In her budget address Tuesday (Dec. 3, 2024), South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem recommended a 1.25% increase in funding for the state’s “Big 3.”
Noem said the increase for education funding, healthcare providers and state employees would be to help them offset increases in inflation.
“Since I took office, the Consumer Price Index has increased by 24.9%. With this budget, we will have provided inflationary increases of 27.9%. This should keep us ahead of the increase in inflation. We are not going back to the days when our kids, providers, and employees are left behind.”
Noem also proposed the creation of Education Savings Accounts for South Dakota students.
“I’m am setting aside $4 million in ongoing dollars to stand up the program to start providing support for South Dakota students. This investment will pay for a portion of private school tuition or curriculum for alternative education – beginning with about $3,000 per-student. Because this is a starting point and a limited initial investment, we must first provide for the South Dakota students that have the greatest need. But our goal is to expand, and my hope is that these ESAs will ultimately be available to every student in South Dakota. Now, let me be clear, we will not be cutting any dollars to our public schools, as many might try to argue. Public schools are very important to our state’s educational future.”
Noem said state government needs to continue innovating and investing in ways to increase access to medical care, especially in rural areas.
“Innovative efforts like Telemedicine in Motion are setting an example for the nation. And we’ve put modern LifePaks in the back of ambulances across the state to save lives. We expanded the Bright Start program to support moms and babies before birth and after. We’ve started construction on a brand new state-of-the-art Public Health Lab. And we have added resources to this lab to enhance our services to the state. We have invested to help build and support regional mental health facilities across South Dakota. In the past, when a South Dakotan was experiencing a mental health crisis, they would end up in jail or in the emergency room to get cared for. Now they can get appropriate help closer to home. This effort is a big reason why South Dakota continues to lead the nation with the largest drop in overdoses of any state. And my budget this year provides $1.2 million in additional ongoing funding for these regional facilities.”
Noem also proposed a permanent repeal of the state sales tax, cutting some funding from South Dakota Public Broadcasting and making $71.9 million in “budget reductions and discretionary changes.”
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