Latest news with #CenturyCode
Yahoo
01-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
North Dakota governor signs bill to enforce one-gender bathroom policy for K-12 schools
North Dakota Gov. Kelly Armstrong signed a bill May 1, 2025, that prevents K-12 public schools from having all-gender bathrooms. (Micah Drew/Daily Montanan) Gov. Kelly Armstrong on Thursday signed a bill that prevents K-12 public schools from having all-gender bathrooms. It allows parents to file complaints if they think their child's school is not following state laws governing accommodations for transgender students. House Bill 1144 updates a law adopted in 2023 that prevents transgender students from using bathrooms and locker rooms that align with their gender. It also bars schools and teachers from requiring or prohibiting someone to use students' preferred pronouns. On top of this, the law requires schools and teachers to tell a child's parents if they learn the child is transgender. North Dakota Senate approves bathroom bill that would fine schools for noncompliance House Bill 1144 is meant to give teeth to that law by adding legal penalties. Some lawmakers said they believed schools would not follow the policy without the threat of consequences. The bill 'reinforces the message that our laws are not arbitrary or without meaning,' said Sen. Randy Lemm, R-Hillsboro, who spoke in favor of the bill on the Senate Floor. Concerned parents who believe their school is not following the law may now file a complaint with their school district. If they aren't satisfied with the school district's response, they can take the issue up with the North Dakota Attorney General's Office. Courts that find a school has broken the law can issue fines of up to $2,500 per violation. The amended law also states that any multi-stall bathroom or shower room must be designated exclusively for boys or girls. Multi-stall bathrooms or shower rooms cannot be unisex. In response to concerns that the law would force some school districts to spend millions renovating their bathroom, lawmakers added a provision that exempts restrooms created before July 1, 2025 from the policy. Bathroom bill would make schools less safe, opponents, LGBTQ advocates testify In a conference committee, legislators also added two other exemptions to the law. One makes sure the law doesn't prevent students with developmental disabilities from getting bathroom assistance from paraprofessionals if needed. The other gives schools the ability to temporarily change designation from one sex to another to accommodate school-sponsored events. This could allow a visiting girls sports teams to use a locker room for boys, for example. Both chambers on Monday approved the amended bill. The House approved the policy by a vote of 75-14; and the Senate, by a vote of 40-7. The new law went into effect immediately after it was signed. Armstrong last week also signed into law House Bill 1181, which amends Century Code to state 'words used to reference an individual's gender mean the individual's sex.' The bill's sponsor, SuAnn Olson, R-Baldwin, previously called it a 'common sense' proposal that is 'scientifically honest.' Olson said the bill was meant to bring North Dakota into compliance with an executive order signed by President Donald Trump in January establishing a two-gender policy for the federal government. Opponents of the policy criticized it as discriminatory to transgender and intersex North Dakotans. SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
Yahoo
27-03-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
North Dakota Senate defeats amended conversion therapy bill
Rep. Lori VanWinkle, R-Minot, speaks in favor of a bill to legalize conversion therapy at a House Human Services Committee meeting on Jan. 21, 2025. (Mary Steurer/North Dakota Monitor) The Senate on Thursday defeated a bill 22-25 that originally sought to legalize conversion therapy. Initially, House Bill 1430 bill would have authorized social workers to provide 'a treatment plan or counseling plan that aligns with heterosexuality or the individual's biological sex,' so long as it was freely chosen by the client. The bill was introduced by Rep. Lori VanWinkle, R-Minot, who said people should have the right to seek treatments that affirm their religious beliefs about sexuality or gender. She previously told lawmakers that she is concerned most counseling is now LGBTQ-affirming and therefore would not be helpful for someone with anti-LGBTQ beliefs. 'To prohibit counseling that aligns with traditional or biblical viewpoints is religious discrimination,' she said. Bathroom bill would make schools less safe, opponents, LGBTQ advocates testify The North Dakota Board of Social Work Examiners and North Dakota Chapter of the National Association of Social Workers opposed the bill, arguing that it endorsed a form of treatment widely denounced as ineffective and unethical, and was grounded in misunderstandings about how counseling works. Licensed social workers are already barred from providing conversion therapy under regulations set by the Board of Social Work Examiners. In committee hearings, multiple social workers testified that they don't try to force people to accept their gender identity or sexual orientation. They said counselors are trained to support their clients, not tell them what to think. The Senate Human Services Committee adopted an amendment that sought to address many of those concerns. The amendment said social workers may provide counseling to an individual who 'wants to align their sexuality or gender with the individual's personal or spiritual beliefs,' but also specifically held that conversion therapy is illegal. Sen. Tim Mathern, a Fargo Democrat and licensed social worker, opposed both versions of House Bill 1430. He said on the floor Thursday that the amended bill wouldn't accomplish anything since it parrots existing regulations. 'This bill essentially says, 'Do what you're doing — listen to people and help make choices,'' Mathern said. 'It's a total waste of the Century Code.' Kristin Roers, R-Fargo, also opposed the bill. She said if the bill passed it would have been the first time North Dakota put ethical standards set by a occupational board into Century Code, which raises questions about government overreach. SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
