How Sequestration Will Impact North Dakota - KXNet - Bismarck/Minot/Williston/Dickinson

How Sequestration Will Impact North Dakota

Sequestration will impact several agencies and programs in North Dakota.

Officials say the state would receive about twenty million fewer dollars in federal funding if it lasts through October.

That represents about 1.4 percent of federal dollars the state receives.

Pam Sharp of the Office of Management and Budget says her office has been preparing for the shortfalls.

We have done a new revenue forecast and we use Moody's analytics and they have made assumptions regarding the sequestration into their model so that is included in our forecast and in addition to that we'll be getting information from agencies and we're fortunate that the legislature is in session right now so if they choose to replace any of this federal funding they are able to do that right now," says Sharp.

"Probably a large chunk is in K-12 education, there's some money that we would lose there for primary and secondary education as well as for children of disabilities. Another area we could lose money is in public health care which would include a little money for vaccines for children as well," says Sharp.

Sharp says the cuts would also include money for clean air and clean water and fish and wildlife protection services. She says it will take about a month before any cuts are made.

The North Dakota National Guard will also be impacted. Earlier this week Brigadier General Alan Dohrmann told KX News they have to cut $6.5 million dollars from their budget statewide affecting over six-hundred employees.