Some North Dakota legislators concerned term limits may give more power to executive branch, bureaucrats

GRAND FORKS — With term limits an approaching reality in North Dakota, a number of legislators say they have concerns about the future of the Legislature.

“Term limits are a looming problem,” Rep. Eric Murphy, R-Grand Forks, said in response to a Herald survey distributed to Grand Forks lawmakers. He added that it is easy to underappreciate the "key role of institutional knowledge in the Legislature."

In 2022, North Dakota voters passed a state constitutional amendment limiting the governor to two terms and legislators to eight years in the state House of Representatives and eight years in the state Senate. The amendment went into effect on Jan. 1, 2023, meaning 2024 will be the first statewide election in which elected officials in those chambers will be subjected to the new term limits.

This year, voters in even-numbered districts will vote for their representation in Bismarck, as well as vote for governor and other executive officials, like the state auditor. With the new term limits imposed on legislators and the governor, expect significant turnover to begin in the Legislature eight years from now.

Many lawmakers have concerns about the loss of institutional knowledge, the potential shift in power dynamics between the Legislature and executive branches, and the power of staff and bureaucrats.

“As we lose institutional knowledge, we will see power slip out of the hands of the legislative branch and shift towards lobbyists, unelected bureaucrats and the executive branch,” said Rep. Claire Cory, R-Grand Forks. “I personally think it's bad policy for the state.”

Rep. Steve Vetter, R-Grand Forks, also has concerns about what he believes will be adding power to bureaucrats.

"The other consequence is state agencies and unelected bureaucrats will take on a bigger role in state government because of the lack of elected legislators that are knowledgeable on certain subject matter or agency rules," Vetter said. "Remember, North Dakota is somewhat unique in that we have citizen Legislature that only meets 80 days every two years. In the eight-year term limit, each elected legislator will spend less than a year total in Bismarck. Whereas the unelected state officials are in Bismarck throughout the whole year. How this changes our state is yet to be seen."

Sen. Jonathan Sicker, R-Grand Forks, believes that “to preserve the Legislature's leadership role we will need to consider measures that accelerate new legislator training and ensure legislators have access to institutional history and policy expertise from a legislative viewpoint. It will be difficult to acquire a broad depth of knowledge in only four legislative sessions.”

A number of lawmakers surveyed noted that North Dakota only meets once every two years for 80 days. Biennial legislative sessions exist in only three other states: Montana, Nevada and Texas.

North Dakota is one of 16 states that have legislative term limits. When voters passed the measure, it was the first state to pass legislative term limits in more than 20 years.

The simple process of regular elections was, in a way, a form of term limits, according to Jeff Barta, R-Grand Forks.

“It is my personal belief that term limits already existed in the form of the election process,” he said. “Part of the conversation on imposing term limits was the power of incumbency and how difficult it is to overcome. I will agree that this may be the case at the federal level, but do not believe it carries as much weight at the state level.”

In the eyes of House Minority Leader Rep. Zac Ista, D-Grand Forks, the reasons North Dakota voters approved the measure are clear.

“It's no wonder why the voters made this change when we continue to learn more about the deleted public records from the attorney general's office, the sweetheart real estate deal benefiting a sitting Republican legislator, and the use of taxpayer dollars to fund overseas trips where heinous federal crimes allegedly occurred,” he wrote. “I hope that the enacted term limits — which I believe to be clear in their language and intent — can be one way to curb the worst excesses of the GOP supermajority.”

Between 2028 and 2030 is when term limits for legislators will likely be most noticeable. Terms limits could mean more changes in the next decade, from annual sessions to the Legislature meeting more than 80 days every two years.

Here is how other Grand Forks lawmakers answered the survey question:

Rep. Landon Bahl, Republican: "Term limits can be a good thing when not rushed and implemented correctly. There is certainly confusion with the term limits in North Dakota, both from your average residents to lawmakers. I believe term limits will bring fresh and new perspectives to certain government roles that have long been held by entrenched politicians. On the other hand, term limits are going to decrease the overall knowledge held within our state government, potentially affecting legislation. Overall, I support term limits if they are rolled out in a thoroughly vetted manner."

Rep. Mark Sanford, Republican: "Term limits are a reality. Our focus should be on ensuring good governance under this different model. My greater concern is the lessening participation in the grassroots levels, such as selection of candidates and voting."

Sen. Curt Kreun, Republican: "I opposed term limits as they take away the rights of voters to choose. There are two issues I see. Number one is that over the last eight years, the North Dakota Senate turned over 72% of its membership. This turnover happens automatically without term limits imposed. So what is the benefit of term limits? The second issue I see with the recent vote on term limits is that our state constitution was changed with misleading information, in my opinion. The proponents of term limits allowed voters to believe this was a national term limit vote, not affecting state offices. The misleading nature of the way this issue was presented became apparent to me as I visited with voters. So yes, this remains a confusing issue for the voters."

Sen. Scott Meyer, Republican: "I opposed term limits when it was on the ballot as I don’t believe we have enough quality candidates willing to run and serve in the Legislature. If term limits were in effect when I originally ran, I would already be termed out of the Senate and I finally feel like I am in a place to lead and deliver for our community. Since North Dakota has biennial sessions, your representation will at most serve four legislative sessions. There is a lot to learn in your first couple sessions, and it takes time. With the passage of term limits, you'll see more power in the hands of state agencies and lobbyists. As we term out, they remain and will be the source for institutional knowledge in the Capitol."