North Dakota Republicans claim to be the party of small government and fiscal conservatism, which is true only if you ignore how theyâve actually been running state government for the last 15 years. Contrary to the rhetoric of politicians, we live in an era of big government Republicanism.
Gov. Doug Burgum recently proposed a âfiscally conservativeâ $15 billion state budget for the next two years. Thatâs about $330 million higher than the previous two years, which continues a trend. Only once since 2005 has state spending decreased from one biennium to the next.
Spending has increased dramatically in the last 15 years, all while Republicans have controlled the purse strings. Even when adjusting for inflation, the stateâs budget has nearly tripled since 2005. Our stateâs leaders might talk like fiscal conservatives, but they have no problem spending like liberal Democrats.