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2025 North Dakota legislative session: Difference between revisions
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At the beginning of the 2025 legislative session, there were '''27 standing committees''' in North Dakota's state government, including '''13''' state Senate committees and '''14''' state House committees. | At the beginning of the 2025 legislative session, there were '''27 standing committees''' in North Dakota's state government, including '''13''' state Senate committees and '''14''' state House committees. | ||
===Senate committees=== | ===Senate committees=== | ||
*[[Agriculture Committee, North Dakota State Senate| Senate Agriculture Committee]] | *[[Agriculture Committee, North Dakota State Senate| Senate Agriculture Committee]] | ||
Revision as of 21:45, 5 March 2025
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← 2024
2026 →
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| 2025 North Dakota legislative session |
|---|
| General information |
| Scheduled session start: January 7, 2025 Scheduled session end: May 2, 2025 |
| Leadership |
| Senate President Michelle Strinden (R) House Speaker |
| Elections |
| Next Election: November 3, 2026 Last Election: November 5, 2024 |
| Previous legislative sessions |
| 2024 • 2023 • 2022 • 2021 • 2020 • 2019 • 2018 |
| Other 2025 legislative sessions |
In 2025, the North Dakota Legislative Assembly was scheduled to convene on January 7 and adjourn on May 2.
The legislators serving in this session took office following the 2024 elections. Republicans won a 42-5 majority in the Senate and a 83-11 majority in the House. The party also controlled the governorship, creating a Republican state government trifecta. At the start of the 2025 session, North Dakota was one of 20 state legislatures where Republicans had a veto-proof supermajority in both chambers.
Leadership in 2025
North Dakota State Senate
- Senate president: Michelle Strinden (R)
- Majority leader: David Hogue (R)
- Minority leader: Kathy Hogan (D)
North Dakota House of Representatives
- Speaker of the House: Robin Weisz (R)
- Majority leader: Mike Lefor (R)
- Minority leader: Zac Ista (D)
Partisan control in 2025
- See also: State government trifectas
North Dakota was one of 23 Republican state government trifectas at the start of 2025 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.
North Dakota was also one of 20 state legislatures where Republicans 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.
The following tables show the partisan breakdown of the North Dakota Legislative Assembly in the 2025 legislative session.
North Dakota State Senate
| Party | As of January 2025 | |
|---|---|---|
| Democratic Party | 5 | |
| Republican Party | 42 | |
| Total | 47 | |
North Dakota House of Representatives
| Party | As of January 2025 | |
|---|---|---|
| Democratic Party | 11 | |
| Republican Party | 83 | |
| Total | 94 | |
Regular session
The list below shows up to 25 pieces of legislation in the 2025 legislative session that most recently passed both chambers of the legislature, were signed by the governor, or were approved by the legislature in a veto override. If no bills are displayed below, no legislation met these criteria in 2025. This information is provided by BillTrack50.
Legislation trackers
- See also: Legislation Trackers
Ballotpedia’s legislation trackers are your go-to resource for staying on top of key legislative topics. We capture any bill introduced on the topic across all of the 50 state legislatures, and we track the movement of the bill every step of the way. We provide real-time updates and translate legislative legalese into easily understandable language. As of the 2025 session, Ballotpedia provided tracking on the following topics. Click on the links below to view related bills from the 2025 session:
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 2025 legislative session, there were 27 standing committees in North Dakota's state government, including 13 state Senate committees and 14 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: 1992-2025
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 |
Historical Senate control
Republicans won control of the North Dakota State Senate in 1994. In 2024, they won a 42-5 majority.
The table below shows the partisan history of the North Dakota Senate following every general election from 1992 to 2024. All data from 2006 or earlier comes from Michael Dubin's Party Affiliations in the State Legislatures (McFarland Press, 2007). Data after 2006 was compiled by Ballotpedia staff.
North Dakota State Senate election results: 1992-2024
| Year | '92 | '94 | '96 | '98 | '00 | '02 | '04 | '06 | '08 | '10 | '12 | '14 | '16 | '18 | '20 | '22 | '24 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democrats | 25 | 20 | 19 | 18 | 18 | 16 | 15 | 21 | 21 | 12 | 13 | 15 | 9 | 10 | 7 | 4 | 5 |
| Republicans | 24 | 29 | 30 | 31 | 31 | 31 | 32 | 26 | 26 | 35 | 33 | 32 | 38 | 37 | 40 | 43 | 42 |
Historical House control
Republicans won control of the North Dakota House of Representatives in 1984. In 2024, they won an 83-11 majority.
The table below shows the partisan history of the North Dakota House following every general election from 1992 to 2024. All data from 2006 or earlier comes from Michael Dubin's Party Affiliations in the State Legislatures (McFarland Press, 2007). Data after 2006 was compiled by Ballotpedia staff.
North Dakota House of Representatives election results: 1992-2024
| Year | '92 | '94 | '96 | '98 | '00 | '02 | '04 | '06 | '08 | '10 | '12 | '14 | '16 | '18 | '20 | '22 | '24 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democrats | 33 | 23 | 26 | 34 | 29 | 28 | 26 | 33 | 36 | 25 | 23 | 23 | 13 | 15 | 14 | 12 | 11 |
| Republicans | 65 | 75 | 72 | 64 | 69 | 66 | 68 | 61 | 58 | 69 | 71 | 71 | 81 | 79 | 80 | 82 | 83 |
Analysis
Adopted legislation, 2015-2023
In 2024, Ballotpedia released analysis of bills enacted in each state in the preceding decade. The charts and table below detail legislation passed each year by party sponsorship.
See also
| Elections | North Dakota State Government | State Legislatures | State Politics |
|---|---|---|---|
External links
Footnotes