North Dakota House fails to find consensus with Senate on start date of term limits

BISMARCK — The North Dakota House of Representatives on Monday, April 28, voted down a bill designed to set the start date for when lawmakers’ time in office starts counting toward their term limits.

House Bill 1300

was originally introduced by Rep. Ben Koppelman, R-West Fargo, to set the effective date of the legislation as Nov. 7, 2022. It was then amended by Sen. Janne Myrdal, R-Edinburg, to change the effective date to Jan. 1, 2023.

Under Myrdal’s proposal, lawmakers elected in the 2022 election would not have their time in office start counting toward their term-limited time until after their next election in 2026. Under Koppelman’s proposal, the term they were elected for in 2022 would count toward their time served for term limits.

Both argued that their chosen date would stand up better in court should term limits face litigation.

The House originally failed the bill when it was returned from the Senate amended. However, the following day, it was brought back and passed with the understanding that it would go to a conference committee and the House would have another chance to advocate for their chosen date. The Senate’s Jan. 1, 2023, date was decided on and returned from conference committee.

“This bill came to us here before. We killed it. And then they said let’s bring it back to the conference committee so we can keep our position,” Rep. Steve Vetter, R-Grand Forks, said on the House floor. “It doesn’t look like we kept our position, so I would ask for a red (no) vote.”

The House voted 61-28 to fail the bill.

Senate Concurrent Resolution 4008

, passed earlier this session, would make several changes to term limits, including setting the effective date for the start of time counted toward term limits as Jan. 1, 2023. Because the resolution would make changes to the state’s Constitution, it will go before voters as a measure before taking effect, likely on the 2026 general election ballot.