The state Senate has voted down a bill to have the Legislature meet every year.
Under the measure, the 80 day limit per biennium would stay in-tact.
Senate Appropriations Committee chairman Brad Bekkedahl (R-Williston) supported annual sessions.
"The budgets for this state, in not too many years, have gone from about $4 billion to $20 billion, in an environment where we have global commodities determining the structures of our tax revenues," Bekkedahl said. "We have seen frequent swings in that, and I think they're getting worse, not better. So I think having the ability to react to those becomes more important as time goes on."
Sen. Ron Sorvaag (R-Fargo) was an opponent. Sorvaag said back in the 2021-2022, there was a special session, that dealt with redistricting – and the state budget.
"The month of September, I met two to three days a week with committees that month," Sorvaag said. "In October, I met three days a week every week that month. So, if you're going to keep calling us in, we're going to become full-time legislators."
The vote in the Senate on House Bill 1408 was 30 no, 17 yes.
