North Dakota
North Dakota Gov. Kelly Armstrong hammers down 7 partial vetoes in final round of bill approval
BISMARCK — North Dakota Gov.
Kelly Armstrong
is exercising his right to line-item veto legislation as six bills were substantially changed — one of them twice — on Monday, May 19, while undergoing final approval.
The state constitution gives the governor the authority to veto a portion of long budget bills, a power typically reserved for cutting spending items.
In over half of the veto letters, Armstrong emphasized that parts of budget bills pertaining to policy changes, not direct appropriations, should not be immune to line-item vetoes.
Allowing
the Legislature
to “shoehorn” policy into budget bills “undermines” the system of checks and balances and violates the “longstanding principle of separation of powers,” Armstrong wrote.
Among the six line-item vetoed bills was the state’s Ethics Commission budget. Armstrong eliminated a section granting lawmakers immunity from prosecution if they disclose conflicts of interest in voting on a bill.
“Public confidence in government is built on the belief that no one, especially elected officials, is above the law,” Armstrong wrote in the veto letter.
He said the vetoed section, which isn’t attached to a specific appropriation, “sends the wrong message to North Dakotans: that legislative disclosure, however minimal or selective, is enough to avoid the legal consequences that any private citizen would face under similar circumstances.”
Under the attorney general’s budget, Armstrong vetoed a portion attempting to bar judges from being able to waive 24/7 sobriety program fees. The section was added to the budget at the last minute after the original, stand-alone bill to restrict judges’ authority failed.
Participation in the program, which has been in place since 2008, is often ordered by the court for people with drug or alcohol-related offenses.
“It (the addition) invites a constitutional challenge and will only increase the costs and jail overcrowding for counties,” Armstrong wrote in the veto letter.
He also cut a $150,000 grant that would have funded a Native American homelessness liaison position in the Industrial Commission’s budget.
He called for a long-term, statewide approach to
homelessness
and housing insecurity instead of “a piecemeal approach” that risks “fragmentation, inefficiency and duplication of effort.”
In the same bill, he scratched a section mandating the Bank of North Dakota allocate $250,000 to study post-oil economic development in western North Dakota communities.
He called the action premature, saying it sends the wrong idea about the “strength” and “longevity” of the state’s energy industry.
In the Parks and Recreation Department’s budget, Armstrong vetoed a section that would have required the agency to receive approval from the Legislature to rename state parks, a provision that also had no direct appropriation.
Such a requirement is so far-reaching, it could lead to unnecessary, top-level deliberation and “not only encroaches on the executive branch’s function to faithfully execute laws passed by the Assembly but also leads to absurd results,” the veto letter states.
Another $350,000 was taken out of the Department of Commerce’s budget that would have gone to the State Fair Association for sanitation restoration projects.
The funding wasn’t included in the State Fair Association’s individual budget, where Armstrong said it “rightly belonged.”
Further, the state Legislative Council will stay in its second-floor office in the state Capitol building in Bismarck after its bid to move to the 15th floor was rejected by Armstrong. The agency, which received funding for 25 more employees, oversees the Legislature’s operations and is staffed by attorneys, researchers and accountants.
Under the provision in the Legislative branch’s budget, the space occupied by the Department of Career and Technical Education would instead be used by Legislative Council. However, the Legislature neglected to consult with proper channels — namely, the public and the department itself, Armstrong wrote in his veto letter.
He said his administration is “more than willing” to help Legislative Council accommodate its growing staff.
“Requiring the acquisition of a specific floor of the Capitol building via state law is superfluous and undermines our ongoing efforts to find ways to better utilize the Capitol building’s square footage to reduce costs and save taxpayers money,” he added.
When the 2025 legislative session adjourned, lawmakers sent a total of 601 bills to the governor, 597 of which were signed, with four vetoed in their entirety — a
library materials bill,
a
private school voucher bill,
a
tax credit for prisons
and another impacting
state employee health insurance.
To overturn a governor’s veto, the Legislature would have to meet for a special session. Legislative leaders have not announced whether they will reconvene to push back on any line-item vetoes.
Budget bills go into effect on July 1. Policy bills take effect Aug. 1.
“Through limited use of my line-item veto authority, we’ve reduced spending, protected the integrity of the budgeting process and preserved executive branch authority to ensure that state government remains efficient and transparent,” Armstrong said in a Monday release.
