2020 North Dakota legislative session
For a full list of changes, visit: Changes to state legislative session dates in response to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, 2020.
North Dakota: No changes impacting state legislative activities were made.
| North Dakota Legislative Assembly | |
 | |
| General information | |
| Type: | State legislature |
| Term limits: | None |
| Session start: | No regular legislative session |
| Website: | Official Legislature Page |
| Leadership | |
| Senate President: | Brent Sanford (R) |
| House Speaker: | Lawrence Klemin (R) |
| Majority Leader: | Senate: Rich Wardner (R) House: Chet Pollert (R) |
| Minority Leader: | Senate: Joan Heckaman (D) House: Joshua Boschee (D) |
| Structure | |
| Members: | 47 (Senate), 94 (House) |
| Length of term: | 4 years (Senate), 4 years (House) |
| Authority: | Art IV, North Dakota Constitution |
| Salary: | $172/day + per diem |
| Elections | |
| Last election: | November 6, 2018 |
| Next election: | November 3, 2020 |
| Redistricting: | North Dakota Legislature has control |
North Dakota held no regular legislative session in 2020.
Partisan control in 2020
- See also: State government trifectas
North Dakota was one of 21 Republican state government trifectas at the start of 2020 legislative sessions. A state government trifecta occurs when one political party holds the governor's office, a majority in the state Senate, and a majority in the state House. For more information about state government trifectas, click here.
At the start of 2020, North Dakota was also one of 22 state legislatures where one party had a veto-proof supermajority in both chambers. Veto overrides occur when a legislature votes to reverse a veto issued by an executive such as a governor or the president. If one party has a majority in a state legislature that is large enough to override a gubernatorial veto without any votes from members of the minority party, it is called a veto-proof majority or, sometimes, a supermajority. To read more about veto-proof supermajorities in state legislatures, click here.
Leadership in 2020
North Dakota State Senate
- Senate president: Brent Sanford (R)
- Senate president pro tempore: David Hogue (R)
- Majority leader: Rich Wardner (R)
- Minority leader: Joan Heckaman (D)
North Dakota House of Representatives
- Speaker of the House: Lawrence Klemin (R)
- Majority leader: Chet Pollert (R)
- Minority leader: Joshua Boschee (D)
Standing legislative committees
A standing committee of a state legislature is a committee that exists on a more-or-less permanent basis, from legislative session to session, that considers and refines legislative bills that fall under the committee's subject matter.
At the beginning of the 2020 legislative session, there were 22 standing committees in North Dakota's state government, including no joint legislative committees, 11 state Senate committees, and 11 state House committees.
Senate committees
- Senate Agriculture Committee
- Senate Appropriations Committee
- Senate Education Committee
- Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee
- Senate Finance and Taxation Committee
- Senate Government and Veterans Affairs Committee
- Senate Human Services Committee
- Senate Industry, Business and Labor Committee
- Senate Judiciary Committee
- Senate Political Subdivisions Committee
- Senate State and Local Government Committee
- Senate Transportation Committee
- Senate Workforce Development Committee
House committees
- Appropriations - Education and Environment Committee
- Appropriations - Government Operations Division Committee
- Appropriations - Human Resources Division Committee
- House Agriculture Committee
- House Appropriations Committee
- House Education Committee
- House Energy and Natural Resources Committee
- House Finance and Taxation Committee
- House Government and Veterans Affairs Committee
- House Human Services Committee
- House Industry, Business and Labor Committee
- House Judiciary Committee
- House Political Subdivisions Committee
- House Transportation Committee
Legislatively referred constitutional amendments
In every state but Delaware, voter approval is required to enact a constitutional amendment. In each state, the legislature has a process for referring constitutional amendments before voters. In 18 states, initiated constitutional amendments can be put on the ballot through a signature petition drive. There are also many other types of statewide measures.
The methods by which the North Dakota Constitution can be amended:
The North Dakota Constitution provides three mechanisms for amending the state's constitution—a citizen-initiated process, a legislative process, and a state constitutional convention. North Dakota requires a simple majority vote (50% plus 1) for voters to approve constitutional amendments.
Initiative
- See also: Initiated constitutional amendment
An initiated constitutional amendment is a citizen-initiated ballot measure that amends a state's constitution. Eighteen (18) states allow citizens to initiate constitutional amendments.
In North Dakota, the number of signatures required for an initiated constitutional amendment is equal to 4% of the state's population reported by the last decennial census. Each initiative has its own unique deadline of one year after it was approved to circulate. The completed petition must be submitted at least 120 days prior to the election.
Legislature
A simple majority vote is required during one legislative session for the North Dakota State Legislature to place a constitutional amendment on the ballot. That amounts to a minimum of 48 votes in the North Dakota House of Representatives and 24 votes in the North Dakota State Senate, assuming no vacancies. Amendments do not require the governor's signature to be referred to the ballot.
Convention
According to Section 1 of Article III of the North Dakota Constitution, the state's initiative petition process is used to call a constitutional convention.
Historical partisan control
The table below depicts the historical trifecta status of North Dakota.
North Dakota Party Control: 1992-2024
No Democratic trifectas • Thirty-one years of Republican trifectas
Scroll left and right on the table below to view more years.
| Year | 92 | 93 | 94 | 95 | 96 | 97 | 98 | 99 | 00 | 01 | 02 | 03 | 04 | 05 | 06 | 07 | 08 | 09 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Governor | D | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R |
| Senate | D | D | D | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R |
| House | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R |
See also
| Elections | North Dakota State Government | State Legislatures | State Politics |
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External links
Footnotes
