2001 North Dakota Legislative Council Bill and Resolution Summaries
House
House Bill No. 1027 - Administrative Rules Committee Consideration Notice. This bill requires agencies to adopt a procedure to notify interested parties when rules of the agency will be considered by the Administrative Rules Committee. (Administrative Rules Committee)
House Bill No. 1028 - Emergency Rule Status Approval. This bill requires agencies to obtain Administrative Rules Committee approval of emergency status of rules that have been declared effective on an emergency basis. (Administrative Rules Committee)
House Bill No. 1029 - Rule Comment Filing. This bill requires agencies to file comments received on rules with the Legislative Council when the rules are filed for publication. (Administrative Rules Committee)
House Bill No. 1030 - Administrative Agencies Practice Act Revision. This bill revises the Administrative Agencies Practice Act to reorganize the provisions on administrative rulemaking without substantive change. (Administrative Rules Committee)
House Bill No. 1031 - Park District Mill Levy Consolidation. This bill consolidates the park district mill levies for recreation, pest control, insurance, forestry, facilities, handicapped programming, and health insurance with the park district general fund levy. (Advisory Commission on Intergovernmental Relations)
House Bill No. 1032 - Advisory Commission on Intergovernmental Relations Membership. This bill increases the Advisory Commission on Intergovernmental Relations membership from 11 members to 12 members by adding a representative of the North Dakota School Boards Association. (Advisory Commission on Intergovernmental Relations)
House Bill No. 1033 - Antitrust Investigation Procedure by Attorney General. This bill removes the requirement of district court approval before the Attorney General investigates antitrust violations. (Agriculture Committee)
House Bill No. 1034 - Antitrust Revolving Fund. This bill appropriates $500,000 for a revolving fund for the investigation of antitrust violations. (Agriculture Committee)
House Bill No. 1035 - Telecommuting Incentive Program. This bill establishes a state employee telecommuting incentive program that provides incentives for state agencies to locate state employees away from a cental office setting. (Budget Committee on Government Services)
House Bill No. 1036 - Medicaid Eligibility Review Period. This bill changes the income review period from monthly to quarterly for determining Medicaid eligibility for children and pregnant women. (Budget Committee on Health Care)
House Bill No. 1037 - Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) Program Administration. This bill exempts parents who are victims of domestic violence from the 60-month TANF benefit limit and from the TANF work activity requirements. (Budget Committee on Human Services)
House Bill No. 1038 - North Dakota Vision Services - School for the Blind. This bill changes the name of the School for the Blind to North Dakota Vision Services - School for the Blind; removes outdated statutory provisions relating to the school; and provides that the school is a statewide service, resource, and referral center for all residents of this state who are blind or have a visual impairment. (Budget Committee on Institutional Services)
House Bill No. 1039 - State Venture Capital Fund. This bill provides for a North Dakota Venture Capital Fund program under which a seven-member North Dakota Venture Capital Authority designates a for-profit investment fund for lending to and investing private moneys in seed and venture capital partnerships and provides for a one-time issuance of $5 million of state tax credits to the authority to offset losses under the program. (Commerce and Labor Committee)
House Bill No. 1040 - Entrepreneur Seed Fund. This bill establishes a North Dakota entrepreneur seed fund program under which a nine-member North Dakota entrepreneur seed fund board administers the fund, which is designed to be available to local entrepreneur seed fund applicants on a 500 percent local fund match basis to invest in North Dakota early-stage companies and small companies through equity or equity-type investments. The bill provides for a $3 million appropriation from the general fund to fund the program for the 2001-03 biennium. (Commerce and Labor Committee)
House Bill No. 1041 - Seed Capital Investment Tax Credit Requirements. This bill allows the seed capital tax credit to be claimed on the state income tax short form; lessens the requirements to be classified as a qualified business under the seed capital investment tax credit law; allows taxpayers to claim the seed capital investment tax credit for any amount up to $50,000; allows a seed capital investment tax credit to exceed 50 percent of the taxpayers' tax liability; provides seed capital investment tax credits for investments in one qualified business may not exceed $250,000; decreases certain limitations on how a qualified business may use a seed capital investment; and increases the annual aggregate amount of seed capital investment tax credits from $250,000 to $500,000. (Commerce and Labor Committee)
House Bill No. 1042 - Venture Capital Corporation Incorporation Requirements. This bill decreases the financial requirements for venture capital corporations to incorporate in the state. (Commerce and Labor Committee)