North Dakota
Challengers declare victory after ND Supreme Court rules against Legislature’s attempt to alter term limits
BISMARCK — A constitutional ballot measure to amend the state’s term limits law as proposed by the Legislature will not appear on November’s ballot, the North Dakota Supreme Court ruled Thursday, siding with petitioners who argued the Legislature exceeded its authority and violated the state constitution in proposing the changes.
“The people’s voice was heard,” Grand Forks County Commissioner Terry Bjerke said in reaction to the news.
Bjerke was a member of the sponsoring committee behind the successful 2022 effort to pass a term limits initiative, which amended the state constitution by capping legislative term limits to eight years in the House and eight years in the Senate. The amendment, which became article XV of the state constitution, also included a clause barring the Legislature from making constitutional changes to term limits.
During the 2025 session, however, lawmakers narrowly approved Senate Concurrent Resolution 4008, in which the legislature proposed Constitutional Measure 1, a ballot measure to amend the term limits language to allow legislators to decide in which chamber they want to serve their 16 years, and to repeal the clause limiting the legislative assembly’s authority to propose an amendment to alter or repeal term limits.
Bjerke and former Minot legislator Oley Larsen brought the lawsuit challenging the validity of the Legislature’s action in January, and the state Supreme Court
heard oral arguments in the case
this spring.
“Those term limits may only be altered by a measure proposed by the people rather than the Legislative Assembly. And yet a few years later, the Legislative Assembly is doing what they are prohibited from doing,” attorney Zachary Wallen argued on Bjerke and Larsen’s behalf.
Tanner Ecker / The Bismarck Tribune
The Legislature’s attorneys argued the clause prohibiting legislative proposals to alter the constitutional term limits language “infringes on our republican form of government” by “limiting the people’s ability to vote on amendments proposed by their elected officials.”
Justice Jon Jensen seemed skeptical of that argument during the April 2 hearing, questioning whether a second vote was appropriate.
“The public did speak on this. The public spoke on it when it passed the original constitutional amendment and they said, ‘Legislature, you don’t even get to propose a change.’ They have already spoken on it,” Jensen said. “You want a second shot, or a second bite at the apple, not a first one, a second.”
In Thursday’s ruling, all five justices sided with Bjerke and Larsen.
“We … conclude the Legislative Assembly’s adoption of S.C.R. 4008 violated N.D. Const. art. XV … and declare S.C.R. 4008 and Constitutional Measure 1 void … We enjoin the Secretary of State from placing Constitutional Measure 1 on the November 2026 general election ballot,” the ruling said.
Bjerke thanked the legal team that worked on behalf of their lawsuit, and said he was grateful the court reached the conclusion it did.
“I’m thrilled that what the people voted on and approved has been validated,” Bjerke said.
He added that the Legislature had “multiple opportunities” to address term limits prior to 2022’s initiated measure and chose not to, and gave a nod to the country’s coming milestone and the process by which voters expressed their support for term limits.
“We’ve lasted 250 years,” Bjerke said. “I have two words for those elected leaders who think they aren’t: everyone’s replaceable.”
North Dakota
Fargo woman convicted in North Dakota fraud case now faces charges in Minnesota: A deeper dive
FARGO, N.D. (Valley News Live) – A North Dakota woman who was sentenced to 180 days in jail in Cass County for defrauding healthcare providers and Medicaid programs is now facing additional fraud charges in Minnesota.
Christine Marie Pryor, 55, pleaded guilty in November 2024 to theft by deception involving more than $50,000. She was sentenced to first serve 180 days with a 3-year sentence suspended. She received credit for 44 days already served.
Pryor was ordered to pay $82,584.78 in restitution to Southeast Human Services in Fargo, where she worked between 2018 and 2019.
How the scheme unfolded
According to court documents, Pryor worked at multiple healthcare facilities in North Dakota and Minnesota between 2018 and 2023, using the identities and credentials of three licensed professionals without their knowledge. She submitted fraudulent Capella University diplomas and transcripts to gain employment.
Investigators say Pryor admitted she searched state licensing websites for therapists who shared her first name, then used those therapists’ last names and license numbers when applying for jobs.
