Sen. Desiree Van Oosting

Maddy summaryHCR 3021 is a proposed constitutional amendment to North Dakota's judicial system. It would remove civil and criminal immunity for judges, void judgments violating due process, state/federal law, or the U.S. or North Dakota constitutions, and require judicial vacancies (supreme court or district court) to be filled by a bipartisan committee's nominees rather than solely by the governor. This directly affects all state judges and the court system by changing how judges are appointed and held accountable. The amendment must be approved by voters in the 2026 primary election, as it failed to pass the legislature (13 yeas, 80 nays) in February 2025.

Maddy summaryHB 1465 amends North Dakota's gaming tax code (Section 53-06.1-12) to reduce tax rates for licensed gaming organizations, such as casinos and racetracks. It lowers the top tax rate from 12% to 6% for businesses with quarterly revenue exceeding $250,000, while maintaining a 1% rate for revenue under $150,000 and a $500 flat fee plus 6% for revenue between $150,000 and $250,000. The bill directly affects gaming businesses by changing how their tax burden is calculated based on quarterly revenue. This represents a concrete policy change to reduce taxes for higher-revenue gaming operators. The bill was introduced in 2025 but failed to pass in February 2025.

Maddy summaryHB 1519 requires North Dakota's Department of Health to compile and maintain individual death and vaccination records from the state's immunization and death registration systems. It mandates tracking specific details like vaccine type, date of vaccination, sex, race, and death dates within 720 days post-vaccination. The department must publish quarterly public reports on its website showing death rates for each vaccine type administered to over 20,000 people in the previous quarter, broken down by demographic groups and time intervals after vaccination. This bill directly affects the state health department's data management and public reporting processes.

Maddy summaryHB 1605 would ban adding fluoride to public drinking water systems in North Dakota for fluoridation purposes, directly affecting municipal water providers and public health departments. The bill prohibits adding any fluoride compound (like sodium fluoride) to public water supplies but excludes naturally occurring fluoride or industrial uses. Violators face a $500 fine for first offenses and $1,000 for repeat violations, enforced by the Department of Environmental Quality. The bill was introduced in January 2025, passed committee, but failed to advance in the legislature on February 19, 2025 (40-53 vote).

Maddy summaryHB 1242 would establish a legal presumption that shared parenting (joint decisionmaking on major issues like education and health, plus approximately equal time with each parent) serves children's best interests in custody cases. This presumption applies unless a court finds specific exceptions, such as evidence of child harm, domestic violence involving serious injury or weapons, or sexual abuse. The bill requires courts to document specific reasons when overriding this presumption and mandates supervised parenting time for abusive parents in domestic violence cases. It directly affects parents in custody disputes and North Dakota courts handling parental rights decisions.

Relating to the definition of human being and person as the terms relate to the offenses of murder and assault, and civil actions for death caused by wrongful acts.

Maddy summarySB 2300 would require North Dakota public schools to provide secure containers for students to store personal electronic devices (like phones, tablets, or smartwatches) during the school day. Students must turn off and place devices in these containers upon arrival, with exceptions for documented medical needs. The bill allocates $1.89 million to fund the secure containers for the 2025-2027 biennium. It directly affects all K-12 students and schools in North Dakota, mandating a specific storage process during school hours.

Relating to the creation of districts, district commission member nomination and election procedures, the costs of elections of district representative commission members, and the referral of cattle assessments; to amend and reenact sections 4.1‑03‑01, 4.1‑03‑02, 4.1‑03‑03, 4.1‑03‑04, 4.1‑03‑12, and 4.1‑03‑17 of the North Dakota Century Code, relating to the definition of a cattle industry representative, the election and terms of members to the North Dakota beef commission, commission vacancies, and requiring livestock auction markets and livestock dealers to forward names of cattle sellers, and the refund of assessments; to provide a penalty; and to provide an effective date.

Maddy summaryThis concurrent resolution (SCR 4010) urges the NCAA to revoke its policy allowing transgender student-athletes to compete on women's sports teams. It argues the policy discriminates against biological females in collegiate women's sports and conflicts with Title IX's requirement to protect sex-based athletic opportunities. The resolution specifically calls for the NCAA to enforce a policy restricting women's sports to athletes whose biological sex is female, requiring member institutions to comply. It was introduced in North Dakota's legislature but withdrawn before further action.

Maddy summaryHB 1273 would prohibit North Dakota cities, counties, and the state from adopting policies, orders, or ordinances that restrict individual speech - including those related to hate crimes. The bill states that any such local policy would be invalid and cannot be overridden by city or county home rule charters. It directly affects municipal governments and local regulations by blocking restrictions on speech at the community level. The law would take effect if passed, making speech-limiting local rules unenforceable.