North Dakota Legislative update

BURGUM’S LIBRARY

Gov. Doug Burgum hasn’t given up on his push to commit public money to a presidential library for Theodore Roosevelt in western North Dakota.

Burgum is hosting lawmakers Monday night at the governor’s mansion to pitch the idea some more.

The governor in January hosted Theodore Roosevelt V, the 26th president’s great-great-grandson. Also in attendance then was former Wal-Mart chairman Rob Walton and his wife, Melani, who is a graduate of Dickinson State University.

Burgum has proposed dedicating $50 million in interest money from North Dakota’s voter-approved savings account for oil and gas taxes to help build the library.

Lawmakers are generally lukewarm on the proposal, saying the state has more pressing needs.

GOP Rep. Keith Kempenich says some lawmakers are considering using $50 million from the state’s oil tax piggy bank to build an endowment that would use interest to fund library operations. But Kempenich says funding for the facility would have to come from private sources.

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POLICE PERMISSION

Some of the North Dakota’s farthest-right lawmakers are pushing a bill that would require law enforcement to have a warrant or get permission from a landowner to search barns and other outbuildings.

Republican Rep. Luke Simons is sponsoring the legislation that passed the GOP-led House by a wide margin in February.

The Dickinson rancher’s bill would prohibit law enforcement on property unless they were responding to an emergency or had probable cause.

Senators are considering the bill this week.

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CIVIL ASSET FORFEITURE

North Dakota’s Senate will consider a House bill that would require a criminal conviction before authorities can seize cash or valuables they believe to be ill-gotten.

The civil asset forfeiture bill passed the House in February.

The bill also seeks to establish a reporting system on seized and forfeited property.

Senators killed a similar bill in 2017.

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BURGUM VETO

Burgum’s first veto of the session may face a challenge.

Burgum on Friday vetoed a bill to raise driver’s license fees for the first time in more than 30 years. Burgum says the increase in fees “imposes an unnecessary additional burden on our residents.”

The Republican-led House and Senate easily passed the legislation that raises commercial and non-commercial driver’s license fees from $15 to $30.

A two-thirds vote in both chambers is needed to override a governor’s veto.

Tioga GOP Sen. David Rust says there is some rumbling of a veto fight over the bill. Rust is chairman of the Senate Transportation committee that gave the bill a “do pass” recommendation.

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PIPELINE TAMPERING

North Dakota’s House will consider a Senate bill this week that better defines the legal consequences for people who tamper with pipelines and any groups that help them.

Republican Sen. Janne Myrdal of Edinburg sponsored the bill that was inspired by environmental activists who turned an oil pipeline valve in her northeast North Dakota district in 2016.

The legislation says it’s illegal to damage energy facilities and other critical infrastructure facilities. It also would increase fines on organizations that conspire with individuals who tamper with infrastructure.

The bill wouldn’t prevent the “lawful assembly and peaceful and orderly petition for the redress of grievances, including a labor dispute between an employer and its employee.”