BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) - The Latest on Gov. Doug Burgum’s proposed budget (all times local):
10:20 a.m.
North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum has unveiled a $14.3 billion budget that raises state spending 5 percent and seeks to replenish reserves that were used to balance previous budgets.
His two-year blueprint presented to the Legislature Wednesday offers state employee pay raises, and spending increases on education, human services and infrastructure projects.
The first-term Republican governor’s spending plan also would use $300 million of the interest from the state’s voter-approved oil tax savings account for education loans and grants, and funding for projects that include a $50 million Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library in western North Dakota.
The state’s current two-year budget including federal aid is $13.6 billion. That’s $600 million less than the 2015 budget that had more than doubled since 2009 with the rise of oil activity in the state.
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8:32 a.m.
North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum is presenting the Legislature with his proposed budget for state government over the next two years.
The governor will unveil his blueprint to a joint session of North Dakota’s House and Senate at 10 a.m.
Burgum is expected to hit a frugal note, with a call to hold down spending and refill state savings accounts that have been tapped to balance previous budgets. But he’s expected to recommend pay raises for state employees, who didn’t get pay hikes in the current budget cycle.
North Dakota has a better than expected revenue picture due to record oil drilling, but the state’s biggest businesses - oil and agriculture - face some challenges.
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