The South Dakota Aeronautics Commission is preparing its official report for the governor.
Federal funding is stable for now, but long-term stability may have to wait, officials said.
The commission met to listen to reports from various entities within the commission’s purview.
The commission has seen an influx of Covid relief dollars in recent years.
The Federal Aviation Administration granted over $36 million in Covid relief to the state in 2020.
Joel Jundt is the Department of Transportation Secretary. He said Congress has approved funding through the rest of the year.
“The bad news is that it is just short-term federal funding, and it will be limited to not only last year’s budget but also its pro-rated based on the Dec. 20 date. So, from what we’re hearing in D.C. we do not anticipate that Congress will actually take up a full year’s appropriations bill until sometime after the first of the year,” said Jundt.
Jundt said he is encouraged by the numbers presented and said the state will be content with current aeronautics appropriations.
Jack Dokken is a Program Manager for Office of Air, Rail, and Transit. He offered information on the commission report to the governor.
“With this report and with this data, I would say that it pretty much follows the last few years of format regarding what we have for financial reporting, grant reporting, and actually what’s even left for the Covid grants that we received in the past,” said Dokken.
The commission approved the report for calendar year 2024 for consideration by the governor.