House Bill No. 1043 - Student Loan Payment. This bill provides for the Bank of North Dakota to administer a student loan payment program available to graduates of eligible postsecondary educational institutions in the state who are residents of the state and are employed in target industries located in the state. The bill provides for a $2 million appropriation from the general fund to fund the program for the 2001-03 biennium. (Commerce and Labor Committee)
House Bill No. 1044 - Inmate Records. This bill provides for a new classification of inmate records--case history records--which are exempt from open records requirements; provides that medical, psychological, and social records are confidential; and provides that records with respect to the person's identity, location, criminal convictions, and projected date of release, except for the records of a person who is under protective management, are open records. (Criminal Justice Committee)
House Bill No. 1045 - NDCC Title 15 Revision. This bill rewrites those portions of Title 15 which relate to the Education Standards and Practices Board, superintendent and director dismissal, teacher dismissal, teacher employment contracts, teacher personnel issues, teacher qualifications, compulsory attendance, courses and curricula, kindergartens, home education, school finance, the state tuition fund, the payment of tuition, student transportation, open enrollment, special education, multidistrict special education units, boarding home care, child nutrition and food distribution programs, and school construction. (Education Services Committee)
House Bill No. 1046 - Title 15 Cross-Reference Reconciliation. This bill reconciles references to Title 15 found in other portions of the Century Code. (Education Services Committee)
House Bill No. 1047 - Challenged Voter Identification. This bill permits election board members and poll challengers to request identification from challenged voters in order to address voting eligibility concerns. (Judiciary Committee)
House Bill No. 1048 - Provisional Ballots. This bill provides a provisional ballot procedure for the ballots of challenged voters. (Judiciary Committee)
House Bill No. 1049 - Technical Corrections Act. This bill eliminates inaccurate or obsolete name and statutory references or superfluous language in the Century Code. (Judiciary Committee)
House Bill No. 1050 - Bill Delivery. This bill requires each bill not vetoed by the Governor to be filed with the Secretary of State within five legislative days after the bill has been delivered to the Governor and, if the Legislative Assembly is not in session, requires each bill delivered to the Governor to be filed with the Secretary of State within 15 days, Saturdays and Sundays excepted, after delivery of the bill to the Governor. (Legislative Management Committee)
House Bill No. 1051 - Farmers Equity Trust Fund. This bill establishes a farmers equity trust fund for use by the Agricultural Products Utilization Commission to acquire ownership interests in value-added agricultural projects or for loans to value-added agricultural projects. The bill provides income tax incentives for investors in the farmers equity trust fund. (Taxation Committee)
House Bill No. 1052 - Used Farm Machinery Sales and Use Tax Exemption. This bill provides a complete sales and use tax exemption for sales and use of used farm machinery, farm machinery repair parts, and used irrigation equipment used exclusively for agricultural purposes. The bill becomes effective July 1, 2001, upon expiration of the existing one and one-half percent sales and use tax rate for these items. (Taxation Committee)
House Concurrent Resolution No. 3001 - Point-of-Origin Grain Grading. This resolution urges Congress to provide for a consistent system of grain grading based upon point-of-origin grain grading. (Agriculture Committee)
House Concurrent Resolution No. 3002 - Title 15 Revision Study. This resolution proposes a Legislative Council study of the completed revision of those provisions of Title 15 that relate to elementary and secondary education. (Education Services Committee)
House Concurrent Resolution No. 3003 - Legislative Redistricting Study. This resolution provides for the Legislative Council to study and develop a legislative redistricting plan or plans for use in the 2002 primary election. (Legislative Management)
House Concurrent Resolution No. 3004 - Kyoto Protocol Opposition. This resolution urges Congress not to implement or allow implementation of the Kyoto Protocol because of the potentially disastrous impact on American agriculture. (Taxation Committee)
Senate
Senate Bill No. 2024 - City and County Public Employee Tobacco Education and Cessation Programs. This bill provides that cities and counties may use community health trust fund money to provide matching funds for city and county public employee tobacco education and cessation programs and provides that the community health trust fund be augmented by returning community health trust fund interest to the community health trust fund and by depositing water development trust fund interest in the community health trust fund. (Advisory Commission on Intergovernmental Relations)
Senate Bill No. 2025 - Deerproof Hay Yard Program. This bill provides for a deerproof hay yard program and prohibits the Game and Fish Department from discriminating against or penalizing a land owner in the deerproof hay yard program for entering a hunting for compensation agreement. (Agriculture Committee)
