BIA Advocacy Update

North Dakota Association of Builders' top 10 bills from 69th Legislative Session

NDAB's Government Affairs Committee met weekly during the legislative session to discuss various bills related to the industry and determine if a stance should be taken. BIA-RRV has two seats on that committee. 

After reviewing bills from the session, the following ten bills were selected due to NDAB's involvement. In no particular order, these were the top 10 bills picked from the most recent session: 

Support: 

SB 2225 would have provided appropriation from the Strategic Investment and Improvements Fund to the North Dakota Department of Commerce for a Housing for Opportunity, Mobility, and Empowerment (HOME) grant program designed to support affordable housing infrastructure development. FAILED

SB 2019 will provide an appropriation for the North Dakota Department of Career and Technical Education for the 2025-2027 biennium. The demand for workforce development has never been so immense and it is vital for the building industry and the North Dakota economy as a whole. PASSED

HB 1500 will allow homeowners to apply to repair a nonconforming structure. With the current housing crisis, this bill is important as it ensures that we don’t lose more homes across the state. PASSED

HB 1362 would have established a housing development loan fund administered by the Bank of North Dakota which would have provided low-interest loans to local banks for housing development programs. FAILED

SB 2239 would have provided financial grants to eligible individuals enrolled in registered apprenticeship programs within the state and HB 1036 would have created a new Division of Apprenticeship within the North Dakota Department of Labor and Human Rights to support and expand apprenticeship programs in the state. FAILED

Oppose:

HB 1496 would have required the temperature to be at a minimum of 68 degrees in rental properties. This would have required a huge time commitment by property owners and managers to supervise their rental properties. FAILED

HB 1429 (before being amended) would have changed the law to not allow drone footage of real estate properties unless permission had been obtained by neighboring property owners. Since it is often necessary to fly over adjacent properties to capture a full view, having to obtain permission from neighboring landowners would have been problematic. The bill was “hog-housed” which eliminated this language all together. PASSED

HB 1259 would have permanently kept North Dakota on standard time year-round, which would have caused chaos for our border cities and their daily operations. This would have also shortened the seasonal workday which the construction industry heavily relies on. FAILED

HB 1493 would have eliminated the Office of Legal Immigration in North Dakota from the state's legal code. Immigrants make up one in four workers in the construction industry and the Office of Legal Immigration is a valuable resource for the current workforce shortage. FAILED

Opposed, then supported once amended:

HB 1354 updates North Dakota's real estate appraisal regulations by modifying definitions, expanding exemptions, and clarifying standards for evaluations. The amendments provide clarity by referring to federal guidelines regarding evaluations which allow licensed real estate agents and others to continue to perform evaluations, valuations, and BPOs. PASSED

News from NAHB

U.S. House approves tax bill with key housing and business provisions

With a narrow vote of 215-214, the House passed the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which is a major change in tax and domestic policy legislation that NAHB believes is positive for small businesses and the industry. NAHB sent a letter of support to House leaders and encouraging them to make improvements to the bill.  

Some key parts are: 

• Business SALT was not included, meaning that businesses can deduct property taxes paid to state or local governments in full.
• The individual SALT limit would increase from $10,000 up to $40,000 for taxpayers earning less than $500,000. The original bill increased the limit to $30,000, and NAHB successfully urged lawmakers to raise this threshold.
• The Low-Income Housing Tax Credit would be expanded.
• The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act would be made permanent, including the tax rate structure and increased exemptions for the Alternative Minimum Tax.
• The Section 199A Qualified Business Income Deduction, which helps provide tax parity for pass-through entities, would be enhanced by increasing the deduction from 20% to 23%.
• The estate tax exemption would increase to $15 million.
• 100% bonus depreciation would be restored.
• Opportunity Zones would be extended.

Read the entire article here.

Minnesota Legislature

The MN regular legislative session ended on May 19. However, with agreements not reached on many budgets, a special session is in sight, with a likely start date of this week. Gov. Tim Walz has yet to announce the start date. 

Information on the working groups that have been meeting on the various budgets can be found here.

BIA CEO Bryce Johnson heads to Washington, D.C., with FMWF Chamber of Commerce

Bryce Johnson was in Washington, D.C. last week visiting with our congressional delegation and other key leaders for our nation. Along with approximately 40 other area leaders (including BIA members), Johnson was able to hear from U.S. Sen. John Hoeven, U.S. Sen. Kevin Cramer, U.S. Sen. Tina Smith, U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar, U.S. Rep. Julie Fedorchak, U.S. Rep. Brad Finstad, U.S. Rep. Michelle Fishbach, Secretary of the U.S. Department of the Interior Doug Burgum, U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem and Special Assistant to the Director, Air National Guard Major General Bryony Terrell.

Key points discussed were solutions to support business stability and job creation, including pro-growth policies, an emphasis on passing full-year appropriations, investment in workforce programs and discussing the impacts tariffs have on business. 

Left to Right: Austin Morris, Enclave; Shannon Roers Jones and Jim Roers, ROERS, and Bryce Johnson, BIA. 

Above: U.S. Rep. Julie Fedorchak

Above: U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar

Above: Secretary of the U.S. Department of the Interior Doug Burgum