Editor's Note: details of this breaking news story are being researched and this article will be updated as we learn more.

Update on April 8, 2005: We have received notification that Governor Hoeven will be signing Senate Bill 2208 on Monday - April 11, 2005.

SB 2208 was sponsored by Senator Duaine Espegard from Grand Forks. This bill will increase the age that children are required to be in a car or booster seat to age 7. It will also impose a $25 fine (along with the one point penalty off the license) for violation of the law.

This bill will become law and go into effect during Summer 2005. Notification has been made to the car seat manufacturers regarding the need for more booster seats in the state and letters will go out to local retail stores alerting them as well. Educational material for parents and the general public will be developed to alert them to this change.

Update on March 31, 2005: An attempt was made to kill SB 2208, led by Senators Cook and Erbele (two of the bill's harshest critics). Since it was voted on March 28th, they had one additional day to get someone who voted YES on the bill to change his or her mind and ask that the bill be reconsidered.

Senators Cook and Erbele could not ask for reconsideration as they had voted NO on it both times the bill was introduced. However, these senators were unsuccessful in their efforts to do so and thus, the bill will stand as a DO PASS vote. It will now go on to Governor Hoeven to be signed.

Insiders at the Capitol agree that Governor Hoeven is likely to sign this new bill into law.

original article follows:

Senate Bill 2208 passed in the North Dakota House of Representatives on March 23 2005, after a heated, 30-minute debate among the legislators. According to Carma Hanson, Grand Forks SAFE KIDS coordinator, “Those who were against the bill were bitterly in disagreement with it, but in the end, we (traffic safety advocates) prevailed.” The vote was 64 – 30 in favor.

The revised bill, which last month passed in the Senate, still requires a signature by Governor Hoeven to become law. The bill requires all children to age 7 be properly restrained in an approved child safety seat or an approved booster seat, regardless of position in a vehicle. Children from age 7 through age 18 are still required to wear safety belts. A fine of $25 will be imposed upon any violator of the law.

Those voting against the bill included Bellew (Minot), Belter (Leonard), Brusegaard (Gilby), Carlson (Fargo), Clark (Fargo), Damschen (Hampden), Delzer (Underwood), Drovdal (Arnegard), Froelich (Selfridge), Froseth (Kenmare), Grande (Fargo), Haas (Taylor), Headland (Montpelier), Kasper (Fargo), Kempenich (Bowman), Kerzman (Mott), Meier L. (Bismarck), Monson (Osnabrock), Nicholas (Cando), Norland (Williston), Pollert (Carrington), Rennerfeldt (Williston), Ruby (Minot), Sitte (Bismarck), Skarphol (Tioga), Thoreson (Fargo), Timm (Minot), Wald (Dickinson), Weisz (Hurdsfield) and Wrangham (Bismarck).

All House members were present and voted today. Carma Hanson and Carol Meidinger of the ND Dept. of Health, Maternal and Child Health Division urge all traffic safety advocates to contact their representatives and thank them for supporting the bill.

A similar bill lost by five votes in the House, in 2003.

Carol Meidinger noted, “Carma Hanson is owed a huge thank you for her work with this legislation.”

Hanson was instrumental in finding a primary sponsor in the form of Grand Forks Senator Espegard. She also coordinated regional legislative forums, testified at the hearings in both the Senate and House, and worked to gather grassroots support for the bill.

Hanson summed up the excitement of those who have worked to pass the bill by exclaiming, “This is a great day for the kids of North Dakota!”