Governor Dalrymple has order state agencies to prepare budgets at a level of 95% of what the current budget is sitting at, after the allotment cuts made in February.
But is it enough considering that most legislators and analysts expect another round of cuts to occur in August when the next Moody's projection is released?
Will this 95% budget be based on the 2nd round of cuts, which many estimate to be in the 3.5%-5% range?
Or will it be based on the 1st round of cuts, which will basically make it a flat budget proposal for the legislature to start with next session?
In recent years, there have been a lot of games that have been played by governors with regard to the state budget, and it has caused more work for legislator who have to deal with convoluted budget plans.
In 2010, Governor Hoeven ordered agencies to prepare for a spending freeze in the summer, but that order never made it too far because by the time Governor Dalrymple took office, some budget games were starting to be played to hide the real spending figures. and the spending increase came out at around a 25% increase - far from a "freeze".
As you hear the candidates talk about the budget, keep in mind that what gets discussed before elections and what happens during the legislative session generally is vastly different, as illustrated by the 2011 incident where a "spending freeze" became a 25% spending increase that was hidden in some sneaky accounting.
