presented by the North Dakota Home School Association to home educating families for educational and instructional purposes. Nothing contained herein is to be construed as partisan in nature. Given accurate information recipients can make up their own minds about steps they can take to affect legislation in North Dakota in a respectful manner which promotes personal liberty, responsibility and freedom.  All comment is the opinion of Gail Biby unless otherwise noted.  Nothing contained herein is to be construed as legal advice and is included for educational purposes only.Here are suggestions for home educating families and their interactions with the Legislature, from a Legislative Watch Team member:

In some states homeschoolers have become well acquainted with their legislators and this has proved to be beneficial when it comes to home school legislation.

In Minnesota, for instance, they have a homeschool association day at the capital. This year they are encouraging  homeschooling families to be of service to their legislators and to help "put a face" on homeschooling. This appears to be a large annual event with good turnout and offers many positives to homeschooling families in Minnesota. Obviously, they have many more home educators than North Dakota, but past Legislative Days at the Capitol have also proven successful in North Dakota.

The North Dakota Home School Association has hosted a legislator's dinner with speakers dealing with proposed legislation and general information about home education. Displays of school work and completed projects elicited interest from attendees. The Legislative Banquet often featured music by home schoolers.  The more visible the home schoolers were at the banquet the more beneficial it was to attendees. It put a very positive spin on parent-directed education.  (Editorial note: I coordinated the Legislative Banquets in 1991, 1993, 1995, 1997 and found that legislator’s preferred an evening with good conversation around the table, good food and good entertainment. The event required lots of planning and can be quite expensive, nevertheless, it was well received.)

Some of the things North Dakota homeschooling families can do is to get to know their legislators, write him or her, give them samples of their children's schoolwork, or write up articles on the child’s accomplishments e.g. spelling bee, Geographic bee, Science Olympiad.

We should work together to find ways we can get to know our legislators better so they will remember us next time homeschooling legislation comes up.

Kim Breuer

Arranged in numerical order with House bills listed first. It is our goal to send the Legislative Watch every Friday during the Session. If you have input on any of these, or others of interest, please contact me at: billbiby@msn.com  Some of the following are included for your information, some for action, and some for the sheer joy of it.

Quick links added to NDHSA website. Go to www.ndhsa.org and click on any of the quick links to read the bills, find out when they will be heard in committee, to contact your legislator and much more.

WATCH those in red!

HOUSE BILLS 2007 LEGISLATIVE SESSION

HB 1074 - Will make special event promoters and organizers responsible to provide a complete list of all vendors. Violators may be fined $250.

·          House Second reading, passed, Y 48, N 44. Introduced in Senate and referred to Finance & Taxation Committee.

This bill makes event organizers, such as our convention coordinator, act as policing agents for the State Tax Commissioner. The vote was close so maybe it could still be defeated in the Senate. It’s just not right to draft event organizers into gratis work for the State Tax Dept.

HB 1136 - Will increase the number of immunizations required for entrance into public, private, parochial or home school, day care centers, child care facilities, head start programs and nursery schools. Added to the already  lengthy list of mandated immunizations are: pneumococcal disease, meningococcal disease, rotavirus, hepatitis A.

·          Passed House Y 87, N 4 1/12. Introduced in the Senate and referred to the Education Committee.

Health care decisions ought to be left to parents and their physicians. There are many legitimate concerns about the constant attack on immature immune systems by this mandated plethora of immunizations. And, honesty, what does the Education Committee know about the medical concerns about forced immunizations? For more information read the following lest you feel like an ignoramus for even questioning the ‘gods of medicine’.

Questioning Vaccines is not "Fueled by Ignorance"
But vaccine injuries are real despite claims that occurrences are rare. Fears of developing autism as a result of vaccination have been dismissed by mainstream medicine which prefers to attribute the increase incidence of autism, currently at 1 in 166 children, to a “better diagnosis.” Thimerosal (mercury) in vaccines has received much attention in the association with autism. Undoubtedly, many children have.....
http://www.newswithviews.com/Tenpenny/sherri13.htm 
by Dr. Sherri Tenpenny, DO

HB 1150 - A bill to reduce the marriage penalty under the individual income tax for North Dakota citizens.

·          Second reading, failed to pass, Y 21, N 67.

I didn’t anticipate this would pass until porcine soaring begins.

HB 1158 - Allows a child to take his driver’s test with someone else’s car.

