North Dakota's governor vetoes bill that would require librarians to screen sexual explicit material from kids

Doug Burgum, the governor of North Dakota, vetoed a bill that would've required librarians to screen sexually explicit materials from children.

"Protecting children from explicit sexual material is common sense," Burgum said in a statement explaining why he signed one of the bills into law.

But he said the bill he vetoed would have created "an enormous burden" on hundreds of public libraries by imposing — under the threat of criminal prosecution — an expensive requirement that libraries review materials that have already been screened for age appropriateness. His statement said it would cost the state $300,000 initially to conduct such screening and $150,000 per year thereafter.