By Doug Nelson, State Fire Marshal
As I am writing this month’s blog, the ND State Legislature is in town preparing for the 2025 session. For those fire chiefs who have not been involved before, please look for the North Dakota Fire Chief’s Association weekly meetings at 10:00 AM every Friday during the legislative session. This is where many fire chiefs meet to discuss legislation and its impacts on fire service and response.
Throughout the legislative session, we send weekly emails to stakeholders of the Insurance Department and the State Fire Marshal’s office to share updates on bills and other legislative happenings; essentially, a weekly recap from the Capitol. I would encourage you and others interested in the legislative session to subscribe to the free emails from our office. You can subscribe here by entering your email address and checking the box next to ‘Weekly Legislative Updates.’
Though the October wildfires were some of the fastest, most destructive wildfires our state has seen, I do want to take the time to advocate for slowing down our reaction to the recent events. The opportunity at hand should not be to look for who can secure the most funding but to step back, take a wide-angle approach, and study what the fire service needs for events like this in the future. This is an opportunity to get the whole fire service involved, exercise your voice, and work to produce the most effective fire service in North Dakota while maintaining efficiency with limited resources.
Here are a couple of key dates that I would like to point out to watch for as the session approaches:
- Tuesday, December 17th Lunch & Learn with Commissioner Godfread (Register here)
- Tuesday, January 7th Session begins
- Friday, February 28th Crossover date for bills
- Friday, May 2nd Session limited to 80 legislative days (session ends)
I hope to see you during the session. Please let us know if you have any questions or concerns as we work through the legislative session with our fire partners at the ND Firefighters Association, ND Fire Chief’s Association, Department of Forestry, and all other fire service members.