The Legislature’s Revenue Advisory Committee has rehired IHS Markit as its financial consultant, to put together a Legislative revenue forecast for the 2021-2023 biennium.
The vote was unanimous.
The other bid came from the UND Institute of Policy and Business Analytics
In the last Legislative session, IHS was criticized for what some lawmakers considered to be a lackluster budget presentation, that left a number of unanswered questions. But committee members said they think the IHS representatives now know what lawmakers want from them.
"The presentations were not to the standard that we would have liked," said Committee chair Sen. Ray Holmberg (R-Grand Forks). "But there was a sense that they got their feet wet, and they were certainly told the presentation needed a lot of work."
Holmberg said IHS was told the experts had to appear in person, rather than by phone.
"The commitee members already know IHS, its strengths and its weaknesses," Holmberg said. "And they decided to go that way, rather than with a new endeavor."
IHS' bid was slightly below the UND group's bid.
The state’s Office of Management and Budget uses Moody’s Analytics to produce the executive forecast.