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House Appropriations hears budget outlook as committee prepares to compare two governors' plans
Summary
Legislative fiscal staff briefed the House Appropriations Committee on a 10‑year budget picture, projected additional revenues and the process for comparing Governor Burgum's submitted budget with incoming Governor Armstrong's proposal next week.
The House Appropriations Committee received a budget overview Wednesday that emphasized this session will compare two executive budgets and start its work from the previous legislature's approved base.
The preview matters because members will have both the Burgum administration's detailed executive recommendation and a second budget from Governor Armstrong to weigh when crafting appropriations. Alan Knudson, with Legislative Council fiscal staff, told the committee: "we will be going through a number of our reports and just kind of the information that you'll be getting throughout the session from us and the assistance that we can provide you to help you make the best decisions you can on the budgets that you're working with and again, the overall state budget." Knudson said staff will provide three comparative sheets for each agency — a blue sheet showing the base budget, a green sheet for Governor Burgum's recommendations, and a purple sheet that will summarize the Armstrong administration's proposals when they are released.
Why it matters: committee members will be asked to decide how to use a larger-than-expected beginning balance and higher oil-related receipts without committing recurring funds to ongoing operations. Knudson pointed to a robust beginning balance in recent bienniums and said turnback from agencies — unspent appropriations carried forward — is estimated at roughly $225 million going into the next biennium. He also warned that some recommended revenue transfers and one-time sources would affect that beginning balance depending on decisions the committee makes.
Fiscal context and key numbers presented included general fund trends, major revenue streams (sales and motor vehicle excise taxes, income taxes and oil taxes), and an explanation of transfers from Strategic Investment and Improvements Fund (SIF) and legacy‑earnings transfers. Knudson noted Governor Burgum recommended increasing the general fund state share of oil tax allocations from $460 million to $600 million; whether to adopt that level will be a legislative decision after comparison with Armstrong's figures.
Staff also reviewed how appropriations will be presented and amended this session. Knudson and Adam Matiuk of Legislative Council urged members to use the base budget as a constant starting point and explained the amendment workflow: fiscal staff will prepare amendments and statements of purpose, and divisions will each work from a worksheet that can incorporate items from either governor's recommendations.
Implementation notes: the Legislative Council and Office of Management and Budget (OMB) will publish weekly budget status reports and a fiscal impact report each Wednesday to show how proposed bills affect revenues and spending. Joe Morissette of OMB told members the Armstrong administration's summary will be released next week and asked members and agencies to allow some flexibility as the new executive's detail is finalized.
Looking ahead: the committee chair said the committee will start hearings next week and urged division chairs to closely scrutinize new FTE requests, one-time vs. ongoing expenditures and carryover projects, especially for capital and water resources where large carryover balances exist.
Members were directed to the Legislative Council and OMB online resources for green/blue/purple budget sheets, decision package detail, and weekly status updates and were told Legislative Council staff will prepare amendment language and supporting statements for committee consideration.
