North Dakota lawmakers are weighing a proposal that would eliminate the state’s Gaming Commission and transfer full regulatory authority over gambling to the Attorney General’s Office. Senate Bill 2224, which seeks to streamline the regulatory process, received a do-pass recommendation from the Senate Judiciary Committee in a narrow 4-3 vote on Tuesday.
The bill is scheduled for debate on the Senate floor Wednesday. The bill’s primary sponsor, Sen. Janne Myrdal, R-Edinburg, said the move aligns with efforts to assess the necessity of various boards and commissions in state government.
“Gov. Armstrong mentioned all the boards and commissions and things that we have in our state, and how we need to look at which ones are pivotal for the functioning of our government and which ones are not,” Myrdal stated during the committee hearing.
“This came to me from some concerned entities that felt like this particular commission in its duties—which they faithfully execute, obviously—is really a step that we can eliminate in the gaming industry.”
The proposed restructuring would remove the Gaming Commission, an independent entity whose members are appointed by the governor, from the gambling rule-making process. Currently, gambling regulations originate in the Attorney General’s Office, where administrative rules are crafted before being sent to the Gaming Commission for approval.
The Commission either approves or denies the rules before forwarding them to the Administrative Rules Committee, which has the final authority to adopt them.
Deb McDaniel, North Dakota Director of Charitable Gaming, indicated that dissolving the Gaming Commission would not significantly alter the workload of the Attorney General’s Office. “I’ve always worked with the Gaming Commission, and their role is to promulgate the administrative rules … by law,” McDaniel explained. “I would just be able to promulgate them without them (the Commission).”
McDaniel also pointed out that the Commission has faced functional challenges due to vacant seats. The Commission requires all five members to be present in order to approve regulatory changes, but the last time it met with a full panel was January 1, 2023.
Since then, at least one vacancy has remained unfilled, and there are currently two open positions that former Gov. Doug Burgum did not appoint before leaving office. Gov. Kelly Armstrong has yet to fill these vacancies, leaving regulatory updates stalled in limbo.
The Commission itself doesn’t hinder his office’s work, but its vacancies do, McDaniel noted, stating that the lack of a full panel has prevented necessary administrative rule changes from moving forward. The gambling industry, however, has voiced concerns over the proposed changes, arguing that eliminating the Gaming Commission would consolidate too much power in a single office.
Scott Meske, a lobbyist for the North Dakota Gaming Alliance, warned that removing the Commission would set a dangerous precedent. “Our founders knew that it would be a bad idea to give too much power to one single body,” Meske said.
McDaniel countered that even without the Gaming Commission, the Administrative Rules Committee would still provide oversight and that the public, along with industry stakeholders, would continue to have opportunities to provide input on rule changes before they are finalized.
Original article: https://www.yogonet.com/international/news/2025/01/29/93398-north-dakota-considers-dissolving-gaming-commission-shifting-oversight-to-attorney-general
