skip to main content
skip to newscasts

Friday, March 29, 2024

Public News Service Logo
facebook instagram linkedin reddit youtube twitter
view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

The latest on the Key Bridge collapse, New York puts forth legislation to get clean energy projects on the grid and Wisconsin and other states join a federal summer food program to help feed kids across the country.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Republicans float conspiracy theories on the collapse of Baltimore's Key Bridge, South Carolina's congressional elections will use a map ruled unconstitutional, and the Senate schedules an impeachment trial for Homeland Secretary Mayorkas.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Historic wildfires could create housing and health issues for rural Texans, a Kentucky program helps prison parolees start a new life, and descendants of Nicodemus, Kansas celebrate the Black settlers who journeyed across the 1870s plains seeking self-governance.

ND Public Employees Push for Responsible Budget Cuts

play audio
Play

Wednesday, February 3, 2016   

BISMARCK, N.D. - With North Dakota facing steep budget cuts, one of the state's largest public-employee groups is asking state agencies to make careful choices. Governor Jack Dalrymple has ordered that agencies cut more than 4 percent from their operating budgets to help fill a $1 billion shortfall due to a declining oil industry.

Nick Archuleta, president of North Dakota United, says he understands the governor's move, but is urging agencies to consider "unnecessary" spending before slashing public employees' promised salary increases or positions.

"We would prefer that these cuts be made in areas like travel, and putting a moratorium on new projects that they haven't started yet, and leaving some vacant positions vacant," he says.

The governor's plan also includes using close to $500 million from North Dakota's rainy-day fund to cover the budget gap. State agencies have about two weeks to submit their proposed cuts.

The budget-tightening comes at a time when North Dakota faces its highest number of unfilled teacher positions in about a decade. Among other public employees, Archuleta's group represents thousands of teachers. He says while there are currently no plans for mass layoffs in the public sector, if job cuts do eventually come, it could make these positions harder to fill in the future.

"If it looks as if these jobs are only going to exist at the whim of agency heads, who might cut them at the first chance of a poor economy, then we're really looking at hampering our ability to employ quality people in the public sector," says Archuleta.

North Dakota's elementary and high schools are not expected to be hit by the cuts, as those budgets will be covered by separate, special funding.


get more stories like this via email

more stories
The U.S. Supreme Court heard arguments this week about the popular abortion pill Mifepristone and will weigh in on whether the U.S. Food and Drug Administration was correct in how it can be dosed and prescribed. (Ascannio/Adobe Stock)

Health and Wellness

play sound

Missouri residents are worried about future access to birth control. The latest survey from The Right Time, an initiative based in Missouri…


Social Issues

play sound

Wisconsin children from low-income families are now on track to get nutritious foods over the summer. Federal officials have approved the Badger …

Social Issues

play sound

Almost 2,900 people are unsheltered on any given night in the Beehive State. Gov. Spencer Cox is celebrating signing nine bills he says are geared …


The U.S. teaching workforce remains primarily white while the percentage of Black teachers has declined. However, the percentage of Asian and Latinx teachers is rising.(WavebreakMediaMicro/Adobestock)

Social Issues

play sound

Education advocates are calling on lawmakers to increase funding for programs to combat the teacher shortage. Around 37% of schools nationwide …

Environment

play sound

New York's Legislature is considering a bill to get clean-energy projects connected to the grid faster. It's called the RAPID Act, for "Renewable …

Social Issues

play sound

Michigan recently implemented a significant juvenile justice reform package following recommendations from a task force made up of prosecutors…

Health and Wellness

play sound

Medicare and Medicaid are key sources of health coverage for many Americans and some people qualify for assistance under both programs. With lagging …

 

Phone: 303.448.9105 Toll Free: 888.891.9416 Fax: 208.247.1830 Your trusted member- and audience-supported news source since 1996 Copyright © 2021