Since North Dakota became a state, there have only been 14 special Legislative sessions.
Only a few of them dealt with direct budget issues.
This year is an exception. Lawmakers will be back in Bismarck August 2nd to deal with a projected $310 million revenue shortfall.
Sen. Ray Holmberg (R-Grand Forks) has served in seven of the sessions.
"We have two year budgets, so there has to be built-in flexibility," Holmberg said. "That's one of the reasons they are so few."
Holmberg says minor budget adjustments can be made without calling lawmakers back to Bismarck.
Very few of the special sessions are called in an election year, before voters go to the polls. This one is an anomaly.
"There is always a reluctance to have special sessions in election years, because there's always the concern that it might evolve into a 'he said, she said' situation," Holmberg said. "But the initial comments from the minority party were the same as what was coming from the Governor's office -- we want to have it focused and quick."
Holmberg said lawmakers need to come back this year to access some of the "rainy day" funds the Legislature set aside. That's due to low oil and agriculture prices.
Legislative leaders say they want to limit the session to three days.
Holmberg said this will be a good bridge to the regular session, which convenes in January.
