Friday, March 24 marked the 51st legislative day out of a possible 80 days.
Friday, March 24 marked the 51st legislative day out of a possible 80 days. If the legislature uses every day, the session is currently scheduled to end on May 4th.
Small Business Day was held on Tuesday of this week. We were excited to have 15 NFIB members in attendance including some of our legislators who are current members. Our main speaker was Senate Majority Leader David Hogue of Minot who is in his first term as leader.
NFIB State Director in North Dakota Alison Ritter poses with NFIB members during Small Business Day at the Capitol.
Legislation of note:
HEALTHCARE
SB 2140 – Passed in the House of Representatives. This bill would require the state health insurance plan to cap payments for insulin and medical supplies for insulin at $25. The state PERS board would then be required to submit a bill to the next legislative session to mandate this benefit for all group and individual plans in the state.
Interchange Fees
SB 2217 – Failed in the House of Representatives. Originally the bill would prohibit interchange fees on the sales tax portion of a credit card transaction. The bill was amended into a study in the House but still failed to pass on the floor after strong opposition from banks and credit unions.
TAXES
The Senate has decided to use HB 1158 as their vehicle for tax relief for this portion of the session. The bill which came over to the Senate as a flat tax was amended in committee. The amendment adds the Senate’s property tax relief language which passed in the first half of the session, an increase in the homestead property tax credit, as well as an elimination of the lowest income tax bracket which would provide some income tax relief for all North Dakotans. This bill comes in right around the $550 million in combined tax relief that Senate Majority Leader David Hogue outlined during Small Business Day.
The other two income tax bills currently in the Senate were given a do not pass recommendation.
The House is considering the Senate’s property tax bill SB 2066 from the first half of the session the public hearing for SB 2066 is Monday, March 27th at 9:00 a.m.
