North Dakota House approves package of bills, defeats minimum-wage constitutional amendment

The North Dakota House of Representatives on Feb. 25, 2025, passed a slate of measures including changes to criminal-justice procedures, child-support administration, and liability protections for crisis-line employees, and rejected a proposed constitutional amendment to raise the statewide minimum wage.

The measures advanced by the House included bills from the judiciary, health and human services, and industry committees and several requests from state agencies; committee chairs and bill sponsors presented summaries before each final roll-call vote.

Why it matters: The package affects multiple state systems — from procedures for the state crime laboratory and probation start dates to child-support case management and liability protections for 988/211/911 responders — and will change administrative practice, fees, or statutory definitions for affected agencies and populations.

Votes at a glance

- House Concurrent Resolution HCR 30 33 (study legislative staff): Adopted 67–23. The resolution directs legislative management to consider studying whether and how to provide personal legislative staff to legislators to preserve institutional knowledge after term limits. Representative Moshenbacher summarized the committee recommendation and argued staff could “do some of the research that will help legislators make the important decisions.”

- House Concurrent Resolution HCR 30 32 (minimum wage constitutional amendment): Failed 11–79. The measure would have amended the state constitution to raise the minimum wage from $7.25 to $9.25 per hour, include automatic CPI adjustments and place the question on the ballot. Representative Ausley presented the committee’s “do not pass” recommendation; Representative Hager urged a green vote, saying the increase would help workers.

- Senate Bill 2050 (state crime lab director employment status): Passed 87–3. The bill removes language that the state crime lab director “serves at the pleasure of the attorney…