The Legislature’s Joint Appropriations committee met earlier this week to review several items including the fiscal year 2026 $69-million dollar budget surplus.
The total includes better than forecast sale tax revenues as well as $39-million dollars in departmental budget reversions.
Committee member, Senator Paul Miskimins from Mitchell, explained the Department of Social Services alone reverted $30-million dollars. “It’s not that they’re trying to be wasteful in any way, it’s that sometimes there are unforeseen things that they put into their budget to cover,” Miskimins pointed out. “Last year, there were five individuals who were on Medicaid who had $10 million in health care costs. Those are catastrophic like transplant patients.”
He said it’s challenging for departments to find the right balance depending on a number of variables. Plus state departments are prohibited from having so-called “rainy day funds” to fall back on. However funds may be transferred between departments if needed.