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ND Senator: Oil Money Trust Talks Should Begin

BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) — A North Dakota lawmaker says the state's oil trust fund could have $1 billion by June 2013.

Mandan Sen. Dwight Cook says the Legislature should open a public discussion of how the "Legacy Fund" money should be used.

Voters approved the fund in November 2010. It gets a share of the state's oil tax collections and it already has more than $200 million. The Legislature can't start spending the money until 2017.

Cook says he likes Wyoming's idea of using the money for college scholarships for North Dakota high school graduates. But he says all options should be discussed.

Cook says he plans to introduce a resolution in the 2013 Legislature asking for a study of how the oil trust money should be used.

(© Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)

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