North Dakota House OKs measures for longer term limits, more session days

BISMARCK — Proposed ballot measures for voters that would increase North Dakota lawmakers' term limits and give more days to their sessions passed the state House of Representatives on Tuesday, March 14.

The House also killed a measure to allow electronic signature gathering for citizen-initiated ballot measures and set restrictions on citizens for amending the state constitution.

The passed measures now go to the Senate. Voters would consider the measures in 2024.

House Concurrent Resolution 3019 by Rep. Jim Kasper, R-Fargo, passed in a 63-29 vote.

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The measure would impose term limits of 12 consecutive years each in the House and Senate, with at least a four-year break before those lawmakers could run to serve again for another 12 consecutive years. Members who completed serving partial terms would be eligible to serve 12 more consecutive years.

The same limits would apply to all elected executive branch officials, such as the attorney general and secretary of state.

Last year, 63% of voters approved Measure 1 for term limits of eight cumulative years each in the House and the Senate. The governor cannot be elected to more than two four-year terms. Term limits are not retroactive, meaning the service of current officeholders does not count against them. Kasper's measure seeks to repeal the 2022 term limits voter approved.

The measure's language bars the Legislature from proposing amendments to alter or repeal the term limits; only citizens are able to do so. Kasper, who was first elected in 2000, said he "would love to have this in court," calling the 2022 measure flawed and unconstitutional.

Kasper pitched the scenario of "every eight years you must fire 100% of your employees and replace them with all new employees and you can never, ever rehire those first employees again that you fired after eight years of service. I submit ... this is exactly what the current term limits requires and that's what (my resolution) would replace and remedy."

Rep. Lori VanWinkle, R-Minot, called the resolution "a slap in the face to the people who voted for" Measure 1 last year.

Rep. Mike Nathe, R-Bismarck, who led opposition to term limits last year, said most voters "were confused. They thought they were voting for term limits for D.C." Opponents also had little time to mount a successful campaign last year, he added.

Kasper’s proposal to extend legislative term limits has prompted allegations of treachery from U.S. Term Limits, a national advocacy group that backed last year’s ballot measure in North Dakota.

In June 2020, Kasper signed his name to a pledge noting that he would support a constitutional measure to enact eight-year term limits on the North Dakota House and Senate. Kasper also received a $5,000 campaign donation from U.S. Term Limits board member Travis Anderson later that summer.

U.S. Term Limits Field Director Scott Tillman accused Kasper of breaking a promise to his constituents by reneging on the 2020 pledge.

Kasper told Forum News Service he signed the pledge with an assurance that the organization wasn’t planning to pursue term limits on state legislators. The lawmaker said he aligned with Tillman’s group because he supported congressional term limits, but the organization badgered him to sign pledges for both Congress and the state Legislature.

After U.S. Term Limits began funding last year’s statewide measure, Kasper said he revoked his pledge to the group since he felt he had been misled.

“I made a mistake. I never should have signed (the pledge),” Kasper said. “But I did revoke it.”

The House passed Kasper's House Concurrent 3020 , 74-18.

The measure would give the Legislature 100 days for meeting every two years, with an additional 20 days if approved by a two-thirds majority vote of the House and Senate. Days to reconvene and reconsider a governor's veto wouldn't count.

Right now the Legislature could have annual sessions, but would only has 80 days every two years to do so. The 2021 Legislature used 76 days.

Kasper said he brought the resolution to enable more experience for new lawmakers in the term limits era.

The House defeated House Concurrent Resolution 3031 by Rep. Steve Vetter, R-Grand Forks, 29-63.

The resolution sought to establish an electronic signature gathering system administered by the secretary of state, as well as raise the bar for amending the state constitution.

Proposed restrictions included increasing the number of signatures for citizen-initiated measures to make the ballot, limiting such measures to a single subject, and requiring a majority vote in the June primary and November general elections in a majority of legislative districts for constitutional initiatives to pass.

Forum News Service reporter Jeremy Turley contributed to this story.