January brought new changes to wording in legislative bills. House Bill 1108 was introduced on January 6, 2015. House Bill 1108 will be altering legislation to comply with people first language. References with be changed from “developmentally disabled persons” to “individual with a developmental disability” or “individuals with developmental disabilities.”
The bill was sent to an appropriations committee. The committee recommended that the bill should pass. The vote was 86 yeas, 0 nays, and 8 absent and not voting. This shows the overwhelming support to update the language in state legislation to people first language.
Now that this bill has passed the house, it will move on to the senate where it is expected to pass. A time has not been set for when the Senate will hear this bill, but the crossover date for bills from the House to the Senate will occur on February 27, 2015.
You can read the full bill by going to http://www.legis.nd.gov/assembly/64-2015/journals/hr-dailyjnl-04.pdf#pagemode=bookmarks&Page80