BISMARCK - Four months of budget-wrangling and policy debates concluded Thursday evening, April 27, as North Dakota lawmakers departed from the Capitol after approving a two-year budget that reduces spending to levels not seen in six years.
As Republican leadership touted the spending plan as an exercise in creating a leaner government without raising state taxes, Democrats in the minority warned of local property tax increases and tougher times ahead.
"This legislative session produced a budget that is unsustainable," House Minority Leader Corey Mock, D-Grand Forks, said in a press conference after lawmakers adjourned Thursday evening. "We are deathly concerned that what we have passed this legislative session will lead to even deeper cuts and more hardship in the years to come."
Overall, the 2017-19 biennium budget has almost $13.6 billion in spending, including $4.3 billion in general fund appropriations. That's in line with general fund spending in the 2011-13 biennium but down from the $6 billion approved two years ago.
North Dakota saw a rush of tax revenues in recent years largely due to the Bakken oil boom in the western part of the state. General fund appropriations reached a peak of almost $6.9 billion in the 2013-15 budget cycle.
ADVERTISEMENT
But as oil and farm commodity prices dropped, so did state revenues. Former Gov. Jack Dalrymple ordered cuts for most state agencies early last year before calling lawmakers into a special session to address a projected revenue shortfall.
Gov. Doug Burgum congratulated Republican legislative leaders for slashing general fund spending by almost a third while still "taking care of the important stuff." Thursday marked the end of the first session of Burgum's tenure, and legislative leaders said the Fargo businessman turned governor was largely hands-off in his rookie outing.
"When these guys came in, they and the entire Legislature had one of the toughest jobs ever assigned to a Legislature in the history of North Dakota," Burgum said in a press conference Thursday.
House Majority Leader Al Carlson, R-Fargo, said lawmakers had hard choices to make but managed to protect funding for K-12 education and the Department of Human Services.
Senate Majority Leader Rich Wardner, R-Dickinson, was optimistic about the future of the state's economy and government revenues. He said state officials have relied on a conservative revenue forecast that predicts oil production at lower levels than current activity.
"It looks like with this last month, things have hit the bottom and we bobbed up just a little bit," Wardner said.
But Democrats weren't convinced the future is all roses. Mock said legislators are using $825 million of one-time revenue for ongoing expenses in 2017-19, such as transfers from tax relief and infrastructure funds.
Among the session's signature policies was a two-year pilot program for the state takeover of county social services costs. That bill eliminates the 12 percent buydown in favor of a plan that suspends county authority to levy for human services and pays counties based on a formula that uses caseload figures and expenses.
ADVERTISEMENT
Republicans have acknowledged the plan doesn't include as much relief as the 12 percent buydown, but they point out much of the state's property tax efforts are in the school funding formula.
"The state is picking up about 39 percent of the property tax," Wardner said.
Democrats, however, said Republicans' budgetary decisions will lead to higher property taxes.
"It is not a gift to the property taxpayers," said Rep. Joshua Boschee, D-Fargo.
