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 general,” recategorizing the director as a classified employee with the same protections as other division directors in the attorney general’s office. Representative Schneider noted the change was requested by the attorney general’s office.

- Senate Bill 2053 (bar exam fee increase): Passed 83–7. The bill raises the North Dakota bar-exam fee from $150 to $200 to cover administration costs; sponsors said North Dakota will still have a lower fee than most jurisdictions.

- Senate Bill 2056 (tribal arrest warrant waiver of appearance): Passed 88–1. The bill allows a person arrested on a tribal warrant to waive an appearance before a judge and consent to transfer of custody to the tribal authority by executing a written waiver in the presence of an officer.

- Senate Bill 2067 (commencement of supervised probation): Passed 89–0. The bill clarifies that probation commences after release from incarceration and that alternatives to incarceration (house arrest, electronic monitoring, inpatient treatment) may count toward the commencement date.

- Senate Bill 2077 (criminal responsibility proceedings post-verdict): Passed 89–0. The bill amends procedures for individuals committed for examination after a finding of not guilty by reason of lack of criminal responsibility, including a mechanism for the director of a treatment facility to petition for transfer to a less restrictive setting when appropriate.

- Senate Bill 2083 (sensitive-image exemption from public records): Passed 90–0. The bill defines “sensitive image” (exposed intimate part, gruesome injury, deceased individual, or a minor) and makes such images exempt from public access unless otherwise provided by law.

- Senate Bill 2145 (liability protections for 988/211/911 employees): Passed (recorded as passed; final tally recorded as unanimous). The bill provides immunity to employees of crisis and referral helplines (988, 211) and 911 while performing their duties; FirstLink testimony supported the protections.

- Senate Bill 2080 (child-support administration changes): Passed 74–16. The bill, requested by the Department of Health and Human Services, made multiple statutory updates to case management, clarified when child-support obligations stop (including certain high-school situations), allowed declarations in place of affidavits to enable remote filings, removed an obsolete regional-office requirement, and struck an unused public-shaming provision.

- Senate Bill 2043 (teaching-license revocation for crimes against a child): Passed 89–0. The bill allows denial or immediate revocation of a teaching license upon a plea or finding of guilt for qualifying crimes, including federal convictions, so the Education Standards and Practices Board can act consistently regardless of jurisdiction.

- Senate Concurrent Resolution SCR 40 21 (urge ending DBE program): Passed 77–12. The resolution urges federal and state leaders to end the federal Disadvantaged Business Enterprise (DBE) program; proponents argued it increases project costs and complicates procurements, while opponents said it would roll back decades of efforts to address discrimination and expand contracting opportunity.

- Senate Bill 2046 (one-time premium credit eligibility for veterans/survivors; WSI electronic decision delivery): Passed 88–0. The Workforce Safety and Insurance bill extends a one-time premium credit to surviving spouses of veterans and authorizes WSI to issue notices of decision electronically.

Discussion highlights and selected quotes

Representative Moshenbacher (finance and taxation committee) said HCR 30 33 would help the Legislature prepare for turnover under term limits and “have some staff that can do some of the research that will help legislators make the important decisions.”

On HCR 30 32 (minimum wage), Representative Hager said raising the wage to $9.25 “is not gonna … break any employer out there” and called for letting voters decide by ballot if the Legislature will not act. Representative Ausley, presenting the industry, business and labor committee recommendation, argued the committee preferred any minimum-wage change to be statutory rather than constitutional and recommended a “do not pass.”

Representative Schneider, speaking about Senate Bill 2050, summarized the change to the crime lab director’s status: “all this bill does is take out the words that the director, quote, serves at the pleasure of the attorney general, close quote.”

On SCR 40 21 (DBE), Representative Neri said the resolution was “a call to restore fairness” and criticized the DBE program; Representative Davis urged members to reject the resolution, saying the DBE program addresses documented discrimination and expands opportunity.

What the votes do not do

- The failed HCR 30 32 would have placed a constitutional amendment on the ballot; its failure in the House stops that procedural route. It does not change statutory minimum-wage law.

- Where bills changed administrative practice (for example, child-support procedures or classifying the crime-lab director), the measures generally direct agencies to alter internal procedures or update statutory language; in many cases, agencies had requested the changes.

Meeting context and next steps

Roll call earlier in the session showed 90 members present and 3 absent. Several bills originated at the request of state agencies (Attorney General, Department of Health and Human Services, Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, Workforce Safety and Insurance, Highway Patrol, and the Supreme Court). Many enacted statutory changes will go into effect according to the bill language or standard effective-date rules in state law; measures requiring voter approval (a constitutional amendment) must follow separate ballot procedures (the failed HCR would have placed the question on a ballot had it passed).

The House adjourned and will reconvene as scheduled by the speaker.