Details from District 2: Legislature is at pivotal point of session
We have six weeks down and three to go in the 101st legislative session of South Dakota, and it’s my turn for a report. Crossover day is this Tuesday and that brings us to a pivotal point of the session. On close of business Tuesday, all bills that originated in their respective chambers will have had an opportunity for at least one committee hearing. Those that survived the committee function were passed onto the floor. And those that survived the floor vote are then passed to the other chamber. All bills that make it through both chambers land on the Governor’s desk and face one more opportunity to face death by veto. By my count, of the 58 bills that have made it to the Governor, 45 have been signed, 13 await a decision and one has been vetoed. At this time, I can’t give the numbers of bills killed in committee or on the floor, but at this point, it could number close to 200 or more. That’s OK because the process should be hard. Now on to other things.
Property taxes! If there has been one dominating topic this year, it has been property taxes and the various methods and/or schemes by which they can be lowered. To be honest, I have not had people reaching out to me in District 2, complaining about their property taxes. And when I’ve brought it up in conversations, the overwhelming number have stated that, though they don’t necessarily enjoy paying them, they understand the need.
The revenue of the State of South Dakota does not rely on property taxes, whereas our local governments do. As most of the budgets for cities, counties, school districts and townships depend on them to operate, there is a high degree of concern that what passes in Pierre could restrict these political subdivisions in answering the needs of their communities. As a City of Brandon councilmember, that is a concern that I share and will be guarding against.
Last thing I’ll touch on is the budget setting process. As of this writing, things are beginning to gel in the formulation of the spending priorities for the next fiscal year. Much of the work and discussion has been on the ‘Big Three’; K-12 education, state employee salaries and health care, mainly dealing with Medicaid providers. The Governor’s budget address had the Big Three at zero increase, but there has been some shifting upward since that time. I anticipate it will land in the 1.5 to 2 percent range by the time we vote on the budget bill just prior to the end of the session this year.
I know that people hate to see the end of the session and all the stimulating political news we generate in the paper and on social media, but take heart! Once we close out for this year, we have the campaign season upon us to look forward to. Be sure to make room in your recycling bin for all those mailers. Until my next report, this is Representative David Kull, signing off.