At Southeast Human Services, where she worked as a Licensed Addiction Counselor, Pryor earned $55,584.82 while providing therapy services to approximately 150 patients. She also opened her own counseling center, NIAM Brain Injury Center, in Fargo between 2020 and 2021, and worked at The Lotus Center in Moorhead, Minnesota, from 2021 to 2023.
Court documents say the three licensed professionals whose identities were used told investigators they had no knowledge of Pryor’s actions and did not give her permission to use their information.
Two additional charges against Pryor in North Dakota, unauthorized use of personal identifying information, were dismissed on motion of the state.
Additional charges in Minnesota
Pryor is also facing charges in Minnesota. Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison announced on Tuesday charges against Pryor in Clay County District Court for six theft offenses and six identity theft offenses related to defrauding Minnesota’s Medicaid program of more than $150,000.
According to the Minnesota complaint, Pryor claimed to provide psychotherapy and alcohol and drug counseling services to Medicaid recipients despite having no license or credentials to do so. Prosecutors allege she used the credentials and identities of three licensed professionals while claiming to provide Medicaid-funded services to 169 clients.
The Minnesota charges were filed as part of National Health Care Fraud Takedown Day, a joint effort involving the Department of Justice and more than 40 state Medicaid Fraud Control Units.
Copyright 2026 KVLY. All rights reserved.
North Dakota
NCAA Set to Change Unpopular Football Rule Just in Time for North Dakota State’s FBS Jump
North Dakota State playing in the FCS playoffs and College Football Playoff in back-to-back years? It’s likelier than you think.
That’s because on Wednesday, according to a report from Ross Dellenger of Yahoo! Sports, the NCAA Division I cabinet voted to repeal a rule that effectively barred teams transitioning from FCS to FBS from playing in postseason games in their first FBS seasons. The Bison are making that move along with Sacramento State in 2026.
The reported change has been a long time coming; the rule has hampered teams from immediate bowl eligibility for decades. Its good intentions of dissuading teams from rashly making the FCS-to-FBS leap have been rendered obsolete in recent years by the fact that programs generally arrive in FBS more prepared than ever before.
Consider the number of new FBS teams that have had to work within the provision in the past decade alone
That list includes: Liberty (home for the holidays at 6–6 in 2018), James Madison (8–3 in 2022 under coach Curt Cignetti, and barely able to play in a bowl at 11–1 in ’23 due to a lack of bowl-eligible teams), Jacksonville State (8–4 in ’23 before backing in like the Dukes), Missouri State (7–5 in 2025, also backed in) and Delaware (6–6 in ’25, ditto).
James Madison in particular became a cause célèbre in ’23 because it started the season 10-0, climbing as high as No. 18 in the AP Poll in mid-November. Then-Virginia attorney general Jason Miyares bandied about suing the NCAA before the Dukes lost 26–23 to Appalachian State, an event that caused the program to back off and accept a bid to play Air Force in the Armed Forces Bowl. James Madison lost that game 31–21, by which time Cignetti had left for Indiana.
There was a time when the FCS-to-FBS jump was an imposing one, and the NCAA did not want to incentivize making it lightly—not even a proud Florida A&M program could make a mid-2000s attempt at a jump stick. However, the Flames, Dukes and other teams have shown it’s not so great a climb for programs with the right resources and management.
Now the Bison and the Hornets stand to benefit.
How far can North Dakota State and Sacramento State go in the near term?
The Bison opened 12–0 last year before a shock loss to Illinois State in the FCS playoffs’ second round, so that question may answer itself. North Dakota State does not play a single Power 4 team—a potential strength-of-schedule albatross if it has designs on really surging. A potential roadblock: the fact that the Bison have to visit the Mountain West’s two favorites, UNLV (Oct. 10) and New Mexico (Oct. 24).
It’s a different story for the Hornets, a 7–5 squad a year ago whose move to the FBS is widely seen as a gamble on their growth potential. Sacramento State also does not play a major-conference team, but has a breakneck travel schedule ahead of it—the Hornets will visit Ypsilanti, Mich.; Bowling Green, Ohio; Muncie, Ind.; Mount Pleasant, Mich. and Honolulu. Combine that with a first-year coach—Oakland native and ex-MC Hammer choreographer Alonzo Carter—and it could be a long FBS debut in California’s capital.
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