“I’m just a bill. Yes, I’m only a bill. And I’m sitting here on Capitol Hill."
This classic School Rock tune is more relevant than ever as North Dakota enters the first few weeks of its 68th Legislative Assembly at the State Capitol.
For up to 80 legislative days, the session will address many issues ranging from the economy and infrastructure to healthcare and the workforce.
As bills begin to be introduced, heard and voted on, the Capitol is bustling with busy legislators and citizens. And with the addition of 39 new faces in the North Dakota Legislature, this session promises to be a memorable one.
With hundreds of bills having already been introduced within the first week of the session, the citizens of North Dakota are encouraged to participate in the process to ensure that the critical decisions being made are in the best interest of every North Dakotan.
“It can be as complicated or as easy as you want it to be,” IT Manager for North Dakota's Legislative Council Cody Malloy said.
Every session, Malloy makes a list of all introduced water-related bills for his wife, who is a water resources engineer.
“If there is something she is interested in, she’ll either watch or possibly even testify on a bill. It’s really just a way for you to keep tabs on what’s going on,” he said.
Though he encourages citizens to participate in the political process, Malloy admits that “anywhere between 700 to 900 bills may be introduced in the session, and it can be a lot to follow.”
However, Malloy believes that tracking a bill is easier than most people think, as long as they know what they're looking for and where to look for it.
Directed by John Bjornson, North Dakota’s Legislative Council has made a deliberate effort to ensure that updates and information regarding the legislative session are easily accessible to the general public.
Released just over a month ago, the North Dakota Legislative Branch’s newly updated website provides easy access to session information, the legislative calendar and a bill tracking system.
On the site, there are also opportunities to listen in on committee hearings and submit testimony in opposition or support of a specific bill. Additionally, each bill can be tracked by its given number or—if the number is not known—found through the website’s major topics index that contains the progression of every bill in a given policy area.
“Because we have a citizen legislature that meets for only 80 days every two years, it is important that we are able to find ways to provide up-to-date information to the citizens of the state in an easily accessible manner so they can follow legislation and contact their legislators,” Bjornson said.
Malloy, who assisted in the redevelopment of the site, emphasized the intention of creating a user-friendly website.
“It’s all about providing a tool the public can easily use to track the bills throughout the session," Malloy said.
Visit ndlegis.gov to start tracking bills that matter to you.