North Dakota legislators begin writing budgets and making law in January, but first the meet in December for an organizational session. New lawmakers get sworn in, committee assignments are doled out, and lawmakers get some training on how the legislative process works.

Part of the organizational session is also a budget address from Governor Doug Burgum. On this episode of Plain Talk, Burgum joined me, and my new Wednesday co-host Ben Hanson, a former lawmaker himself, to discuss the executive budget he just delivered to lawmakers.

Burgum answered questions about a flat-tax proposal he's made for the state's income taxes, which would eliminate the tax entirely for most North Dakotans, and discussed why he didn't propose a total elimination.

Also discussed were ways his budget seeks to address one of the state's most chronic economic challenges, which is workforce shortages. Burgum is proposing to address that, in part, with investments in increasing access to child care, an expense that keeps many North Dakotans at home with their kids instead of seeking a career in the labor markets.

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