ND Supreme Court strikes down funding bill; special session expected before Oct. 28 court deadline

FARGO (KFGO) – A ruling by the North Dakota Supreme Court Thursday morning has invalidated and voided a key funding bill passed by the state legislature at the end of the last session.

The court’s finding will require the legislature to go into special session, likely within the next 30 days, to again pass the massive Office and Management and Budget bill.

The Public Employees Retirement System Board challenged the legislature in court after an amendment was added to Senate Bill 2015 allowing legislators to serve on the board.

In the unanimous ruling, the state Supreme Court says, quote: “under North Dakota Constitution Article IV, § 13, ‘[n]o bill may embrace more than one subject, which must be expressed in its title.’ When a bill embraces multiple subjects, all of which are expressed in its title, the whole bill is void due to the manifest impossibility of choosing which parts of the bill are valid and which are void. A court’s attempt to choose between the provisions would improperly inject it into the Legislature’s domain.”

Attorney General Drew Wrigley called the ruling and its implications “seismic.” He says his office is seeking clarification from the court about when its judgment will be officially entered. He says it appears the court instituted a stay of 30 days on its judgment, which would give the legislature until October 28 to go into special session and address the issues in the bill that violate the state constitution before the funding as appropriated by the bill would be voided.

Wrigley added a number of legislators are farmers who are still in the fields for harvest and other legislators have identified travel and family conflicts that could be problematic in getting a special session scheduled quickly. He says he’s working with legislative leaders to determine whether a special session could be convened in the 30-day timeframe or if his office needs to request an additional stay from the court.

In a statement, Gov. Doug Burgum said he’s arranging meetings with legislative leaders to determine the best course of action for lawmakers to address the issue in the most efficient and effective manner as possible.

Story by Tasha Carvell / KFGO

Detroit Lakes , MN (KDLM)-

Add you story text here. To edit the image click on it-select the edit button, then click “replace” under the image. Choose your new image and be sure you have align-left selected. To add/edit the image sourcing when you are in the image edit the text in the caption field.