Yesterday, I continued my efforts to add nuclear-generated power to the state’s clean-energy mix. By a bipartisan vote of 29-20, the Senate passed my bill to add carbon-free nuclear power to the list of alternative-energy sources included in the state’s voluntary Green Power Program.

Under state law, electric utilities are required to offer their customers a voluntary option to buy green power. Currently, green power is defined as electricity generated from wind, solar, geothermal, biomass, gas produced during the treatment of wastewater, and other specified sources.

Senate Bill 5091 would simply revise the definition of “qualified alternative energy resource” to include nuclear energy.

In 2013 nuclear energy produced 19 percent of our nation’s electricity and prevented 589 million metric tons of carbon dioxide from entering the atmosphere, which is equal to the CO2 emitted by 113 million passenger cars.

If our goal is to encourage the public to voluntarily choose power that is clean, nuclear power produces zero emissions and should be included in the mix.

SB 5091 now heads to the House of Representatives for its consideration.

The Senate also approved my fiscal-reform measure that would establish a process for looking at the impact large-scale revenue measures would have on human behavior and how those behavioral changes would affect the economy.

Fiscal notes are prepared by the state Office of Financial Management, which is the governor’s budget office. The ones we are all familiar with only ask agencies to determine their actual cost of implementing a bill.

The dynamic fiscal statements created under my bill would ask agencies affected by a revenue proposal to cast a broader net – to consider how people would shift economic activity as a result of the bill. This information would allow legislators and the public to have a more accurate idea of the net impact on our state economy of major revenue proposals.

Under Senate Bill 5915, which passed the Senate 49-0, these dynamic statements would be extremely limited, in that only fiscal-committee members could request them, at least 60 days before a legislative session, and only for bills that would generate more than $10 million in new revenue.