The chairman of the state Senate Appropriations Committee says it appears the state will have more money in the bank than what was forecasted.
Sen. Brad Bekkedahl (R-Williston) said it appeared the state was going to be behind in the projections, especially in oil and gas revenues.
"We've now rebounded from that, because although oil production and the price of oil have remained steady, or increased," Bekkedahl said. "I think we're going to meet or exceed our revenue projections for the biennium."
Bekkedahl said that will mean more money for strategic investments.
"We're also going to have more Legacy Fund interest earnings, because more money is going into that fund as well,' Bekkedahl said.
But Bekkedahl said this doesn’t mean Governor Armstrong will be backing off of his guidelines for budgeting given to state agencies. And he says that means matching ongoing revenue with ongoing costs.
Bekkedahl said the Legislature has been using the “Strategic Investments and Improvements Fund,” known as “SIIF,” to balance the state budget. A substantial portion of oil tax money goes into the “SIIF Fund.”
"His (Armstrong's) concern is, let's shrink the operations expenditures side," Bekkedahl said. "And ours (the Legislature) is going to be, how do we spend the money we have in the most appropriate places, which will probably involve some capital construction — roads or long-term projects."
