10 18, the appropriation for the State Historical Society, by voice motion and later approved the engrossed bill on final passage 64‑27; the emergency clause also carried. Representative Lausser, bill carrier, summarized multiple adjustments the committee made to align house and senate positions, including a $5,000,000 reduction in one military gallery line and other interchamber changes. Representative Hansen explained two added full‑time equivalent positions: one “exhibit exhibition preparatory position” for museum exhibits across sites and a tribal liaison role tied to federal repatriation requirements. As Hansen said on the House floor, “This is related to a federal law called NAGPRA, the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act.” He said the museum’s inventory includes roughly 11,000,000 objects and noted a five‑year deadline for the inventory work.

Well‑drilling standards and advisory board Representative Bail moved adoption of the conference committee report on Senate Bill 23 08, which the committee said reinstates an advisory board to oversee water‑well drillers. Bail summarized committee work and asked members to adopt the report; the motion carried and the House later approved the engrossed bill on final passage, 78‑12. On the floor, Bail said, “Primarily, the main change is shown in section 5 where we reinstated an advisory board to oversee the water well drillers.” The engrossed bill text as announced on the floor indicates it creates new sections in multiple chapters of the North Dakota Century Code related to standards for well drilling, pump installation, geothermal drilling and related boards and committees.

Clean Sustainable Energy Authority funding Representative Bosch explained the conference committee changes to Senate Bill 21 88 and said the committee reduced a grant line by $5,000,000 in section 3 as part of closing the session and finding budget savings. The House adopted the conference committee report and later passed the bill on final vote, 65‑26.

Council on the Arts endowment interest Representative Murphy reported that conference language for Senate Bill 20 10 added enabling language in section 3 to allow the Council on the Arts to spend interest that has accumulated on its endowment. The House adopted the conference committee report and passed the bill on final vote, 61‑30.

Votes at a glance - Senate Bill 23 08 — conference committee report adopted; final passage 78 yeas, 12 nays. Outcome: approved. - House Bill 10 18 — conference committee report adopted; final passage 64 yeas, 27 nays; emergency clause carried. Outcome: approved (emergency clause). - Senate Bill 21 88 — conference committee report adopted; final passage 65 yeas, 26 nays. Outcome: approved. - Senate Bill 20 10 — conference committee report adopted; final passage 61 yeas, 30 nays. Outcome: approved. - House Bill 12 14 — conference committee report adopted; final passage 86 yeas, 5 nays. Outcome: approved.

Other business and scheduling After the final votes, members announced numerous conference‑committee meeting times and locations across the Capitol. The House recessed at the call of the speaker to reconvene later.

Ending The House recorded passage of the listed measures and will proceed with follow‑up committee work; several conference committees scheduled additional meetings later the same day to resolve outstanding items.