Port: Nearly 15% of North Dakota’s House was absent for the last vote of the session
MINOT, N.D. — Over the weekend, North Dakota’s lawmakers finished what has been a grueling legislative session.
Officially they ended on day 75 of their session, but given their prolific use of a procedural gimmick allowing them to use what some have called “fake days,” the actual count was well over the 80-day limit set by the state constitution.
Things were so grueling, in fact, that it seems many lawmakers in the House of Representatives decided to take the last day of the session off.
“It’s been a lot of work in 75 days,” Majority Leader Mike Lefor said in his floor speech closing out the session, but based on the vote taken just seconds before he spoke, only 86% of the elected members of his chambers were still in the room to hear him say that.
Lawmakers worked on Saturday, and when attendance was taken at the beginning of the first floor session of the day, there were eight House lawmakers missing.
