BISMARCK, N.D. – Gov. Doug Burgum issued the following statement today after the North Dakota Supreme Court issued an opinion making its previous opinion in Board of Trustees of the ND Public Employees Retirement System v. ND Legislative Assembly effective immediately. The court declared Senate Bill 2015, the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) appropriations bill, void immediately.

“This latest Supreme Court opinion will accelerate the timeline for a special session of the Legislature. The Governor’s Office has been in contact with legislative leadership this evening and will continue to discuss next steps to address this matter as quickly as possible,” Burgum said. “We’re confident the Legislature can work through the reformatting and reauthorization of the OMB bill before Nov. 1 to avoid any interruptions to state government operations.”

A Sept. 28 opinion from the Supreme Court, and the case docket, indicated the Court’s initial opinion declaring SB 2015 unconstitutional and void would become effective Oct. 28. In today’s opinion, the Supreme Court stated it had no authority to delay the judgment.