Gov. Kelly Armstrong outlines his budget guidelines for the next two year budget period, April 8, 2026 (Photo / ND Governor's Office)
BISMARCK, N.D. (KFGO) – Gov. Kelly Armstrong presented his executive budget guidelines for the next two year budget period Wednesday. He called on some agencies to prepare hold-even budgets and others to reduce their budgets as part of a strategy to bring spending in line with revenues by 2032.
“Twenty years of growth in North Dakota has come with 20 years of growth in the state budget. Much of that was necessary, but the growth rate is also unsustainable,” Armstrong said. “We have a balance problem in our state budget. The growing gap between our ongoing revenues and ongoing expenditures is a slow-building storm, and we need to start correcting deficit spending in the general fund.”
Agencies will use guidelines to create proposals, Armstrong will use those proposals to create a budget recommendation for 2027 through 2029. The budget will be presented to state legislators in December.
The guidelines say agencies with budgets of less than $10 million should to prepare a hold-even budget. Agencies with budgets between $10 million and $20 million must identify reductions of 3%, while agencies with budgets over $20 million must identify reductions of 10%.
Agencies within the hold-even or 3% categories must also submit a 3% reduction package as a contingency against potential revenue shortfalls.
“Many of you weren’t here in 2015, but I was, and I remember how painful the allotment process was,” Armstrong said. “And we are going to hope for the best and prepare for the worst.”
No new full-time positions or building projects will be granted without an exception, and any new proposals that rely on ongoing revenues should be offset by a corresponding reduction in ongoing expenditures, Armstrong said. Current agency salary budgets will be fully funded, he said, citing the need to take care of existing employees.
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