Advantages of an Annual Session
My first job after graduating from the University of Montana was working for the Associated Press covering the North Dakota Legislature. That cold January morning, the opening day of the session, I was nervous, inexperienced and getting lost in the state capitol building. So were a lot of other people, even lawmakers, which, at the time, I thought was a little odd.
In hindsight, it makes sense. North Dakota is one of just two states with a part-time citizen Legislature that meets every other year. The other is Montana.
What this means is lawmakers in North Dakota arrive for an 80-day scramble to pass legislation and a budget, then leave for nearly two years before doing it all over again. It’s hardly enough time to become familiar with the place, especially if you’re a newly elected lawmaker, and it shows.
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