My first job after graduating from the University of Montana was working for the Associated Press covering the North Dakota Legislature. That cold January morning, the opening day of the session, I was nervous, inexperienced and getting lost in the state capitol building. So were a lot of other people, even lawmakers, which, at the time, I thought was a little odd.
In hindsight, it makes sense. North Dakota is one of just two states with a part-time citizen Legislature that meets every other year. The other is Montana.
What this means is lawmakers in North Dakota arrive for an 80-day scramble to pass legislation and a budget, then leave for nearly two years before doing it all over again. It’s hardly enough time to become familiar with the place, especially if you’re a newly elected lawmaker, and it shows. During the session I covered, I wrote a story for the AP about a handful of legislators who accidentally voted the wrong way on bills (they literally pushed the wrong button and sheepishly admitted to their errors after the fact).
At least in Montana, lawmakers have 90 days to pass legislation and a budget. But our state also has term limits and members can serve no more than eight consecutive years in both the state Senate and House. North Dakota has no such restrictions. So, when our citizen Legislature meets every two years, there are even more greenhorns arriving in Helena to make laws.
And make laws they do. This year, legislators submitted 699 more bill draft requests than during the 2017 session, according to the Legislative Services Division.
“We have this mad scramble to get all these bills drafted between November and January and it’s brutal on our staff and citizens of our state,” Sen. Fred Thomas, R-Stevensville, told the Helena Independent Record last month. The majority leader has long supported shorter annual sessions. And the idea appears to be gaining more converts.
During the 2019 session, a bill carried by Sen. Ryan Osmundson, R-Buffalo, passed that calls for the Legislature to explore convening for 45-day sessions every year. Lawmakers will meet in January to further study the idea in conjunction with Legislative Week in what is billed as “a small way to try on meeting every year.”
Montana’s part-time citizen Legislature is a point of pride for many residents. It forces lawmakers to propose and pass bills in a short window, approve a budget and then leave the capitol. In theory, it’s a small grassroots state government that mostly works. But this study deserves careful consideration.
Meeting every year for less than two months is not big government. It would allow lawmakers to work on the budget one year and policy the next. House members would be able to serve more than one session before seeking reelection. Supporters also argue this would keep members engaged and spread out work for legislative staff. It’s a persuasive argument.
While more details of what annual sessions would look need to be sussed out before I would offer a full-throated endorsement, it appears to be a logical next step. Montana’s population is far larger than North Dakota’s. We have a shot at landing a second U.S. congressional seat following the 2020 Census. Checking in on the state’s finances and policies at the beginning of each year isn’t a bad idea. Just keep it to 45 days.