Gov. Steve Bullock has released a proposed budget for the 2019 biennium would increase K through 12 education funding, but also includes belt-tightening measures for some school districts.  The K through 12 budget proposal is $1.94 billion.  That’s barely a one and a quarter-percent increase in the first year and a 1 percent increase in the second which is required by statute.  The majority of that is statutory inflationary increases, as well as projected enrollment increases.
But Bullock has proposed several cuts and one increase, which combined would cut $9 million out of Fiscal 2018’s increase, and $9.4 million out of Fiscal year 2019.  They would eliminate the Natural Resource Development and Data for Achievement payments, shifting excess oil and gas funding from the state general fund to the state special revenue guarantee account, reducing the state school oil and gas fund base, and giving special education funding an inflationary increase.

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