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2025 Legislative Session Highlights and Updates

Advocacy Committee

The 69th Legislative Assembly (2025-2027) was marked by both challenges and successes. With a combined total of 1,089 bills submitted, NASW-ND kept a watchful eye on as many as possible. Our advocacy committee worked tirelessly, often during nights and weekends, to ensure that the profession of social work had a voice in North Dakota’s future policies.

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Bills Impacting Social Work

Numerous important bills marked this legislative session. We tracked over 100 bills within a short period, all involving different communities and populations across North Dakota. Although each one we tracked was important in its own way, here is a list of a few that impact the social work profession as a whole. 

 

HB 1035 - The Social Work Compact

On March 18th, Governor Armstrong signed HB 1035 into law, allowing North Dakota to become a part of the interstate compact along with 25 other states. This is huge for social workers; not only does it enable an increase in services here in North Dakota, but it also enhances the quality of care that social workers can provide to out-of-state residents via telehealth.  

The compact was officially recognized on April 12th, 2024, with the addition of the seventh state, Kansas. With the compact enacted, there is a 12-18-month window before states can offer multistate licensure. Within this timeframe, we expect to see licensure updates between April and September 2025. 

Interim Committee/Interstate Licensure Compact

  • An interstate compact is a legal contract between two or more states/territories that would enable social workers to practice in each other’s jurisdiction, giving members of the profession more license mobility.
  • State legislatures must enact compact legislation to become a member state of a compact. Seven states must pass the compact legislation in order for the compact to become active. 
    • On April 12, 2024 Kansas became the seventh state to pass Social Work Interstate Licensing Compact Legislation. That was a threshold that had to be met for states to create a Compact Commission that will govern the compact and ensure coordination between the participating states. In all, 22 states have passed the compact legislation. They are Missouri on July 7, 2023, followed by South Dakota on February 4, 2024;  UtahWashington state, and Kentucky in March; Virginia, NebraskaVermont, and Maine in April; Georgia, Iowa, Alabama, Ohio, Louisiana, Tennessee and Minnesota in May; Colorado, Louisiana, Arizona and Rhode Island in June; and New Hampshire in July. The legislation has been introduced in about a dozen other states. Additional states can join the Compact Commission after they pass the legislation.
  • In the state of ND, the Interim Workforce Committee concluded their study on the interstate social work licensure compact. After review, the committee voted to support the compact and move forward with legislation during the 2025 legislative session.
  • RESOURCES 


HB 1430 - Conversion Therapy 

This bill was arguably the most intensive bill for the advocacy committee this session. With history in legislation since June 2021, with the North Dakota Board of Social Work Examiners (NDBSWE) adding to their administrative code that it IS an ethical violation for a social worker to practice conversion therapy, this bill has been a battle worth fighting. 

It was introduced on January 13th; the bill underwent several amendments in each chamber of the legislature. In the House, the amendment added sections regarding self-determination for the client and altered the definition of conversion therapy. This version was passed in the House and referred to the Senate as HB 1430. From there, NASW-ND proposed an amendment to essentially “nullify” the bill, which included the definition that NDBSWE had passed in 2021. 

Eventually, HB 1430 was defeated in the Senate with a total vote of 22 for the bill and 25 against the bill. We would like to thank each Representative and Senator who worked with us to defeat HB 1430! Your work will not be forgotten.


SB 2357 - The Mental Health Composite Board

The intent of this bill was to consolidate the boards of social work, psychology, addiction counseling, and marriage and family therapy into a single, unified board. This would enable a streamlined system for licensure renewal, complaints, applications, and other tasks assigned to the boards, all in one system. While this sounds good in theory, there are many complications when it comes to each profession’s own code of ethics. 

Social work, as we’ve seen with bills like the conversion therapy bill, already has misinterpretations regarding our tasks and responsibilities. SB 2357 would have further diluted the social work profession and could have potentially served as a barrier for individuals attempting to renew their licensure. 

This bill was later turned into a study and failed in the House on March 28th.


 

 

Learn about our interns' experience this legislative session:

         

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LEGISLATIVE RESOURCES

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(Link) League of Women Voters of North Dakota 

  • (Link) 2025 Legislative Session 
  • (Link) Citizen's Guide to Lobbying
  • (Link) North Dakota Elections 
  • (Link) How to Run for Office in North Dakota 
  • (Link) VOTE411 Voter Guide 
  • (Link) YouTube 
    • (Link) Basics of the North Dakota Legislature 
    • (Link) How to Watch a Bill Hearing in North Dakota 
    • (Link) How to Submit a Testimony on a Bill in North Dakota 
    • (Link) How do I track a bill in North Dakota?

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(Link) Faye Seidler Consulting

  • (Link) Affirming LGBTQ+ providers and LGBTQ+ community resources.
  • (Link) Resource Print Outs
  • (Link) North Dakota Data
  • (Link) 2023 LGBTQ+ Legislative Summary
  • (Link) Weekly Reports
  • (Link) Newsletters
  • (Link) 2025 State of the State report for LGBTQ+ Youth
  • (Link) 2021 North Dakota LGBTQ+ School Climate Report

MORE RESOURCES
  • (Link) ACLU of North Dakota
  • (Link) Prairie Action North Dakota 
  • (Link) North Dakota Human Rights Coalition 
  • (Link) North Dakota United 
  • (Link) North Dakota AFL-CIO
  • (Link) Planned Parenthood 
  • (Link) North Dakota Native Vote 
  • (Link) Foundation ND

Join our Advocacy Committee here.

The Advocacy Committee welcomes NASW-ND member participation and encourages you to join in a meeting

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