·          Passed the House, Y 91, N 0.  Introduced in Senate and referred to Transportation Committee 2/8.

Hoping for the same common-sense vote in the Senate. We could be on a roll here, but we are safely seat-belted in!

HB 1169 - Allows the Supt. of Public Instruction to be elected without a current ND professional teaching license.

·          Second reading, passed, Y 60, N 33.

Interesting that this came out of committee with a ‘do pass’ then went on to pass in the whole House. We need in this position someone with common sense, good administrative skills, a genuinely humble person with integrity.  A government-issued certificate won’t guarantee that the Superintendent possesses such attributes.

HB 1172 - This legislation will mandate the teaching of ND history.

·          House Second reading, passed Y 92, N 0. Introduced in Senate and referred to Education Committee 2/8.

Since home educators “shall include instruction in those subjects required by law to be taught to public school students” (15.1-23-04) this would apply to them. One might oppose the bill because he is opposed to the government determining what shall be taught.

HB 1194 - Outlines the plan for government schools AND APPROVED NONPUBLIC SCHOOLS to implement requirements of Goals 2000 and school-to-work. It defines a standard course of instruction, an advanced course of instruction and a basic course of instruction. The bill also changes the amount and type of units which must be offered by a school district in order to be approved by the Dept. of Public Instruction.

·          House Reported back, do not pass, Y 10, N 2.  Second reading, failed to pass, & 32, N 59.

Forgive me for saying so, but Yeeee Haw!! Look for something similar in 2009.

HB 1232 - Provides for umbilical cord blood donation.

·          House Second reading, passed Y 91, N 1. Introduced in Senate and referred to Human Services Committee 2/5.

The goal of storing cord blood is to provide stem cells for the possible future use of the child. Do we have laws that guarantees that the blood remains the sole property of the person from whom it was taken? Who has access to those banks?  The section of the bill that would have required the state department of health to develop education materials regarding the issue and would require that they distribute the materials to all obstetrical patients was amended out.

HB 1319 - Provides for sensible laws regarding the use of deadly force.

·          Second reading, passed, Y 50, N 44.

Sneeringly called by some in the media the “Shoot the Burglar Bill” I must say I am surprised it passed the House. It makes me wonder about those in opposition to folks who are willing to protect their homes and families from malcontents and ne’er-do-wells who break into their homes, cars etc. After all, the fact that someone forces their way in is a distinct clue that they mean you harm.

HB 1336 - A bill to adopt an agreement among the states to elect the President by national popular vote.

·           Reported back, do not pass, Y9, N 5. Second reading, failed to pass, Y31, N 60.

Well, I should hope so. Look for an article in an upcoming The Home School Report for information on the Electoral College.

HB 1357 - Prohibits the possession of child pornography.

·           Second reading, passed, Y 90, N 1.

Changes the penalty for possessing child porn from a misdemeanor to a class C felony period! Well I should hope so!

HB 1376 - Relating to corrupt election practices.

·          House Second reading, passed, Y 87, N 2. Introduced in the Senate and referred to the Govt. and Veterans Affairs Committee 2/13.

This legislation would add web sites to places where you cannot sponsor lies about a candidate. All in favor say, “Aye!”

HB 1434 - Related to the viral hepatitis education and vaccination program.

·          Amended in Human Services Committee. Amended in Appropriations Committee. Second reading, passed, Y 86, N 7.

This appears to be geared toward high risk groups and mandates that the Department of Health conduct a surveillance  regarding the impact of Hepatitis C.

HB 1435 - Relates to childhood immunizations.

·          Second reading, passed, Y 91, N 1.

Adds varicella (chicken pox) and meningococcal vaccines to the lengthy list. And it provides $3.5 million to provide the program to public health units. For a complete list of all currently mandated and suggested vaccines go to www.cdc.gov

HB 1466 - Relates to the prohibition of the performance of abortions, except to save the life of the mother.

·          House Second reading, passed, Y 61, N 26. Introduced in Senate and referred to Judiciary Committee 2/7.

Considered a ‘trigger bill’ and would outlaw abortion if the U.S. Supreme Court overturns Roe vs. Wade. Pray for this!

HB 1471 - Relates to the human papilloma virus.

·          Second reading, passed, Y 81, N 12.

