In the general election in 2016 the voters of North Dakota will be deciding whether to amend the state constitution to add language stating that a legislator must live in the district from which elected. This may seem like a simple idea, but there are ramifications we should consider. Most of the attention regarding this…
Death By Study For Legislation Requiring Lawmakers To Live In Districts
A “death by study” is a legislative maneuver that effectively kills a bill by turning it into something the Legislature will study as opposed to something that will become law. It’s a way for lawmakers to basically reject something without having necessarily be on the record voting against it. In this instance, lawmakers don’t have…
Resolution Requiring That Lawmakers Live In Their Districts May Get Death By Study
Way back in 2013 I broke a story about a number of lawmakers – Democrats and Republicans – not living in their districts any more. The impact of that news (I’m told that there are a lot of current lawmakers on both sides of the aisle who have this residency problem) has now manifested itself in…