Yahoo
20-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Bill seeks to strengthen North Dakota law against false political ads
Sen. Sean Cleary, R-Bismarck, introduces a floor amendment on false political advertisements on March 19, 2025. (Michael Achterling/North Dakota Monitor) A bill that expands North Dakota law against false political advertisements via social media, text message or phone calls passed the Senate on Wednesday. House Bill 1204, sponsored by Rep. Mike Schatz, R-New England, passed on a 45-1 vote and will be sent back to the House for approval of an amendment introduced by Sen. Sean Cleary, R-Bismarck. The amendment added text messages and phone calls to the original bill that included social and commercial media posts. 'As election communications evolve, I think our laws need to change with it,' Cleary said. Fedorchak claims 'election interference' over false text messages Cleary was the campaign manager for U.S. House of Representatives candidate Julie Fedorchak during the 2024 election. On the day of the primary election, anonymous text messages were sent to North Dakota voters saying she had dropped out of the race, which she did not. After news of the text messages broke, Fedorchak called a press conference and said, 'This is, at minimum, election fraud, and it's a desperate tactic to influence and discourage voters.' Fedorchak won the primary that night with 46% of the vote, beating four other candidates for the Republican nomination and now represents North Dakota in Congress. 'Knowingly spreading falsehoods about an opponent undermines the integrity of our elections,' Cleary said. 'As you can see in the current law, there is a phrase 'electronic transmission,' but given the expansion and use of these in communicating with voters, I felt it was appropriate to make that explicitly clear in Century Code.' During debate on the bill, Sen. Janne Myrdal, R-Edinburg, asked the bill's carrier, Sen. Ryan Braunberger, D-Fargo, who would make the determination on what is 'deceptive' or 'misleading' for those communications. Braunberger responded that a state's attorney's office and, if warranted, a court would make that determination. If the House agrees to Cleary's amendment, the bill would head to the House floor for a final vote before going to the governor's desk for his signature. A disagreement on the amendment would lead to the bill being debated by a conference committee between the House and Senate. SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
Yahoo
10-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Senate committee hears bill mandating gold, silver investments by North Dakota treasurer
Rep. Daniel Johnston, R-Kathryn, holds up a $20 gold certificate and a gold coin during a committee hearing on March 10, 2025. (Michael Achterling/North Dakota Monitor) The North Dakota Legislature is considering investing 1% of the state's treasury in gold and silver, something other states and nations have done to ensure financial stability. Bill sponsor Rep. Daniel Johnston, R-Kathryn, told a legislative committee Monday that an investment that remains independent in value from the dollar would be beneficial in times of inflation or other financial pressures. 'Even in a good year, our dollar is losing 2% to 3% of its value,' Johnston told the Senate Industry and Business Committee. More 2025 legislative session coverage His proposal, House Bill 1183, would require 1% of the state general fund and other funds managed by the state treasurer to be invested in gold or silver bullion or coins starting July 2027. A fiscal note estimates that to be about $40 million for 2027-29. The bill only relates to funds managed by the state treasurer, not the Legacy Fund, Common Schools Trust Fund or other state funds managed by boards. The bill also requires the treasurer to study the benefits of investing in gold and silver, with a report due by June 2026. The cost of the study is estimated at $50,000. The bill passed the House last month on a 54-35 vote after initially failing by one vote. Johnson said members of the BRICS nations, an informal association including Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, among others, are moving away from using the U.S. dollar as foundational currency in favor of gold as the U.S. continues to accrue more debt. 'American consumer debt has never been higher,' Johnston said. 'Nations around the world see this and are preparing themselves for the day that the dollar is no longer the reserve currency of the world.' In an interview with the North Dakota Monitor, State Treasurer Thomas Beadle said his office wants to remain neutral in discussions about the bill. He said other states with similar statutes use precious metals with their 'rainy day' funds and not their general funds because they need funds to remain accessible on short notice. 'I'm always hesitant anytime we do a specific asset allocation within Century Code, but I do think gold has been a strong investment for a number of years and I think it has a very rosy outlook into the future,' Beadle said. The bill would require the treasurer to develop policies and procedures for managing the state's precious metals stockpile and hold the gold or silver in a secure facility. The state-owned Bank of North Dakota also is neutral on the bill but officials have pointed out it would add costs for renovations and additional security if the bank were to store precious metals. 