State lawmakers are beginning their second week of legislative session. The first two weeks of session are typically slower as bills are just getting introduced.
But lawmakers are moving quickly to get $200 million out the door for housing infrastructure projects.
It took Senators two days to move the bill through their chamber and over to the House. That’s where the bill stalled last year.
There, several members were concerned about the price tag and where the money might end up. It eventually passed.
This year, several House members waited Friday afternoon to introduce the Senate bill on the floor. That allows the House to schedule the bill. It’ll go before the House State Affairs committee on Wednesday.
Hugh Bartels is the Republican Speaker of the House. He said if the bill passes committee, it should reach the House floor Thursday.
“We dedicated the money last session, last year. We had the technicalities with funds and language and stuff that the governor raised," Bartels said. "We’re trying to resolve those issues and get that money available to put infrastructure in for housing in this upcoming construction season.”
The Senate bill establishes a fund that allows South Dakota Housing to disperse $100 million in grants and $100 million in low interest loans for housing infrastructure.
Three quarters of that money comes from state coffers, the other quarter from federal COVID relief money. Seventy percent of the dollars must go to areas other than Sioux Falls and Rapid City.
The bill requires a two-thirds majority to pass.
