North Dakota Senate confirms nominees and approves wide-ranging budget, energy and public-safety measures

BISMARCK, N.D. — The North Dakota Senate confirmed multiple governor nominees and approved a series of budget and policy bills during its floor session on Feb. 11, 2025.

The chamber voted to confirm a slate of executive appointments and adopted final passage on a number of appropriation bills and policy measures affecting agriculture research, aeronautics, environmental quality, veterans services and more. Most roll calls were unanimous or near-unanimous; several contested measures were decided by recorded votes.

Why it matters: The votes set biennial spending priorities for state agencies and shape policy on wildfire liability, energy objectives and juvenile-court procedures. Several bills include one-time funding or new reporting requirements that will affect agency operations and grant programs across North Dakota.

What the Senate approved and key outcomes

Votes at a glance - Senate Bill 20 20 (NDSU Agricultural Experiment Station system budget): Passed, final tally 46 ayes, 0 nays, 1 absent. The bill includes salary and health-premium adjustments, funding for a veterinary toxicology resident position ($275,000), savings from removing 4.9 unfilled FTEs (about $1,190,607), $620,000 SIF for the Oaks Irrigation Research Site, $950,000 for a seed-conditioning plant plus authority to raise $1,650,000 in local funds, and other capital and equipment line items. The Senate adopted multiple amendments before final passage.

- Senate Bill 2,006 (North Dakota Aeronautics Commission budget): Passed, final tally 46 ayes, 0 nays, 1 absent. The bill continues the commission's special-fund budget, includes a one-time $120,000,000 SIF allocation referenced in the amendment context for three large airport projects (Fargo, Grand Forks, Dickinson), and funds airport grants and runway projects. No new FTEs were added; authorized staff remains up to 7.

- Senate Bill 2,007 (Veterans Home appropriation and related provisions): Passed, final tally 46 ayes, 0 nays, 1 absent. Amendments add pay increases for nursing staff, $50,000 for marketing to address empty beds, and a legislative interim study on options for facility use and obligations tied to federal construction funding (committee cited $11–$15 million remaining obligation before use-change is allowed).

- Senate Bill 20 24 (Department of Environmental Quality budget; inspection-fee statute amendment): Passed, final tally 46 ayes, 0 nays, 1 absent. The budget increases salary and operating lines, funds one-time laboratory moves and equipment (approximately $5,500,000 in one-time items), expands inspection capacity (including hiring a chemist for PFAS testing), and moves a fuel-inspection fee from the general fund into a dedicated petroleum-testing program. The chamber also adopted an amendment incorporating Senate Bill 21 79 provisions into the DEQ budget; a separate stand-alone SB 21 79 later failed on the floor as duplicative.

- Senate Bill 21 79 (stand-alone petroleum testing fee): Failed on final passage, final tally 0 ayes, 46 nays, 1 absent. Senators noted the DEQ budget had already addressed the same funding mechanism.

- Senate Bill 23 59 (renewable electricity and recycled energy credits; repeals obsolete renewable objective): Passed, final tally 46 ayes, 0 nays, 1 absent. The bill updates qualifications and reporting for renewable/recycled energy credits and removes an outdated state renewable objective the sponsor said had been used in legal proceedings to shift transmission costs.

- Senate Bill 23 40 (legislative study of fire service operational and response needs): Passed, final tally 46 ayes, 0 nays, 1 absent. The bill directs a legislative-management study to assess training, coordination, funding and regional response options for fire services, driven in part by recent wildfire response needs.

- Senate Bill 23 39 (wildfire mitigation plans and limitation on strict liability for utilities): Passed, final tally 45 ayes, 1 nay, 1 absent. The bill codifies the existing common-law negligence standard (limiting strict liability in wildfire suits) and allows utilities to file wildfire mitigation plans with regulators and post them publicly.

- Senate Bill 22 23 (adoption of the dietitian licensure compact): Passed, final tally 43 ayes, 3 nays, 1 absent.

- Senate Bill 2,004 (Ethics Commission appropriation): Passed, final tally 25 ayes, 21 nays, 1 absent. The budget adds a case-management system and an additional FTE for education and outreach.

- Senate Bill 23 86 (cottage food interstate sales change): Passed, final tally 44 ayes, 2 nays, 1 absent. The change allows interstate sales by cottage food operators by amending the cottage food statute.

- Senate Bill 20 37 (juvenile-court reforms including collateral consequences and competency procedures): Passed, final tally 46 ayes, 0 nays, 1 absent. The bill consolidates and updates juvenile collateral consequences, clarifies fitness/competency procedures, and includes an appropriation for evaluation services (fiscal note ~ $300,000).

- Senate Bill 20 33 (distressed ambulance service program): Passed, final tally 45 ayes, 1 nay, 1 absent. The act creates a distressed-ambulance program in the Department of Health and Human Services with a $150,000 appropriation to hire a consultant to design the program.

- Senate Bill 22 60 (coordinate system zones update): Passed, final tally 46 ayes, 0 nays, 1 absent. The bill adopts the 2022 datum and expands the state coordinate zones from 2 to 16 to reduce surveying error.

- Senate Bill 23 91 (designate Stutsman County Road 62 as state highway): Failed, final tally 3 ayes, 93 nays, 1 absent (reporting in the transcript shows the bill was lost).

Confirmations and nominations - Jamie MacLean, Gaming Commission: Confirmed, final tally 46 ayes, 0 nays, 1 absent. - Timothy Karski, Department of Securities director: Confirmed, final tally 46 ayes, 0 nays, 1 absent. - Hope Hogan, Director, Office of Administrative Hearings: Confirmed, final tally 46 ayes, 0 nays, 1 absent. - Alisa Cruz, Commissioner, Department of Financial Institutions: Confirmed, final tally 46 ayes, 0 nays, 0 absent not voting.

Discussion and next steps Senators debated individual line items and amendments on multiple budgets on the floor before final votes. Committee sponsors described where amendments addressed agency requests (for example, clarifying paratransit in a transportation grant bill and adjusting appropriations). Several bills carried reporting or sunset requirements, including the Life Skills and Transition Center pilot (SB 21 12) which passed with a two-year sunset and semiannual reporting. The body adjourned to reconvene at 1 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 12, 2025.

Sources and attributions Descriptions above are drawn from floor explanations and roll-call tallies read into the record by the secretary and by senators who presented bills on the floor.