Senate Bill No. 2026 - Information Technology Plans. This bill requires information technology plans prepared by state agencies to address the feasibility of telecommuting by selected employees. (Budget Committee on Government Services)
Senate Bill No. 2027 - Motor Vehicle Branch Office Pilot Project. This bill requires the Department of Transportation to establish a pilot project office site in three counties, with the county treasurer administering the motor vehicle registration programs. (Budget Committee on Government Services)
Senate Bill No. 2028 - Community Health Trust Fund Earnings. This bill provides that the interest earned on moneys in the community health trust fund must remain in that fund to be appropriated by the Legislative Assembly for public health programs rather than be transferred to the general fund. (Budget Committee on Health Care)
Senate Bill No. 2029 - Water Development Trust Fund Earnings. This bill provides that the interest earned on moneys in the water development trust fund must be transferred to the community health trust fund to be appropriated by the Legislative Assembly for public health programs rather than be transferred to the general fund. (Budget Committee on Health Care)
Senate Bill No. 2030 - Abstinence Education Grant Program. This bill appropriates $150,000 from the general fund to the State Department of Health for state support of the sexual abstinence education grant program. (Budget Committee on Human Services)
Senate Bill No. 2031 - State Grant Preapproval Process. This bill requires state agencies, except institutions of higher education, to receive approval from the Emergency Commission before submitting an application for a grant that has not been approved or appropriated by the Legislative Assembly. If the Emergency Commission denies the grant application, the state agency may submit the request to the Budget Section for consideration at its next meeting. (Budget Section)
Senate Bill No. 2032 - Commerce Department. This bill consolidates the Division of Community Services, Department of Economic Development and Finance, and Tourism Department into a department of commerce administered by a commissioner of commerce; creates a North Dakota commerce cabinet; and allows for creation of a privately funded North Dakota economic development foundation. (Commerce and Labor Committee)
Senate Bill No. 2033 - Renaissance Zones. This bill revises the renaissance zone law. Among the changes, the bill authorizes a statewide renaissance fund corporation, provides that an income tax exemption is effective beginning the year of the purchase or lease, removes the requirement that a petition for investment in a renaissance zone must include a plan for sale or refinancing that results in proceeds equal to or in excess of the proportional investment made by the renaissance fund corporation, provides that a taxpayer must be current on all taxes in order to be eligible for a tax exemption or credit under the renaissance zone law, and allows a city with a zone of less than 20 blocks to expand up to 20 blocks and allow these expanded blocks to have renaissance zone status for up to 15 years. (Commerce and Labor Committee)
Senate Bill No. 2034 - Civil Commitment of Sexual Offenders. This bill changes the state's civil commitment of sexual offenders statutes in the areas of venue, referrals, open records, and detention and removes the current exclusion of individuals with mental retardation. (Criminal Justice Committee)
Senate Bill No. 2035 - Sexual Offenders. This bill creates the crime of luring minors by computer, criminalizes the sexual initiation acts of street gangs, separates disorderly type behavior from the indecent exposure statute and makes indecent exposure a crime for which a person is required to register as a sexual offender, and expands the statute of limitations for gross sexual imposition to seven years. (Criminal Justice Committee)
Senate Bill No. 2036 - State Academic Content Standards. This bill provides for the adoption of state academic content standards by each school district and nonpublic school. (Education Finance Committee)
Senate Bill No. 2037 - Special Fund Continuing Appropriation. This bill provides a continuing appropriation of higher education institutions' special revenue funds including tuition and allows institutions to carry over at the end of the biennium unspent general fund appropriations. (Higher Education Committee)
Senate Bill No. 2038 - University System Budget Request and Appropriation. This bill requires the budget request for the University System to include budget estimates for block grants for a base-funding component and for an initiative-funding component and a budget estimate for an asset-funding component and requires the appropriation for the University System to include block grants to the State Board of Higher Education for a base-funding appropriation and for an initiative-funding appropriation and an appropriation for asset funding. (Higher Education Committee)
Senate Bill No. 2039 - Capital Improvements. This bill allows the State Board of Higher Education to authorize campus improvements and building maintenance projects that are financed by donations, gifts, grants, and bequests if the cost of the improvement or maintenance is not more than $500,000. (Higher Education Committee)
