North Dakota
How will North Dakota spend its $6.5 billion budget? Here are some of the most expensive bills
BISMARCK —
As North Dakota’s biennial lawmaking season passes its midpoint,
a handful of sweeping changes have taken center stage alongside their hefty price tags — from property tax relief and K-12 education funding to criminal justice reform and new mental health infrastructure.
The Legislature has taken a “conservative” approach in terms of what legislation has moved forward, with the state budget hovering at around $6.57 billion — less than half a percent below Gov. Kelly Armstrong’s recommendation ahead of the session.
That standing is likely to reverse as legislators catch up to state agency requests, according to state Treasurer Thomas Beadle.
“They’re trying to rush in that first month to get up to speed,” Beadle said. “As the session goes on, their knowledge base will continue to increase and they’ll usually adjust accordingly. But for right now, they certainly are taking a more conservative approach.”
Peyton Haug / Forum News Service
Property tax relief has been the most expensive legislation.
The House
distilled around 20 differing proposals down to three
that are now under consideration by the Senate. As-is, the approaches combined would cost nearly $312 million over the 2025-27 biennium,
according to a February Legislative Council report.
State money spent on tax relief may seem contradictory, but it’s simply giving that money back to taxpayers, Beadle said.
“It (the legislation) still shows up as a legislative expenditure and as a budget increase, even if an increase of the budget just giving the money back to the taxpayers,” he said.
Legislation that would fundamentally change state aid to K-12 education also advanced with steep costs after
the House defeated a $140 million push for free school meals.
The Senate approved
a plan that would provide $1,000 annually to a state education savings account
for every student whose family income was at or below 300% of the federal poverty line. Any student whose family met the income criteria would be eligible, whether they attend private or public school or are homeschooled.
Tom Stromme / The Bismarck Tribune
This would cost $22.8 million in the program’s first year, plus $3 million in administrative expenses.
The House approved a separate plan that would direct around $4,000 to every student attending private school, potentially costing the state over $103 million over the first three years of implementation.
One criminal justice reform bill also has a notable price tag.
Senate Bill 2128, brought by Attorney General Drew Wrigley, would mandate people convicted of drug trafficking or violent crimes
spend at least half of their sentence in prison rather than in transitional housing.
According to the bill’s fiscal note, the action would cost the state approximately $44 million over the next four years.
The bill was originally projected to cost around $200 million and was written to apply to more incarcerated individuals, according to the state Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation.
Wrigley, who has been at odds with the department over the fiscal note, said $44 million is still too high and maintains that front-end costs will lower overall costs by preventing future crime.
The Legislature deviated from the governor’s recommendation by approving a higher portion of one-time spending proposals compared to those that are ongoing.
Beadle said as lawmakers become more up-to-speed with agency requests, that ratio will shrink and be closer aligned with the governor’s proposed budget.
While earnings on oil and gas revenues are high, North Dakota can afford expensive projects, according to Beadle — like a
more than $330 million new State Hospital in Jamestown
.
Other sizable projects approved thus far include a $30 million incentive that is
likely to go toward constructing a $450 million potato processing facility in Grand Forks,
as well as a $20 million contribution to build a military expansion in the State Historical Society museum.
Contributed / North Dakota Department of Human Services
The state could lose $40 million in revenue to a bill seeking to restructure its tax bracket system, providing tax relief for some North Dakotans.
House Bill 1388’s
most significant change nearly doubles the income threshold for married couples filing jointly to be subject to the state’s full tax rate from over $244,000 to nearly $490,000. The bill aims to offset some of the lost revenue by repealing the
section of state law
that provides a marriage penalty credit.
More state revenue would be lost to a $21 million proposed tax cut for coal processing plants, according to the Legislative Council report.
Some state costs are also state investments, Beadle emphasized.
“We’re in a position where our commodity markets have done well. We’re sitting in a good cash position as a state,” he said. “This is a time where we can invest in some of those areas for the state so that we make sure that we’re providing the services that our citizens need.”
Greg Power, fisheries division chief with the North Dakota Game and Fish Department, shares information about the new 2026-2028 Fishing Guide and a few new regulations starting April 1, 2026.
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SIOUX FALLS — Ali Stephens had 17 points and 13 rebounds and 8th-seeded Omaha defeated 9th-seeded North Dakota 49-39 in the first round of the Summit League women’s tournament.