'I think there's quite a bit of thought out there that the bank could do that with a vault in the basement,' Bank of North Dakota President Don Morgan told the Industrial Commission last month. 'There's lots of logistics and security and insurance to consider.' Kelvin Hullet, chief business development officer for the Bank of North Dakota, told lawmakers on Monday his team has taken preliminary steps to see if holding gold in the vault is feasible. 'It would probably take a couple million dollars in renovations to bring that up to speed to be able to store gold and silver,' Hullet said. He estimated that a $100 million in precious metals investment would require about $400,000 to $600,000 in annual operating costs. The bill gives the state treasurer the ability to use a third-party contractor to assist with precious metals services, if needed. Jp Cortez, executive director of the Sound Money Defense League, testified in favor of the bill. He told lawmakers Texas and Ohio already invest in gold and other states including Wyoming and Utah are adopting similar legislation. The committee did not take immediate action after the hearing. A similar bill, House Bill 1184, sponsored by Rep. Nathan Toman, R-Mandan, would have allowed up to 10% of the funds managed by the State Investment Board and the Board of University and School Lands to be used on precious metals or digital currency. That bill failed in the House on a 57-32 vote in January. Those boards already have that authority. SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
Yahoo
10-02-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Bill to repeal RIO incentive compensation program gets do not pass recommendation
Feb. 10—JAMESTOWN — The North Dakota House Government and Veterans Affairs Committee gave a do not pass recommendation on Thursday, Feb. 6, on a bill that would repeal a section in the North Dakota Century code related to an incentive compensation plan for the state Retirement and Investment Office. Rep. Bernie Satrom, R-Jamestown, vice chairman of the House and Government and Veterans Affairs Committee, was the lone dissenting vote. Satrom and Reps. Mitch Ostlie, both R-Jamestown, and Mike Beltz, R-Hillsboro, introduced House Bill 1348, which would also amend North Dakota Century Code 54-44.3-20 by removing investment and fiscal operations positions of the Retirement and Investment Office from being exempt from the state employee classification system. The passage of HB 1348 would repeal an incentive compensation program that could allow the top officials in the North Dakota Retirement and Investment Office (RIO) to earn up to 100% of their salaries as incentive compensation although RIO officials said that might not happen every year. The annual salaries for the RIO executive director and chief investment officer are $237,400 and $312,000, respectively. Rep. Vicky Steiner, R-Dickinson, said she appreciates Ostlie for bringing HB 1348 forward. "I think when something goes through budget section and that is actually our own problem is being legislators is it's very difficult to find out the budget section heard this and what it meant and doesn't get back to all of us and you are thinking there are four people involved and not 20," she said. "But when you hear the explanation today, it's pretty obvious that it's being vetted very well. So I feel comfortable that it's being vetted." Rep. Austen Schauer, R-West Fargo, chairman of the Government and Veterans Affairs Committee, said there was a lack of communication between legislators about the development of the incentive compensation program. He said he wasn't sure if the incentive compensation program should be repealed or opened up for further review. The documents of the incentive compensation program say it is designed to help attract and retain talented investment professionals. The program is also designed to help RIO earn the highest possible investment returns at a reasonable cost and at controlled levels of risk and rewards long-term investment performance. During the 2023 legislative session, the state Legislature authorized the Retirement and Investment Office to develop an incentive compensation program for its investment and fiscal operations positions necessary for the management of funds under the control of the State Investment Board. North Dakota Century Code Chapter 54-52.5 says that the North Dakota Retirement and Investment Office may develop an incentive compensation program for full-time-equivalent investment and fiscal operations positions necessary for the management of the investment of funds under the control of the State Investment Board. The State Investment Board must approve annually the provisions of the program. Nineteen of the 34 RIO employees are eligible for the incentive compensation program, said Jodi Smith, RIO interim executive director. The incentive compensation program provides incentive compensation as a percentage of regular compensation with 80% of the incentive compensation based on the financial performance of the investments and 20% based on individual goals, according to the Retirement and Investment Office's budget No. 190 for SB 2022. If the three-year rolling average return of the investments exceeds the benchmark return by 0.5%, 100% of the incentive compensation based on financial performance is available to the employees, the document says. The maximum incentives as a percentage of regular compensation are as follows: * 100% for the chief investment officer and executive director * 90% for the deputy chief investment officer * 75% for the chief risk officer, senior investment