Dalrymple calls special session of Legislature to tackle widening shortfall

[TexasTowelie]

BISMARCK – Gov. Jack Dalrymple took the extraordinary step Wednesday of calling the Legislature into special session to plug a budget gap that’s projected to widen to $310 million by the end of this biennium, after already shoring up a more than $1 billion revenue shortfall in February.

Dalrymple issued an executive order for lawmakers to convene Aug. 2. Under the state constitution, they must meet for at least the three days to pass a bill, which Dalrymple said his office will introduce to the Legislature’s delayed bills committee.

He said he and legislative leaders from both parties agree that a combination of targeted, short-term budget adjustments and the use of some contingency funds is the best route for balancing the budget by the end of the biennium on June 30, 2017.

“I think we have an excellent plan for dealing with this shortfall,” he said at a Capitol press conference with GOP leadership.

Read more: http://www.thedickinsonpress.com/news/north-dakota/4073381-dalrymple-calls-special-session-legislature-tackle-widening-shortfall

[Loki]

1. Let me guess?

Another Republican governed "trifecta" just like Kansas. Well ND, you got what you voted for.

[TexasTowelie]

2. And it took only one guess!

Here is another great editorial about the budget situation:

McFeely: Democrats were right about ND's budget

The three Republican amigos twisted themselves into pretzels trying to explain why the state Legislature is going into special session next month to address North Dakota's budget shortfall. Specifically, the amigos said, legislators would look at targeted cuts instead of the 4 percent across-the-board slashing Dalrymple instituted earlier this year when the state's once-rosy budget outlook cratered because of drops in agriculture commodity and oil prices.

Remember not so long ago when North Dakota Nice became North Dakota Smug and Republicans were dislocating their shoulders patting themselves on the back for their oil-boom budgets? Yeah, not so much anymore.

Instead, the state's top three Republicans explained that waiting months longer than necessary to call a special session was the prudent thing to do so they could see exactly what they were dealing with, exactly what the Legislature needed to do, after the latest budget numbers came out.

The entire editorial is at http://www.inforum.com/news/4073465-mcfeely-democrats-were-right-about-nds-budget .