One of the North Dakota House's senior members is trying again to persuade other legislators they should get together every year.

Rep. William Kretschmar, R-Venturia, is sponsoring a resolution that would lengthen the North Dakota Constitution's two-year limit on legislative meeting days from 80 to 85, and set out rules for annual sessions.

In odd-numbered years - when the Legislature normally meets - sessions could last for up to 60 days, the amendment says. In even-numbered years, they could run for 25 days.

"Many things in government are moving quite swiftly, and the pace seems to be picking up," Kretschmar said Thursday. "I think it is almost necessary for the Legislature to meet each year, to take care of problems that arise during the interim."

Kretschmar's resolution is one of 10 proposed constitutional amendments the Legislature will consider in the next week. Both the House and Senate face a March 1 deadline for voting on resolutions introduced in their own chambers.

The roster of amendments includes proposals to establish an intrastate lottery, strengthen the authority of the state university system's chancellor, reorganize state government and make it more difficult to raise taxes.

Two amendments would make it easier for legislators to get state government jobs. The constitution now bars legislators from taking appointments if they voted to create the job or to raise its pay.

The House's Constitutional Revision Committee held hearings on most of the amendments this week, including Kretschmar's proposal for annual sessions.

North Dakota is one of six states where the Legislature still meets every other year. The others are Arkansas, Montana, Nevada, Oregon and Texas, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.

Oregon lawmakers are pondering an experiment with annual sessions by limiting this year's session to 120 days, followed by a 60-day session in 2008. In Montana, freshman Rep. Ernie Dutton, a Republican from Billings, has introduced a constitutional amendment that would have the Montana Legislature meet each year, with sessions limited to 45 days.

North Dakota's Constitution says the Legislature may meet for a maximum of 80 days every two years, not counting special sessions and meetings held to impeach a public official. Since statehood, the North Dakota Legislature has met every other year, even though the constitution does not require biennial sessions.

Proposals for annual sessions have never been popular in the Legislature. The idea was pushed for years by former state Sen. Sen. Rolland Redlin, D-Minot, who wanted to break the allotted 80 days into one long session in odd-numbered years, and a short, budget-adjustment session in even-numbered years.

To take effect, Kretschmar's resolution will have to be approved by the House and Senate, and then by the voters.

"It's an important enough question that the people of the state should give their approval of it, if they want to go that way," Kretschmar said.

The resolution is HCR3054.