By: Mary Steurer, Amy Dalrymple and Michael Achterling
Gov. Kelly Armstrong issued seven line-item vetoes on six bills Monday, with many objections focused on policies he felt lawmakers “shoehorned” into budget bills or encroached on executive authority.
One line-item veto was of a section of the Ethics Commission’s budget bill meant to protect lawmakers from being prosecuted for conflicts of interest — though he let a similar clause in the bill become law.
Both provisions, part of Senate Bill 2004, concerned lawmakers who have a special interest in the outcome of legislation. Under House and Senate rules, lawmakers are supposed to notify their peers when they believe they have conflict of interest with a bill so that their colleagues can decide whether to excuse them from voting. They may also seek guidance from the Ethics Commission.
The vetoed clause stated that if a lawmaker voted on a bill they had a conflict of interest with, but followed legislative ethics rules and/or followed informal guidance from the Ethics Commission, they couldn’t be prosecuted for any potential crime that stemmed from that vote.
In a line-item veto message, Armstrong said the provision “sends the wrong message to North Dakotans.”
“While transparency and ethical conduct are essential in a representative democracy, this provision elevates internal legislative procedure above state law, effectively shielding lawmakers from accountability under our criminal code,” he wrote.
He said the clause would create another blanket protection for lawmakers at a time when the state “already has opaque campaign finance laws.” The Legislature at the last minute rejected a bill some hoped would increase campaign finance disclosure requirements — a move Armstrong criticized.
Armstrong signed the rest of the Ethics Commission budget into law, which included another more narrow immunity clause. The narrower section protects a lawmaker from being prosecuted under a specific statute for voting on a bill they have conflict of interest with if they follow House and Senate ethics rules. The statute, titled “speculating or wagering on official action or information,” is what Rep. Jason Dockter, R-Bismarck, was convicted of last year.
“Section 4 of Senate Bill 2004 is acceptable and reasonable because it appropriately clarifies that legislators must have the freedom to perform their official duties without fear of prosecution,” Armstrong said in his veto message.
The Ethics Commission expressed earlier this month that the immunity provision the governor vetoed would have made it legally more risky for the commission to give informal advice.
House Bill 1003, budget for the attorney general: Armstrong vetoed a provision that sought to prevent a district court judge from waiving fees for the 24/7 sobriety program. “It invites a constitutional challenge and will only increase costs and jail overcrowding for counties,” Armstrong wrote in his veto message. He also noted a standalone bill, Senate Bill 2365, had the same provision but failed in the House, yet the policy was later “logrolled” into the budget bill.
Senate Bill 2014, North Dakota Industrial Commission budget: The governor vetoed a $150,000 passthrough grant from the Housing Incentive Fund to a Native American-focused organization to fund a homelessness liaison position. “Addressing homelessness and housing insecurity requires a comprehensive, sustainable, and statewide strategy, not isolated, one-time allocations to individual entities,” Armstrong wrote in his veto message.
Also in that bill, Armstrong vetoed a mandate for the Bank of North Dakota to spend up to $250,000 to study economic development strategies in western North Dakota as oil production decreases. The governor said the Department of Commerce already has the authority to do such a study.
House Bill 1019, Parks and Recreation Department budget: Armstrong vetoed a portion of the bill that sought to eliminate the department’s ability to rename state parks and require legislative approval for name changes. Armstrong wrote that provision encroaches on the executive branch. It also could complicate matters if federal dollars were contingent on the renaming of a state park, he said. Last November, the department changed the name of the state park in Medora to Rough Rider State Park.
Senate Bill 2001, Legislative Council budget: Armstrong vetoed a line in the budget that reserves the 15th floor of the Capitol for legislative staff. The floor is occupied now by the Department of Career and Technical Education. Armstrong said lawmakers did not get input from his administration, the department affected or the public. He said his administration will help identify available Capitol space, but he objected to doing so in state law.
Senate Bill 2018, Department of Commerce budget: Armstrong vetoed $350,000 to the State Fair Association for sanitation restoration projects. The governor said that funding should have been included in the State Fair Association’s primary budget. He said adding it to the Commerce budget at the end of the session “is a clear example of logrolling, which undermines transparency, accountability, and the principle of deliberate budgeting.”
“Through limited use of my line-item veto authority, we’ve reduced spending, protected the integrity of the budgeting process and preserved executive branch authority to ensure that state government remains efficient and transparent,” Armstrong said in a statement Monday.
Sen. David Hogue, R-Minot, chair of the Legislative Management Committee, said Monday that while he may disagree with some of the vetoes, he does not believe Armstrong overstepped his authority.
“I don’t think they (the vetoes) rise to the level of a situation where we’d want to independently call ourselves into session,” Hogue said. “If we had another reason, we might take them up, but these vetoes would not be the impetus in my view.”
The Legislature, which adjourned earlier this month, does not have to act on the vetoes within a set amount of days, said Emily Thompson, director of the legal division of Legislative Council. She added lawmakers would need to use at least one of their six remaining legislative days to consider a potential veto override.
Lawmakers during the 2025 session passed a total of 601 bills. Armstrong signed 597 and vetoed four bills in their entirety: a bill affecting state employee health insurance, a library content bill, a private school voucher bill and a tax credit for prison industries. Budget bills take effect July 1 and policy bills take effect Aug. 1.