Senate Bill No. 2040 - Employee Bonuses. This bill allows higher education institutions to provide bonuses, cash incentive awards, and temporary salary adjustments to employees without reporting the activity as a fiscal irregularity. (Higher Education Committee)
Senate Bill No. 2041 - North Dakota University System. This bill recognizes the institutions of higher education under the control of the State Board of Higher Education as the North Dakota University System and requires the University System to develop a strategic plan that defines University System goals and objectives and to provide a performance and accountability report. (Higher Education Committee)
Senate Bill No. 2042 - Higher Education Statutory Responsibilities. This bill removes language regarding powers of the State Board of Higher Education and duties and responsibilities of higher education institutions which are no longer considered necessary. (Higher Education Committee)
Senate Bill No. 2043 - Powers and Duties of Information Technology Committee and the Information Technology Department. This bill requires the Information Technology Committee to review the cost-benefit analysis of any major project of the State Board of Higher Education or any institution under the control of the board if the project significantly impacts the statewide wide area network, impacts the statewide library system, or is an administrative project. The bill also authorizes the Information Technology Department to purchase equipment and software through financing arrangements; specifies additional requirements that must be included in the department's business plan; replaces the statewide wide area network advisory committee with a state Information Technology Advisory Committee; changes the deadline for agencies submitting information technology plans from January 15 to March 15 of each even-numbered year; and provides that information collected by the Information Technology Department from agencies regarding information technology standards, compliance reviews, and plans is exempt from open records requirements. (Information Technology Committee)
Senate Bill No. 2044 - Property Division. This bill provides that property acquired by an individual spouse through inheritance or by gift, if titled and maintained in the sole name of the donee spouse, is the property of that party and is not subject to division upon dissolution of the marriage. (Judiciary Committee)
Senate Bill No. 2045 - Immunity. This bill provides for the appointment of child custody investigators and provides immunity for child custody investigators and guardians ad litem. (Judiciary Committee)
Senate Bill No. 2046 - Divorce and Separation. This bill consolidates the chapters dealing with divorce and separation into one chapter, reenacts the penalty for intentionally removing a child from the state in violation of a child custody order, applies the best interest standard to the annulment process, and removes and updates archaic language in the domestic relations statutes. (Judiciary Committee)
Senate Bill No. 2047 - Grandparent Visitation. This bill amends the grandparent visitation statute to comply with the North Dakota Supreme Court's ruling in Hoff v. Berg, 595 N.W.2d 285 (1999). (Judiciary Committee)
Senate Bill No. 2048 - Committee Meeting Compensation. This bill provides that a legislator is entitled to receive the same compensation for attending a meeting of a legislative committee between the organizational session and the regular session, as authorized by legislative rule, as the legislator is entitled to receive during a legislative session. (Legislative Management Committee)
Senate Concurrent Resolution No. 4001 - Institutions of Public Charity Property Tax Exemption Study. This resolution provides for a Legislative Council study of property tax exemptions for institutions of public charity that provide medical services and housing services. (Advisory Commission on Intergovernmental Relations)
Senate Concurrent Resolution No. 4002 - Federal Block Grant Legislative Hearings. This resolution authorizes the Budget Section to hold legislative hearings required for receipt of federal block grant funds. (Budget Section)
Senate Concurrent Resolution No. 4003 - Capital Gains and Estate Taxes on Farm Property. This resolution urges Congress to reduce or eliminate the impediment of capital gains and estate taxes on passage of stewardship of family farms to succeeding generations. (Taxation Committee)
Senate Concurrent Resolution No. 4004 - Retirement Fund Withdrawals for Support of Family Farming Operations. This resolution urges Congress to provide a greater opportunity for farmers to participate in retirement investments by allowing withdrawals without penalty when necessary to support family farming operations. (Taxation Committee)
Senate Concurrent Resolution No. 4005 - Capital Gains Taxes on Inflationary Increases of Farm and Ranch Property. This resolution urges Congress to reduce or eliminate capital gains taxes on inflationary valuation increases of farm and ranch property. (Taxation Committee)
Senate Concurrent Resolution No. 4006 - FARRM Accounts. This resolution urges Congress to enact legislation to allow FARRM accounts and to consider limiting the size of the accounts rather than the time funds may be held in the accounts. (Taxation Committee)
