Senators shut down idea of annual legislative sessions

BISMARCK, N.D. (KFYR) - Plans to have annual legislative sessions in North Dakota were defeated in the Senate chambers Monday.

Senators voted 30 to 17 to kill a bill proposing annual sessions. Opponents said yearly meetings would grow government and potentially limit the number of bills that could be introduced due to time constraints.

“We heard that it would not grow government, and my concern was the additional cost to the taxpayers. We also heard that some of the interim committees will spend some more time working on bills. My concern is won’t that grow government?” asked Sen. Jerry Klein, R-Fessenden.

Supporters of annual sessions say the change was needed to keep up with the rapid changes being made federally and because of term limits.