Republican Sen. Kevin Grantham will lead the state Senate in 2017, where his party held onto its one-seat majority. He represents district 2 and says he’s the first rural senate president in over four decades.
As the third installment in a week-long series previewing the upcoming session, capitol correspondent Bente Birkeland sat down with Grantham.
To listen to Birkeland's other interviews with state politicians, click here.
How he will govern with such a narrow majority:
Grantham: It’s on a case-by-case basis. You know it depends on the issue. It depends on the circumstances and it depends on who’s on which side of which issues.
What he sees as the most significant state budget challenge:
Grantham: The ever-increasing amount we’re having to pay on Medicaid, and for the expansions. It’s cutting into some of our other -- what we feel are necessary functions of government including transportation infrastructure, that’s going to be another one of our main focuses.
His thoughts on the transportation funding solution:
Grantham: It will be a multi-faceted solution, if we’re able to get it done before the middle of May. … If there is going to be a long-term solution to transportation infrastructure, it’s going to almost certainly require something that the voters are going to have to weigh in on. What that is, we’re still talking about.
