Today may very well be the last day of the 2017 legislative session. Lawmakers are hoping to be completed by this evening. We’ll see if that happens, but we hardly need to reach the official end point to conclude that it has been a rough session for the lawmakers and the state. Profligate spending during…
The State of North Dakota Is Not Putting Meals on Wheels Funding “At Risk”
“Meals on Wheels funds at risk with ND bill and Trump budget,” reads a recent headline. That’s an unfortunate headline though it does make for a nice talking point for the state’s liberals, who have been crowing about this online and tying the situation to similarly exaggerated claims about President Donald Trump’s budget. .@NDHouseDemNPL is…
Trying to Solve a Spending Problem With Tax Hikes Is a Fool’s Errand
Here’s a simple truth about governance: Spending increases are easy. Spending cuts are really, really hard. North Dakota is currently learning that lesson. Per data put together by Legislative Council, our state’s general fund spending increased more than 167 percent from the 2007-2009 biennium to the peak of the oil boom in the 2013-2015 biennium.…
North Dakota Lawmakers Have Got to Fix the Revenue Forecasting Problem
Here’s something a lot of people – even those who follow politics in North Dakota closely – don’t understand about our state’s budgeting process. When lawmakers make a budget they aren’t spending money the state has. It’s not like the appropriations they make are drawn on a gigantic state checking account which runs a balance.…
North Dakota Democrats Think You’re Not Paying Enough in Taxes
The drift of North Dakota’s Democrats into political irrelevance often gets blamed on how far left their national party has gone. It’s hard to win elections in North Dakota when your fellow Democrats nationally are advancing (as one example) a federal regulatory regime which would be devastating for North Dakota’s primary industries. But there is…
Doug Burgum Shows up in Bismarck for Budget Section Meeting
Good job, Doug Burgum. I’m serious. I am impressed that the Republican gubernatorial nominee turned up in Bismarck for a meeting of the Legislature’s budget section. He certainly caused quite a stir with lawmakers who have been texting me about it this morning. You can see him at right speaking with NDUS Chancellor Mark Hagerott…
North Dakota Shouldn't Be Using A Boom-Era Budget As Baseline For A Post-Boom Budget
Yesterday Governor Jack Dalrymple set budget guidelines for state agencies asking them to come in at 10 percent less than their budgets for the current 2015-2017 biennium. Though really what Dalrymple is ordering is a 5.96 percent reduction. State agencies are already reducing their budgets from what was appropriated by 4.04 percent to comply with…
Can We Calm Down About North Dakota's Spending Cuts?
I get it. I do. North Dakota has been able to increase spending every biennium for a long, long time. For a generation the news about the state has been, for the most part, about low unemployment and steady economic growth supporting ever-larger budgets. When we start getting headlines about falling tax revenues prompting mandatory,…
David Flynn: Where North Dakota Spends Its Money (Compared To The Rest Of The Country)
Lately my thoughts turn to public finances in North Dakota. In particular I am thinking about the status of public pensions in North Dakota, both on their own terms and compared to other places. One of the things you need to consider when discussing an issue like pensions is the general financial context of the…
Dalrymple Proposes 12.7 Percent Increase In On-Going Spending
Governor Jack Dalrymple delivered his biennial budget address this morning. You can watch the whole thing above (minus about a minute when my stream glitched for some reason), and read the prepared remarks here. Below are some of the highlights. “The budget plan is ambitious,” Dalrymple said. “We must always be cautious of overexpansion, a…