Mandates a public education program on the availability of an HPV vaccine. More on this in the 2009 session? Did you know that Gardisil, the ‘vaccine’ being touted by the CDC , is produced by Merck and that Merck is underwriting the cost of advertisements regarding this? Did you know that it has been tested on less than 2000 children? Are you aware that Pap smears will detect these infrequent forms of cervical cancer that MAY be caused by the HPV and that they are easily treated? For more information go to the National Vaccine Injury website. Then there’s the additional argument that such actions only encourage promiscuity amount the young. Well, let’s see, we have had decades of sex education in government schools and we have many STD’s that are now endemic. Mmmmm...that didn’t seem to work out too well.

HCR 3011 - Requires 60% of voters approve increase in income, sales, use, gross receipts or motor vehicle excise taxes.

·          Heard in committee 1/17.

In my opinion....at least 60%!

HCR 3032 - Urges passage of the Equal Rights Amendment and declares Friday, March 9, 2007 as North Dakota Equal Rights Amendment Recognition Day.

·          Second reading in House, adopted by motion 2/13. Senate received from House 2/14.

You have to appreciate their persistence. I’m going to be baking cookies and doing laundry that day!

HCR 3052 - Relates to establishing an in-state lottery.

·          Scheduled for House Constitutional Revision Committee Hearing 4:00 p.m. 2/21.

Such imprudence would require that the ND Constitution be amended to allow a lottery originated in state. So you could waste your hard-earned dough without participating in the multi-state lottery!  Would require a vote of the people.

HCR 3054 - Relating to session of the legislature.

·          Scheduled for House Constitutional Revision Committee Hearing 8:05 a.m. 2/22.

Instead of meeting every odd- numbered year this would change the ND Constitution so that the Legislative Assembly would meet up to 60 days in odd-numbered years and up to 25 days in even-numbered years. Would require a vote of the people.  Again, we only have 640,000 people in the whole state, do we really need to have annual sessions? I’m very open to hearing what proponents have to say on this issue.

To find House members go to:

http://www.legis.nd.gov/assembly/60-2007/house/members/

To find out who sits on what committee in the House go to:

http://www.legis.nd.gov/assembly/60-2007/house/standing-comm/

SENATE BILLS 2007 LEGISLATIVE SESSION

SB 2181 - Related to consent for certain health care services provided to minors.

·           Senate second reading, passed, Y 46, N 0. House, first reading, referred Human Services Committee 1/31.

This bill would allow a minor to obtain prenatal care (also any medical, mental or other health care services) without parental consent (not an abortion). Even with language  safeguards added to the bill it is still a disregard of parental rights. Another question: Who pays for these medical services? The answer is that apparently the parents will be billed for the services but will not be privy to the services rendered under HIPPA. Now that doesn’t seem right to me!

SB 2184 - A bill to change the number of days required for approved schools and change the compulsory attendance age from 16 to 18.

·          Second reading, failed to pass, Y 12, N 33.    Part A, raised comp. att. to 18, failed 45-0.   Part B, increased number of mandated school days, failed 26-19.  

Hurrah! for the defeat of this bill, IMHO.

SB 2248 - Deals with computer luring of minors.

·          Senate Second reading, passed Y 45, N 0. House Introduced and referred to Judiciary Committee 2/06.

I can’t see how anyone could oppose this bill on any grounds.

SB 2309 - Deals with high school graduation requirements increasing them to 24 by school year 2011-2012. Also changes the specific credit requirements.

·          Senate Second reading, passed, Y 44, N 3. Received from Senate 2/8.

Another bill changing graduation requirements starting in 2009-2010. Some serious concerns about this as voiced by a Legislative Watch Team member:

SB 2309 states, “NO STUDENT may graduate from a high school in this state OR BE ADMITTED TO AN INSTITUTION OF HIGHER  EDUCATION IN THIS STATE unless the student demonstrates successful completion of the following” (various increased credit requirements increasing to 24 by 2014-2015) (emphasis added). My reading is that, while homeschoolers may be able to design their own curriculum, the state would now require that the credits needed for graduation must be the same as the requirements for admission to a state college, so even if we get a dispensation regarding credits required for our diploma, our students could be barred from attending a ND college because they don’t have the particular credits the state wants.

SB 2312 - An abortion bill which requires the Dept. of Human Services to disburse funds from Title IVA (Fed. Program) to non-governmental alternatives-to-abortion programs and mandates the DoHS spend funds to inform the public that this program exists.

