Committee amends House Bill 1038 to broaden UAV data language, advances bill; rejects several landlord-tenant measures and sends amended 988 funding bill to app

Chairman Bartlett opened the Industry and Business Committee’s continued work on House Bill 1038, saying the panel needed to move quickly on the FAA radar feed portion of the measure and to protect an emergency clause tied to that feed. He told members the bill also included a program appropriation and that members had circulated several amendment options meant to answer questions raised in prior hearings.

The committee adopted a short, staff-drafted amendment that removes the word “commercial” from a phrase in Section 1 that would require the department and test site to “implement an enterprise uncrewed aerial vehicle data management solution.” Chairman Bartlett said removing “commercial” was intended to avoid excluding participation by the North Dakota Information Technology division and to keep options open for how the state manages data from uncrewed aerial vehicles (UAVs).

Chairman Bartlett described the $11,000,000 in Section 1 as funding to stand up a state data-pathfinder program: “That $11,000,000 is being used for the development of that program. We'll get access to the data… but there's a lot of behind-the-scenes work, creating the security, some staffing. So that's where those dollars are gonna go.” He also confirmed the committee wanted Section 2 (the FAA radar/data feed) and Section 3 (an emergency clause) to move forward quickly.

After adopting the amendment (4-0, one member absent), the committee gave House Bill 1038 an amended, do-pass recommendation and re-referred the measure to the appropriations committee (4-0, one absent). The committee record shows the clerk announcing the aye votes by name during roll calls.

Votes at a glance

- House Bill 1038 (as amended): Amendment adopted (motion to strike “commercial” in the phrase describing the data-management solution). Amendment vote: 4 ayes, 0 nays, 1 absent. Committee recommendation: do pass as amended and re-refer to Appropriations. Vote: 4 ayes, 0 nays, 1 absent. Movers: amendment moved by Senator Baim and seconded; bill do-pass moved by Senator Klein and seconded (recorded in the transcript).

- Senate Bill 22-37 (landlord-tenant disputes assigned to Labor Commissioner): Committee issued a do-not-pass recommendation (motion by Senator Klein). Vote: 4 ayes (do-not-pass), 0 nays, 1 absent.

- Senate Bill 22-36 (late fee limit on rent payments): Committee issued a do-not-pass recommendation. Vote: 4 ayes (do-not-pass), 0 nays, 1 absent.

- Senate Bill 22-35 (priority of payments under rental agreement): Committee issued a do-not-pass recommendation. Vote: 4 ayes (do-not-pass), 0 nays, 1 absent.

- Senate Bill 2200 (988 / communications funding): The committee adopted an amendment removing references to an assessed communications fee and replacing that proposal with a one-time appropriation of $500,000 to support access costs. The amendment passed on voice/roll call (4-0, one absent). The committee then recommended a do-pass on SB 2200 as amended and re-referred it to Appropriations (4-0, one absent).

What the votes mean

- House Bill 1038: The committee’s amendment narrows a phrasing in Section 1 so a state “enterprise uncrewed aerial vehicle data management solution” is required but no longer labeled expressly “commercial,” language the sponsor and members said could unintentionally exclude technical participation by state IT resources. The committee also retained Section 2 (FAA radar/data feed access) and the bill’s emergency clause; the committee chair and several senators described Section 2 and the emergency clause as time-sensitive.

- Tenant-related measures: Committee members said testimony and agency concerns left open operational and resourcing questions (for example, whether an agency would need additional staff to take on landlord-tenant dispute resolution). On that basis the committee issued do-not-pass recommendations on the listed landlord-tenant bills.

- SB 2200 (988/communications): Members expressed concern about placing a recurring communications fee on all phone bills and instead amended the bill to strike fee language and provide a $500,000 appropriation to reimburse access costs. The committee moved the amended bill to Appropriations for further consideration.

Context and next steps

The committee’s action advances the FAA data-feed and funding elements of HB 1038 for fuller budget consideration while leaving more substantive Section 1 policy choices to be reconciled later. The do-not-pass recommendations remove the listed tenant policy changes from this committee’s near-term path but do not prevent sponsors from pursuing amendments or new drafts. SB 2200’s change to an appropriation shifts the funding question to appropriators rather than to a utilities-style assessed fee that would appear on communications bills.

Ending

The chair said the committee wanted to keep conversations open while moving time-sensitive portions forward. All committee actions recorded during the session were unanimous (4-0) with one member recorded absent. The amended measures now proceed to the Finance/Appropriations process for further review and possible floor consideration.