Dakota Beacon

I love to take my 12-year-old granddaughter shopping. In doing so I have learned a thing or two.

First of all, set the expectation on how much she has to spend in advance. Her wants always exceed our agreed upon budget. So, we begin to negotiate. That is a good thing. Negotiations are part of life.

I usually relent and exceed our agreed-upon budget because it is easier and, frankly, I want to make her happy. This reminds me of the spending process which occurs every two years at the North Dakota Legislature.

In a recent interview the Office of Management and Budget director told me the target for the general fund spending was roughly $6 billion. The agencies were asked to send in their wishes and needs. This biennium the requests came in $4 billion over the $6 billion, putting the requests at $10 billion.

Then the negotiations begin in an effort to find a workable budget.

Wants and needs are very different. I suspect there is merit in many of them.

Why wouldn’t the Department of Transportation want the best highways for the citizens? Why wouldn’t Health and Human Services want to ease every pain and hurt of the citizens?

Keep in mind, this is before 141 legislators descended on the capital with their list of demands and wants. Do you get the picture?

This is why we have out of control spending in North Dakota.

We have an incredible amount of revenue coming in from the citizens and companies across the state. Granted, over one half of the revenue comes from the oil and gas industry. It is easy for everyday citizens to want all of that easy money gushing out of the earth, but it comes at a price.

All of the buildings, staff, programs, and great ideas need to be continually funded. Government seldom retreats and never offers to spend less than the last time they received funding.

The North Dakota state budget has doubled in the past decade from approximately $10 billion to $20 billion. Based on my calculations we could easily spend $30 or $40 billion.

While the Legislature has built up fund balances (some required by initiated measure, like the Legacy Fund), it is critical it strikes the right balance between supporting current citizens and future generations with this once-in-a-lifetime pot of gold found beneath our feet. It will take courage for legislators to say no to all the wants.

To quote C.S. Lewis, “Courage is not simply one of the virtues, but the form of every virtue at the testing point.” North Dakotans must speak out and hold their legislators accountable for their spending frenzy.

If we don’t, the handwriting is on the wall. Not if but when the commodity market dips and agriculture and energy take a hit, we will find ourselves in the same predicament as the federal

Other Columns by Emineth

Emineth is a North Dakota native businessman and political activist. He is a former executive director and chairman of the North Dakota Republican Party. Emineth has served on the Republican National Committee and chaired numerous presidential campaigns in North Dakota. He is the host of “The Legislature Today” and “Open Range” daily TV shows on BEK. He is a serial entrepreneur and has 40-plus years of business experience with multi-national companies. He has traveled the world extensively and has served as CEO and president of mid-tier companies.