AN ACT to provide an appropriation for defraying the expenses of the office of the secretary of state; to amend and reenact sections 46-03-11, 46-04-01, 46-04-03, 46-04-04, 46-04-10, 46-04-14, 46-04-18, 46-04-19, and 54-09-05 of the North Dakota Century Code, relating to public printing and the salary of the secretary of state; to provide for a transfer; and to provide an exemption.
HB 1002 is the Secretary of State appropriation bill for the 2025-27 biennium. It funds the office’s salaries, operating expenses, election reform activities, petition review, grants, and public printing, with a total appropriation of $23.5 million from all funds, including $9.44 million from the general fund. The bill also includes one-time funding for election-related technology and security items such as pollpads and cradle points, IT enhancements, an election security grant, and Help America Vote Act support.
Beyond appropriations, the bill amends several Century Code provisions governing publication and distribution of session laws, compilations, and codifications. These changes shift control of public printing and law distribution functions from the secretary of state to the legislative council in multiple sections, update who receives official copies of state laws, and revise rules for charging agencies, selling session laws, and disposing of older volumes. The bill also increases the secretary of state’s salary over time and provides exemptions allowing certain prior federal and strategic investment funds to remain available for election management, FirstStop upgrades, campaign system work, website redesign, and related IT improvements.
The bill’s impact on state law is both fiscal and administrative. It appropriates operating and capital-style funds for the secretary of state’s office, authorizes transfers between the general fund and election fund, and creates reporting requirements for one-time funding. It also changes statutory responsibilities for public printing and law distribution, affecting the secretary of state, the legislative council, state agencies, counties, and recipients of official law publications. Election administration systems and technology vendors are likely among the most directly affected parties because of the dedicated funding for pollpads, cradle points, election management systems, and related upgrades.
The overall sentiment appears strongly supportive. The bill passed the House 86-1 and the Senate 46-0, indicating broad bipartisan approval and little visible opposition in the recorded votes. The absence of committee transcript material suggests no major public debate is available in the provided record, but the near-unanimous votes indicate the bill was generally viewed as a routine but important funding and cleanup measure for the secretary of state’s office.
The main points of contention, to the extent they can be inferred from the text, are the size and focus of election-related spending and the statutory shift of public-printing duties from the secretary of state to the legislative council. The bill also raises the secretary of state’s salary, which can sometimes draw scrutiny, though the recorded votes do not show significant resistance. Overall, the measure appears to have been treated as a technical appropriations and administration bill with limited controversy.
HB 1002 appropriates funds for the secretary of state’s office and public printing, authorizes transfers and exemptions for prior election-related funds, and revises North Dakota Century Code provisions on publication, distribution, sale, and disposal of state laws. It also changes the statutory language to place several public-printing and law-distribution functions under the legislative council rather than the secretary of state, while increasing the secretary of state’s salary and preserving access to unspent federal and strategic investment funds for election technology and related projects.
The bill appears to have had very favorable legislative support. It passed the House overwhelmingly and the Senate unanimously, suggesting broad agreement that the appropriation and statutory updates were necessary and noncontroversial. No committee discussion was provided, but the voting history indicates a generally positive, routine appropriations-bill reception.
The most likely areas of concern are the bill’s election-related spending, including pollpads, cradle points, election management systems, security grants, and IT enhancements, as well as the transfer of public printing responsibilities from the secretary of state to the legislative council. The salary increase for the secretary of state could also be a point of scrutiny. However, the recorded votes show almost no opposition, so any disagreement appears to have been limited or not reflected in the final floor action.