Budget Section Approves Additional CARES funds for ND and Provides General Fund Update

The North Dakota Legislature's Budget Section today approved sending out more than $500 million in federal funds to state agencies; which a portion of those funds will go to county government in a few specific areas.
"It should be noted that, although counties didn’t get our direct reimbursement request addressed, three very important county costs were approved, said NDACo Executive Director Terry Traynor. Those items are:

• DOH received $20 million for public health district estimated costs through December 30, 2020
• DOCR received $880,202 to reimburse county jails for expenses incurred housing DOCR sentenced inmates through July 2020
• DHS received $285,000 for human service zone direct expenses estimated through mid-September.

View the Budget Section agenda which includes a summary and links to the specific requests.

View the Legislative Council presentation on the Coronavirus Relief Fund - North Dakota State Plan

The Budget Section will meet again in June 25, to look at additional distributions of the federal funds. 

Joe Morrissette, Director of North Dakota Office of Management and Budget also provided an update on the status of the state budget. General Fund reviews for the month of April are $40 million short of the Legislative forecast. However, because revenues have tracked ahead of forecast prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, revenues overall are still ahead of forecast by $81 million. The ending fund balance of the state's general fund is expected to be $126 million June 2021.