officers, and portfolio managers * 60% for the chief financial officer * 50% for investment officers, risk officers and accounting managers * 25% for senior investment accountants and investment accountants Plan participation is determined based on employment status and the executive director's assessment of the position's impact on the Retirement and Investment Office's overall investment performance. "The 100% down to 25% seems to be a little bit max, but we don't really know the going rate ... ," Schauer said. "So I don't know if it's like we just cut it out completely, or we just open the door for further review on what we're doing." Those who oppose HB 1348 say the incentive compensation program was needed to recruit and retain employees for RIO and to incentivize them to perform on their investments. "In their industry, that's what they're accustomed to," Smith said. "That's how they're set up a lot of times in their industry to perform as they have that base salary, and then they get that incentive compensation. So from that perspective, for those individuals, they are under market." She said RIO could lose employees to other states that have a higher base salary for similar positions. Having internal investment managers saves RIO about $17 million per year for internally managing 15% of the state's assets, Smith said. Ostlie, who spoke in favor of the bill, said the incentive compensation program that was approved by the State Investment Board was different from what he recalled would happen. "When I asked many other legislators for clarification of this, they couldn't remember this either and/or they said that it probably should have maybe been vetted just a little bit more," he said. Steiner said she agrees with Ostlie and was also surprised about the details of the incentive compensation program. "I didn't realize that it was that extensive," she said. "I remember when we talked about it, I thought it was just going to be a couple of fund managers that we had to incentivize just like the private market, and it's much larger than that, so it's definitely a concern." Rep. Keith Kempenich, R-Bowman, who spoke against HB 1348, said the communication between legislators about the incentive compensation program could have been better. "I'm not going to argue that point," he said. Ostlie said the incentive compensation program should be repealed and replaced with a new one that is vetted by the Legislature. He said Gov. Kelly Armstrong is now the new chair the State Investment Board. "It would allow their input into this process, and then also the full legislative body here would have maybe a little more input than what we had the last time or if nothing changes, at least we are a little bit more aware of what we did," he said. Smith said the State Investment Board should get an opportunity to fix the incentive compensation program. She said Armstrong asked for a review of the program. "Allow them that opportunity because you can see the State Investment Board, and this is in the policy, reserves the right to modify, terminate and or rescind any or all of the compensation schedules, provisions, policies and procedures contained in this and supporting documents at any time," she said. Ostlie said about 20 positions that were declassified are eligible for the incentive compensation program, including the executive director and chief investment officer. "I do not believe that all of these other classes of employees were intended by the last Legislature to be on this new comp plan," he said. He said he understands the need to declassify some RIO employees from the state employee classification system. "Everybody I talked to thought the list was expanded quite a bit larger than what was intended," he said. Section 3 of SB 2022 during the 2023 legislative session amended North Dakota Century Code Section 54-44.3-20 to exempt investment and fiscal operations positions of the Retirement and Investment Office staff from the state employee classification system. Smith said the original intent was to reclassify those employees and put them at a higher level of classification. "They were denied those reclassifications to be able to bring their salary levels up because they have a very specialized skill set within the agency," she said. "So the agency's response to being able to bring on the team members at the level that we need to bring them on then was to unclassify them." State Treasurer Thomas Beadle, who spoke against the bill, said there was opposition to the incentive compensation program on the State Investment Board when it got approved. "Primarily a couple of other agency heads to serve on the state investment board," he said. "They were concerned that they might lose fiscal staff who might think that this is more attractive and they want to jump shift to a different agency, so they dissented in their votes." The State Investment Board approved in a 10-3 vote the incentive compensation program in February. Board members Adam Miller, Joe Morrissette, who is the director for the North Dakota Office of Management and Budget, and Susan Sisk were opposed. The incentive compensation plan allows more than just the investment advisers to be eligible for the plan and includes the executive director and the fiscal team of the Retirement and Investment Office, Morrissette told The Jamestown Sun in November. All employees in RIO are not eligible for the plan, he said. He also told The Sun that he was against the structure of the bonus system because the plan awards a bonus at one basis point of performance that exceeds the benchmark. "A basis point is a 100th of a percent," he said. "That seemed like too small of a margin for me. I felt like there should be a larger gap between the benchmark and what our performance is before we started awarding bonuses."
