“Delzer has been selling us this doom and gloom since the start in regards to the numbers,” one North Dakota Republican state lawmaker told me this week.

The Delzer in question is Rep. Jeff Delzer, a Republican from Underwood and chairman of the powerful House Appropriations Committee which stands astride the Legislature’s budgeting process.

The “numbers” in question are the state’s revenues.

“A lot of the caucus members are starting to wake up to the fact that the numbers are a hell of a lot better than what he’s been leading us to believe,” my source told me.

At issue is accuracy in how the state’s finances are represented. Many are complaining about how Delzer and some others are account for the state’s revenues to their colleagues.

This matters because lawmakers make their budget decisions based on how much money the state is expected to have.

The accusation is that some, including Delzer, are trying to manipulate those decisions not by debating the merits of a given appropriation but by misrepresenting the state’s revenues.

Gov. Doug Burgum actually complained about this recently, noting that some $200 million in Legacy Fund earnings had been left out of the most recent revenue forecast adopted by Delzer’s committee. Burgum said this “lack of transparency” was “disingenuous” and a “disservice to the people of North Dakota.”

But it’s not just Burgum and the executive branch complaining. Other lawmakers are upset as well, and while they’re not speaking publicly about it just yet, they’re certainly griping in private.

One lawmaker pointed me toward numbers presented to the State Industrial Commission this week showing that the Strategic Investment and Improvement Fund will have nearly $2 billion in unallocated funds by the end of the next biennium.

Even after balancing the general fund this biennium, there is still a projected $1 billion in revenues.

“Legislature received an email tonight showing oil and gas tax revenue over projections by 45 percent,” a legislative source told me on Tuesday.

The argument from lawmakers complaining about this is not that they want to spend all that money. Or maybe they do. That’s a separate debate.

The point is that lawmakers don’t feel like they’re getting straight answers on revenues from appropriations leaders.

One lawmaker told me Delzer, specifically, is using this tactic to “kill a number of bills that he does not like.”

That’s not right.

State lawmakers spent themselves into a mess during the oil boom years, as we’ve seen over the last couple of budget cycles, and I am loathe to see them repeat those mistakes as revenues recover.

But this isn’t about what you or I think spending levels ought to be at. This isn’t about finding more money to spend.

This is about lawmakers getting accurate information about revenues.

That doesn’t seem to be happening, and it needs to either stop or lawmakers need to choose new leaders.

Rob Port, founder of SayAnythingBlog.com, a North Dakota political blog, is a Forum Communications commentator. Listen to his Talk Podcast and follow him on Twitter at @RobPort.