State lawmakers support the governor’s plan to use one-time dollars to prepay public building loans. The Senate Appropriations committee passed House Bill 1206 Wednesday morning that will give more than $56 million to the South Dakota Building Authority to pay-off outstanding bonds. Senator Larry Tidemann says doing this frees up money for other needs.
“This bill is a critical component if we’re looking at funding the providers, K-12 education at the 3 percent level. Without this, prepaying these bonds using one-time money to create ongoing revenue, we’re going to have to really search for that 3 percent for our three entities—state employees, K-12 education, and the providers,” Tidemann says.
The committee passed the measure unanimously and it now heads to the Senate floor.