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ND Legislative Update by Kayla Pulvermacher, State Legislative Director Greetings, and happy spring! Today we are staring down Legislative Day 49, and we’re hoping that as the weather gets nicer, it’ll put an extra spring in the North Dakota Legislature’s step as they race to get through their bills. This week the House and Senate Appropriations Committees took in revenue projection presentations from IHS and Moody’s. The revenue forecasting process is an interesting one; the Legislature receives their first forecast before the Legislative Session Begins, and they receive a revised one during the Session. It starts with the Revenue Advisory Committee, created by the Office of Management and Budget, and consists of private sector members, legislators, and other public officials. The committee meets before each forecast to review the economic projections to ensure they are on par for the state. This information is then given to Moody’s and they adjust their forecasts as needed. In addition, this information becomes the basis of our state’s budget. In recent years, the Legislature has brought on a second firm, IHS, that provides a second analysis. Usually the numbers the Legislature ends up using falls somewhere in the middle. The forecasts predicted a nearly 30 percent increase in oil prices than what the Legislature began with at the beginning of the year—that’s nearly a billion more than they started to budget with in January. It will be interesting to see how this impacts the budget from here on. Our bills are moving fast and haven’t seen any huge bumps in the road (knock on wood). The Department of Financial Institutions had their bill go through the House IBL Committee without any dissenting votes; the same with their modernization bills. Once these bills hit the floor and pass we’ll have one bill that will need a confirmation vote due to amendments and we will still need to monitor the work of the Legislature. But I would say we are on the fast track to be done in early April. That said, I still won’t be putting any money down on that bet. Have a great week and don't hesitate to contact me with any advocacy questions.
ND Legislative Update
by Kayla Pulvermacher, State Legislative Director
Greetings, and happy spring!
Today we are staring down Legislative Day 49, and we’re hoping that as the weather gets nicer, it’ll put an extra spring in the North Dakota Legislature’s step as they race to get through their bills.
This week the House and Senate Appropriations Committees took in revenue projection presentations from IHS and Moody’s. The revenue forecasting process is an interesting one; the Legislature receives their first forecast before the Legislative Session Begins, and they receive a revised one during the Session. It starts with the Revenue Advisory Committee, created by the Office of Management and Budget, and consists of private sector members, legislators, and other public officials. The committee meets before each forecast to review the economic projections to ensure they are on par for the state. This information is then given to Moody’s and they adjust their forecasts as needed. In addition, this information becomes the basis of our state’s budget. In recent years, the Legislature has brought on a second firm, IHS, that provides a second analysis. Usually the numbers the Legislature ends up using falls somewhere in the middle.
The forecasts predicted a nearly 30 percent increase in oil prices than what the Legislature began with at the beginning of the year—that’s nearly a billion more than they started to budget with in January. It will be interesting to see how this impacts the budget from here on.
Our bills are moving fast and haven’t seen any huge bumps in the road (knock on wood). The Department of Financial Institutions had their bill go through the House IBL Committee without any dissenting votes; the same with their modernization bills. Once these bills hit the floor and pass we’ll have one bill that will need a confirmation vote due to amendments and we will still need to monitor the work of the Legislature. But I would say we are on the fast track to be done in early April. That said, I still won’t be putting any money down on that bet. Have a great week and don't hesitate to contact me with any advocacy questions.