After receiving hushed, anonymous phone calls from state employees, lawmakers passed a bill Tuesday ensuring them open and free access to their elected representatives.

The bill, which passed by wide margins in both the state House and Senate, disallows state agencies from restricting their employees from contacting legislators or testifying before a legislative committee.

Don Canton, a spokesman for Gov. John Hoeven, said Hoeven intends to sign the bill.

"That's a fundamental right, and we certainly wouldn't object to that," Canton said.

The bill's primary sponsor, Sen. Ray Holmberg, R-Grand Forks, said he proposed the legislation because state employees were approaching him anonymously, saying they feared their bosses finding out they were talking to a legislator.

He recalls one incident where an employee of the University of North Dakota called him on a cell phone from his car during his lunch break so as not to be discovered.

"We got a sense from employees that they were being told to stay away from the Legislature," Holmberg said.

Jodee Buhr, executive director of the North Dakota Public Employees Association, said she knew of instances where employees were told they would be fired if they talked to the Legislature. Buhr declined to identify the agencies or employees.

She said the bill simply ensures that these employees have the same access to their legislators as all other North Dakotans.

"It raises the awareness that this is happening in some agencies, so I think it will give employees greater comfort in talking to their legislators than they had before," Buhr said.

The state has 8,400 full-time employees. Currently, each agency sets its own policy on access to legislators.

Sen. Nick Hacker, R-Grand Forks, who co-sponsored the bill, said it also will send a positive message to college students who want to testify.

Hacker said he'd encountered situations where students seemed coached by university officials in their testimony.

"I think (the bill) sends the message that they can access their legislators openly and freely," Hacker said.

(Reach reporter Jonathan Rivoli at 223-8482 or jonathan.rivoli@;bismarcktribune.com.)