(BISMARCK, ND) – In his final budget address to the combined North Dakota Legislative Assembly Wednesday, North Dakota Governor Doug Burgum introduced a number of initiatives aimed at the betterment of North Dakota residents.
Burgum, who did not run for reelection and is President-elect Donald Trump’s nominee for the Secretary of the Interior, delivered the budget to the legislature Wednesday on the final day of the group’s organizational session, which will lead up to the convening of the regular session on January 7.
Burgum proposed a $95 million package to improve housing affordability, accessibility and stability during the upcoming biennium. That announcement follows last month’s unveiling of recommendations from the North Dakota Housing Initiative Advisory Committee to address housing needs in the state. The improvements would come through a variety of programs offered at the state level.
Additionally, Burgum proposes $19 million for child care, which would build on the previous session’s $66 million child care package, a ‘historic’ package passed by the North Dakota Legislature.
Burgum also included a proposal for $22.5 million for the Regional Workforce Impact Program, which has funded more than 100 projects, including 54 for child care.
The executive budget recommends increasing the general fund from $6.1 billion to $6.5 billion, which would still be $343 million below the record high general fund budget for the 2013-15 biennium. Federal and special funds, formula-driven increases and inflationary costs push the total proposed budget to just under $19.6 billion, a slight decrease from the current two-year budget.
His budget also proposes increases across the board in several other areas, including behavioral health and addiction services, K-12 and higher education, along with several others.
Wednesday’s addressed marked Burgum’s 10th address to a joint session of the Legislature – three budget addresses, four State of the State addresses to regular sessions and two to special sessions.
