The upcoming three-day special Legislative session was called by Gov. Kelly Armstrong to address the restriction or banning of the substance kratom and its synthetic relatives, such as 7-OH. But there are other potential issues that may be discussed.
First, the shortfall in the funding for the Military Museum at the state Capitol grounds may be addressed.
Additionally, Sen. Tim Mathern (D-Fargo) has proposed two bills dealing with data centers — one would be a one-year ban on building those centers, the other would prevent government officials from signing non-disclosure agreements with the data center companies. Mathern pointed out that there is an interim committee studying the issues of data centers and artificial intelligence, so he doesn’t believe working on those two bills will make the special session any longer.
So will these other issues be introduced? It’s up to the Legislative Management Committee, which will act as a de facto “Delayed Bills Committee,” and will make a decision on whether a proposed bill will be introduced in the special session. That’s the same mechanism used during the earlier special session that dealt with rural health.
So far, we don’t know if the Legislative Management Committee will allow anything other than discussion of banning kratom. However, several Legislators I’ve spoken to have said they believe the Military Museum issue will be considered.
The Legislative Management Committee will meet August 17. The session is to run from September 2-4.
