Leadership positions decided in both House and Senate; important legislative dates

In the new biennium, there is a new Majority Leader in the House of Representatives after Rep. Al Carlson (R-Fargo) was not able to win re-election to the body. The new leadership team will be Majority Leader Chet Pollert (R-Carrington), Assistant Majority Leader Scott Louser (R-Minot) and the Majority Caucus Chair Shannon Roers Jones (R-Fargo). The Speaker of the House will be Lawrence Klemin (R-Bismarck).

There is also a new House Minority Leader as Rep. Corey Mock (D-Grand Forks) chose not to pursue another term in the lead role. His caucus selected Rep. Josh Boschee (D-Fargo) as the new Minority Leader. The minority caucus also selected Rep. Karla Rose Hanson (D-Fargo) to serve as the Assistant Minority Leader and Rep. Gretchen Dobervich (D-Fargo) to be Caucus Chair.

In the Senate, the leadership roles will be Sen. Rich Wardner (R-Dickinson) as Majority Leader, Sen. Jerry Klein (R-Fessenden) as Assistant Majority Leader and Sen. David Hogue (R-Minot) as President Pro Tempore and Caucus Chair. The minority caucus selected Sen. Joan Heckaman (D-New Rockford) as Minority Leader, Sen. John Grabinger (D-Jamestown) as Assistant Minority Leader and Sen. Erin Oban (D-Bismarck) to be Caucus Chair.

The 2019 legislative session, which is limited to 80 legislative days, will begin on Thursday, January 3, 2019. The deadline for representatives to introduce bills is January 14 and each representative may introduce no more than three bills after this date. The deadline for senators to introduce bills is January 21.  The deadline for referrals of bills in their house of origin to the Appropriations Committees is February 4. The crossover date for bills is February 22. Bills must be reported out of the committee in the second house by April 3 and the session must adjourn by April 26.