North Dakota Senate overrides Governor’s veto on pronouns bill, House yet to act

BISMARCK, N.D. (KFYR) - The North Dakota Senate voted Thursday to override Gov. Doug Burgum’s veto of SB 2231, which would prohibit public schools and state agencies from requiring the usage of pronouns that don’t correspond to an individual’s sex assigned at birth.

After a vote of 37-9 by the Senate to veto the Governor’s decision, the bill now heads to the House, where it will need an approval vote of 63 out of 94 to become law.

Regarding the bill, the Governor had said, “the First Amendment already prohibits compelled speech and protects teachers from speaking contrary to their beliefs, and courts across the country have upheld these rights.”

He went on to say, “Ambiguity throughout this bill would invite lawsuits and put teachers in the precarious position of trying to determine how to refer to students without violating law.”

Here is the breakdown of the Senate’s vote to override the veto:

YEAS: Barta; Beard; Bekkedahl; Boehm; Burckhard; Clemens; Conley; Davison; Dever; Dwyer; Elkin; Erbele; Estenson; Hogue; Kannianen; Kessel; Klein; Kreun; Larsen; Larson; Lemm; Luick; Magrum; Meyer; Myrdal; Patten; Paulson; Roers, J.; Rust; Schaible; Sickler; Sorvaag; Vedaa; Wanzek; Weber; Weston; Wobbema

NAYS: Axtman; Braunberger; Cleary; Hogan; Krebsbach; Lee; Mathern; Piepkorn; Rummel

ABSENT AND NOT VOTING: Roers, K.

Related content:

Governor Burgum vetoes pronoun bill

North Dakota Legislative website: Senate Bill 2231 actions taken