The Fighting Hawks had a tough time putting the ball in the hoop all night long, scoring just three points in the first quarter and having only marginally better luck from there.
UND (7-24) shot just 23.5 percent from the floor (12-for-51) and made 1-of-20 shots from outside the arc. Walker Demers and Mackenzie Hughes had 10 points each to lead the Hawks, with Demers adding eight rebounds.
Matt Zimmer/Sioux Falls Live
Regan Juenemann had 10 points and five rebounds for the Mavericks while Avril Smith had seven points and 16 rebounds and Sarai Estupinan eight points, five assists and three rebounds. Omaha (6-26) shot the ball slightly better than the Hawks, going 16-of-53 from the field (30 percent) and 8-of-23 (35 percent) on 3-pointers.
With the win, the Mavs earn a date with top-seed North Dakota State on Thursday at 2:30 p.m.
The Bison won both regular season matchups by more than 50 points.
Matt Zimmer/Sioux Falls Live
Oral Roberts 84, Kansas City 62 — Don’t look now but the team that started the conference season 0-10 and at one point lost 15 of 16 games might be the hottest in the Summit League.
Oral Roberts picked up their fourth straight victory on Wednesday night in the conference tournament opener, routing Kansas City at the Premier Center in the 8/9 “play-in” game.
Ty Harper had 22 points to lead the Golden Eagles (10-22), who took a 44-21 lead by halftime and never looked back. ORU shot 50 percent from the floor and made 13-of-27 3-pointers while the Kangaroos shot just 34 percent and made 6-of-24 from deep. Martins Kilups had 17 points for the Eagles and Connor Dow added 14.
Jayson Petty had 14 points to lead the Kagaroos, who finish the season 4-27. It was their final game under coach Marvin Menzies, whom the school announced earlier this season would not return next year.
With the win ORU advances to face top-seed North Dakota State on Thursday at 6 p.m.
The Golden Eagles lost to NDSU 86-58 in Tulsa on Jan. 24 but they took the Bison to overtime in Fargo on Jan. 3 in a 79-77 loss.
Matt Zimmer is a Sioux Falls native and longtime sports writer. He graduated from Washington High School where he played football, legion baseball and developed his lifelong love of the Minnesota Twins and Vikings. After graduating from St. Cloud State University, he returned to Sioux Falls, and began a long career in amateur baseball and sports reporting. Email Matt at mzimmer@siouxfallslive.com.
North Dakota
The North Dakota Attorney General issued an opinion to the ND State Auditor – North Dakota Attorney General
04 Mar The North Dakota Attorney General issued an opinion to the ND State Auditor
in Opinions
March 4, 2026
Media Contact: Suzie Weigel, 701.328.2210
BISMARCK, ND – It is the opinion that federal law does not prevent the state from auditing P&A and even though P&A possesses confidential records, N.D.C.C. § 54-10-22.1 and 42 C.F.R. § 51.45(c) authorize the state auditor and the employees of the auditor’s office, to review the records without detriment to P &A.
Also, whether Rule 1.6 of the North Dakota Rules of Professional Conduct for licensed attorneys prohibits P&A from disclosing to the State Auditor the contents of a client file for the purpose of conducting a non-financial performance audit under N.D.C.C. ch. 54-10 when the requested file includes information about individuals and businesses in the private sector who chose to contact P &A.
This issue was already addressed in a 1995 opinion of this office regarding P&A. The 1995 opinion highlighted that P&A has authority to contract with private attorneys to represent private individuals. 17 During that performance audit, auditors asked to see billings from the contracted attorneys. 18 P&A redacted the names of the individuals represented by the contract attorneys under the rules for attorney-client privilege or attorney-client confidentiality. 19 The names of individuals seeking services of P&A are protected under N.D.C.C. § 25-01.3. The opinion stated:
Thus, P&A’s records which indicate to whom its services were provided are available to the State Auditor for performance audit purposes. The State Auditor has
been given access by P&A to its records other than the attorney’s billings. Therefore, the State Auditor already has access to the names of the persons to whom P&A
provides services. State law requires that the State Auditor and his employees must keep such information confidential.
Here, P&A has not identified a specific record. Given that, I rely on the past opinions declaring that records made confidential by N.D.C.C. § 25-01.3-10 are available under N.D.C.C. § 54-10-22 to the State Auditor and the Auditor’s employees for audit purposes.
Link to opinion 2026-L-01
###
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