BISMARCK — Gov. Doug Burgum on Friday vetoed a bill that would exempt the Legislature from holding recorded roll call votes on nonprocedural votes for consideration of amendments to legislation.
The governor rejected House Bill 1463 by Rep. Todd Porter, R-Mandan. The bill passed the state House of Representatives in an 87-3 vote, and the Senate, 44-2 -- veto-proof majorities.
Porter in committee testimony earlier this session said such non-roll call votes are "very common practice in the Legislature," and that “This bill cleans up the conflict between the legislative rules and the (state) open records law."
Burgum said in a veto message to House Speaker Dennis Johnson, R-Devils Lake, that the bill "would allow the Legislature to adopt far-reaching amendments affecting the central policy or fiscal impact of a bill without affording the public the accountability of a recorded roll call vote."
A recorded roll call vote is visualized by the House and Senate tally boards that light up lawmakers' names green or red as to whether they voted for or against a question, respectively.
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Burgum said floor testimony on the bill indicated that the Legislature is in violation of state open records law "because not all amendments receive a recorded roll call vote."
"However, rather than simply comply with the law, the Legislature has opted to change the law to suit its current practice," the governor wrote.
It takes a two-third majority vote to override a veto, being 63 votes in the House and 32 in the Senate.
The veto is Burgum's fourth of the session.
The Trust Project
