For Corey Mock, the 2019 Legislative Assembly will be a "difficult and challenging" one with "a lot of great opportunities," he said.
Mock, D-Grand Forks, announced in December he was stepping aside from his position as House minority leader to take on a more bipartisan role as a member of the Appropriations Committee, which reviews budgets for the state and its agencies. He will serve in a subcommittee for government operations, calling the new role "very much within (his) passion."
"I've been known to be one of the more engaged members of the Legislature in finances," Mock said. He has served on several related interim committees, including the Budget Section, Government Finance and Tribal Taxation.
Mock said he and colleagues are developing a bipartisan leadership caucus that will encourage lawmakers to cross party lines and collaborate more.
"I'm just physically exhausted by the vitriol that comes from national politics," he said.
ADVERTISEMENT
Demonstrating such bipartisanship, Mock is co-sponsoring a largely Republican-led bill that will provide infrastructure funding to eastern North Dakota.
The former Greater Grand Forks Young Professionals director said he is also researching a bill that will allow the state to recognize benefit corporations formed in it. Benefit corporations are for-profit businesses that hold themselves to higher standards of accountability. Current conditions might lead young entrepreneurs interested in such a classification to move away and pay income taxes elsewhere.
"We want to be as supportive of workforce and talent as we can," Mock said. "This will be an important step to make sure North Dakota business, if they want that option, have it."
