House and Senate Appropriations committees will soon be passing out spending bills.
And they’ll be reduced from what Gov. Dalrymple proposed. That’s because lower oil prices have lessened expected oil tax, sales tax and income tax revenues.
"We have looked at this as a bridge to March," said Senate Appropriations Committee chairman Ray Holmberg (R-Grand Forks). "But because there's less revenue, there are load limits on that bridge."
Holmberg says the March revenue forecast will lead to the final decisions on spending. He says there will be contingencies, or triggers, on some of the budgets – so if revenues come in stronger than expected, more can be spent.
"I would go out on a limb and say, 'I think we will,'" said Holmberg. "I think we have to."
Holmberg points to one example – the Resources Trust Fund. It receives oil tax revenues directly. And it funds water projects.
"When the Governor built his budget, he thought he had about a billion dollars to work with," said Holmberg. "Now we realistically think we have about $500 million. That's a lot of change."
Holmberg says at the present time, projected expenditures outpace projected revenues by about $2 billion.
"Keep in mind that over $1.6 billion of that is additional income tax, corporate income tax and other tax reductions," said Holmberg. "The Legislature is going to have to decide if we can afford them."
Normally, as the Legislature approaches crossover, the budgets aren’t balanced – and spending levels are above revenue projections.