·          Senate Second reading, passed, Y 43, N 1. House First reading referred to Human Services Committee 2/06.

No comment.

SB 2371 - Allows grandparents to home school; amended to include drastic changes to current testing requirements.

·          Reported out   of committee with amendment, do pass, Y 5, N 0 2/9. Voted on 2/14. Division A, passed, Division B, lost. Second reading, passed, Y 46, N 0.

Many changes and concerns regarding this bill over the past week. The foster parent language was dropped. Dr. Bartlett spoke with the Legislative Council to clarify the understanding on foster care providers.  Anita Decker is the lawyer for education issues who spoke to Senator Heckaman.  She explained that the idea was that after the court awards legal guardianship, then those legal guardians have all the rights of the parents and therefore the legal guardian language was not needed in the bill. Temporary foster care providers would not have those parental rights until the court awards those rights through legal guardianship, at which time they are not longer considered in foster care.   Dr. Bartlett called the Department of Human Services, Foster Care division to clarify the last phrase.   Therefore, this brings us back to where we started, foster care providers are not able to homeschool using either the rights of a parent or legal guardian.  

Either by instigation or insistence the DPI completely changed the testing section of the original bill by offering amendments. Instead of clarifying the language and providing additional liberty to home educators this section of the bill would do just the opposite. There was nothing wrong with the original bill and my question is: who asked for or volunteered to amend the testing language of this bill? It’s a rhetorical question.

We can wholeheartedly thank Sen. Flakoll for calling for a split vote on Valentine’s Day. Division A, dealing with grandparents, passed unanimously with Sens. Andrist and Wardner being absent and not voting. Division B, the DPI testing amendment, was soundly defeated 43 nays and 3 yeas (Sens. Erbele, Nelson and Triplett), Sen. Andrist absent and not voting.

Praise goes to the Sovereign God who rules in the lives of men and of nations. Our vigilance must continue as the bill will be heard again in the House Education Committee sometime after Crossover.

SB 2377 - Provides for a legislative council study of midwifery.

·          Reported back amended, do pass, Y 6, N 0.

This bill does not outlaw midwifery. The original was completely gutted and turned into a mandate to the Legislative Council to study the subject during the 2007-08 interim. Study bills are usually precursors to legislation so look for more on this in the 2009 session.

From a Legislative Watch reader: 

Hello! My name is Karla Wiegrefe. I am a ND homebirthing mom. I have started a list to keep those who are interested in keeping midwifery legal in ND updated on current and future legislation.  This is a notice-only list (you will only receive notices from the moderators so it will be low volume). Please spread the word to other supporters. We want to reach as many people as possible to keep us all current. ourwiefamily@catholicweb.com has invited you to join the NDBirthAction group!  Thank you!

~Karla

SB 2400 - Relates to the North Dakota’s state policy on abortion and childbirth.

·          Reported back, do not pass, Y 4, N 2.

Adds a new bit of language:  “The state of North Dakota recognizes the full right of citizenship and the commensurate protections of all applicable laws to all citizens, born and preborn, with no prejudice of chronology within the human lifespan  continuum.”  It seems that would also make it applicable to the elderly or incapacitated.

SB 2415 - Prohibits implanting microchips and provides a penalty.

·          Second reading, passed, Y 44, N 1 2/9. Received in House 2/12.

Prevents anyone from implanting a microchip containing a radio frequency identification device into anyone.

SCR 4022 - Urges Congress and the President to pursue peace and to disengage our combat forces from Iraq duty.

·          Senate Introduced and referred to Senate Political Subdivisions Committee.

No comment.

To find the Senate members go to:

http://www.legis.nd.gov/assembly/60-2007/senate/members/

To find out who sits on what committee in the Senate go to:

http://www.legis.nd.gov/assembly/60-2007/senate/standing-comm/

To read any bills currently in the hopper go to:

http://www.legis.nd.gov/assembly/60-2007/leginfo/index.html

To find your Legislative District and members go to:

http://web.apps.state.nd.us/hubexplorer/legislativedist/viewer.html

During a legislative session, a legislator can be reached at the State Capitol through e-mail or by leaving a message with the legislative telephone message center at 1-888-NDLEGIS (635-3447) or 701-328-3373 (local). Otherwise, a legislator can be reached by mail, telephone, or e-mail at the address listed in the legislator's bio under Legislative Assembly.