South Dakota lawmakers have finalized the state’s budget that starts on July 1, 2017 (Fiscal Year 18). State Senators and Representatives approve of a measure they call the general bill. It lists numbers for all revenues and all budgets in balance.
State Representative David Anderson is chair of House Appropriations.
“They’re just numbers, folks. They don’t mean anything. What’s behind the numbers? It’s people," Anderson says. "It’s people of the state of South Dakota. That’s what the numbers are about. That’s who we serve. That’s who works for us. That’s what the numbers mean. Otherwise they’re just numbers.”
Fiscal year 2018 starts has a budget of nearly $4.6 billion. Anderson says half of that goes to education.
K-12 education and tech schools are receiving 0.3 percent increases to cover inflation. Lawmakers are holding many other areas flat to keep South Dakota’s state budget balanced. Read the entire budget bill here.
The legislature accounted for a shortfall of roughly $57 million, which stems from lagging sales tax revenues and a slow agriculture economy.
Lawmakers leave Pierre now that the regular session is over. They return on March 27, 2017 to consider voting on an vetoes Governor Dennis Daugaard gives legislation passed by both chambers.
