Day 18 and the month of January is quickly coming to a close. The Senate still has 223 bills to be heard on the floor before the crossover deadline on February 22. As we get further into the session, the issues take a bit more time to debate on the floor, but we will get the work done.

Folks have been sending me message about a couple issues. One of those issues relates to the disposal of nuclear waste. Last session with the help of many interested folks from our district, we introduced and passed legislation in the Senate to provide notification and input from the affected counties and residents regarding that nuclear disposal site. The bill was changed in the House and turned into a study. The bill that is before the Senate now is a result of that study. There are a few flaws in that bill. Representative Jon Nelson has been working with the Senate Natural Resources Committee to correct those flaws. The nuclear waste law in North Dakota dates back to the 1990’s and needs to be fixed, but we have to get it right.

One of the other issues that is under discussion is an increase in the gas tax. The gas tax has not changed in quite a few years. As vehicles have become more efficient, the revenue from that tax has shrunk while the cost of road repair has increased. I’m not sure how the vote will go, but I do know that a bill in the House called Operation Prairie Dog is still alive and well and would provide money to every county, city, and township in non-oil producing counties to be used for infrastructure.

Sen. Jerry Klein