BISMARCK, N.D. — The North Dakota House on May 2 adopted the conference committee report on House Bill 12‑79 and then passed the bill, approving a phased partial exemption from the coal conversion facilities tax and creating a lignite research tax and related allocations.

Representative Hager, presenting the conference committee report, said the measure restores a carbon dioxide capture credit, directs certain deposits to the legacy fund, and phases a tax exemption down over a multi‑year schedule. "When the amendment when the bill takes effect, in, 2026, they'll have a 90% exemption. 2027, they'll have 80%. 70% in 2028, '60 percent in 2029, and 35% in 2030," Hager said on the floor. He also described definitions added for state and generating plant shares and a repeal and contingent effective date provision tied to federal law changes.

The nut graf: supporters framed HB12‑79 as a negotiated, industry‑backed package to preserve coal conversion operations while restoring targeted credits and directing revenue to the legacy fund; opponents warned the measure effectively shifts costs to electric consumers.

Discussion on the floor emphasized the negotiated nature of the compromise and the bill's fiscal effects. Representative Sackler urged rejection, saying the change amounts to a tax on electric consumers rather than the industry itself: "This isn't a tax on the industry. It's a tax on electric consumers," he said. Representative Hager replied that conferees worked with the industry and that the phased approach provides a graduated path. Hager estimated industry would pay about $35 million in taxes and receive about $70 million in benefits over the life of the package, and said the first year of imposition would involve a relatively small obligation after a remaining one‑year zero obligation period.

The bill contains several implementation and fiscal provisions as described on the floor: allocations of severance and conversion tax revenue to the legacy fund, a multi‑section effective date and repealer structure, and a contingent effective date that would nullify the tax exemption if Congress repealed the federal production tax credit for electricity from renewables under Internal Revenue Code section 45. The conference committee report was adopted on a voice vote, and final passage was recorded later in the session; the clerk recorded a final vote of 68 yea, 21 nay, and the bill was declared passed.

Ending: The bill now awaits transmittal to the Senate or enrollment per legislative procedure; the House record lists the conference committee membership and the statutory sections the bill amends.