BISMARCK -- Twenty years after former Gov. Ed Schafer tried to stop the North Dakota Legislature from giving itself the power to reconvene after its regular session, he said he still stands by his objections.
But given the current situation in which lawmakers may reunite to finish the budget bill they left hanging when they adjourned April 29, "it kind of makes some sense," Schafer said Monday.
"The facts at hand are they didn't get their work done, they need to get their work done, they have two days left and they can do it," he said.
A six-member interim committee is expected to meet Monday to try to resolve House and Senate differences over Senate Bill 2022, the budget bill for the North Dakota Public Employees Retirement System and the state Retirement and Investment Office.
If they reach agreement, the panel of 17 lawmakers known as Legislative Management could vote to reconvene all 141 members of the Legislature, which is tentatively slated for a one-day session June 16.
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Sen. Ray Holmberg, R-Grand Forks, who chairs Legislative Management, said the committee's bipartisan makeup and meeting time could be announced today. Its meetings will be public, he said.
Reconvening in such fashion would be unprecedented for the Legislature, which historically has been called back into special session by the governor. That's happened 14 times since statehood, most recently in November 2011, when current Gov. Jack Dalrymple called lawmakers back for five days for redistricting and a handful of other issues.
North Dakota voters passed a constitutional amendment in 1976 allowing the Legislature to meet for 80 natural days during a two‑year period, increasing the length from 60 days.
Lawmakers have used that provision only once to call themselves back into session, according to Legislative Council. It occurred after the 1981 regular session, which lasted 60 days from January to March. The Legislature reconvened for four days that November to adopt a new redistricting plan for the next year's elections, based on new population figures.
However, that reconvening was done by resolution. The authority for lawmakers to call themselves back into session wasn't carved into state law until the 1995 Legislature did so through House Bill 1435.
The bill provided that the committee now known as Legislative Management may reconvene the Legislature after it has adjourned - even if it adjourns sine die, or indefinitely, as the current Legislature did on the 78th day - provided it has enough natural days left.
Schafer vetoed the legislation, telling lawmakers that the state constitution provided "no express authority to reconvene during the biennium." He also argued that the bill may impinge upon traditional executive branch authority and "erode the carefully crafted separation of powers" in the constitution.
Lawmakers overrode the veto, and the law took effect.
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Schafer also had argued that extending the session beyond its traditional time period didn't reflect the will of the people and would allow the Legislature to hold annual sessions, but that hasn't occurred.
"The way they work, it doesn't look like there's much possibility of that happening," he said.
Schafer, who served as governor from 1992 to 2000 and now lives in Fargo, said it was "very disappointing" that the Legislature didn't finish its final bill before adjourning.
"The whole thing was a failure, and an unnecessary one," Schafer said.
Reach Nowatzki at (701) 255-5607 or by email at mnowatzki@forumcomm.com .
