Legislative Update from District 5 State Senator Glen Vilhauer

And they’re off! By the time you read this the 101st SD Legislative session may have begun. This is written on Saturday January 10th with the session starting Tuesday January 13th with Governor Rhoden’s State of the State address at 1:00 that day.

As I visit with my legislative colleagues around the state, the best descriptors of what to expect from this session are “interesting” and “challenging.” Both of these may be pretty mild adjectives, but we will know more by the last day on March 30th.

I will just throw out what I think will be some of the larger topics that will consume a lion’s share of the time during these 38 days.

1)     Budget

Back on December 2nd, the Governor gave his budget presentation. It was an “austere” budget, but not real surprising in light of our relatively flat revenue growth. The budget did not provide for any increase in funding to the “Big 3”-school aid, medical providers and state employees. I have heard a lot of concern expressed by many people as to what trend this is setting for the foreseeable future. The Appropriations Committee (of which I am a member of) and the full Senate and House will have its work cut out for it in order to present a Constitutionally-mandated budget for the next fiscal year starting in July.

2)     Property Taxes

Once again an attempt to reign in property taxes across the state will be front and center. Currently there are approximately 25 bills (and growing) already in the hopper which deal with property taxes. This includes the 19 that came out of the summer task force that was directed to come up with options to address the concerns. I was also part of this group, and, in my humble opinion, very few of the proposals would accomplish much real relief. During the course of the task force meetings, I stated several times that we are trying to provide statewide relief for problems that were noted only in certain areas of South Dakota. Will we find a long-term, reasonable solution to this problem?

3)     Growing the Economy

I list this as a separate topic, but it is really interrelated with the other two. Until we get serious about getting the state back on track with economic development, we will not see any long term revenue growth which in turn feeds into options for stabilizing or reducing property taxes. This discussion to date has centered primarily around the possible construction of large scale data centers in South Dakota. However, it is about so much more than this. The last couple years this state has lost its edge when it comes to taking advantage of the opportunities that have presented themselves. We need to turn this trend around. “A rising tide lifts all boats.”

These are just a few of the topics that will be dealt with in the 500-600 estimated bills that will come before the legislature. Quite often other issues come out of the blue that no one was expecting which need time to be adequately dealt with as well. In addition to the day-to-day activities, we can’t forget that this is also an election year. This will add an extra sort of drama to the session. The Governor’s race and the House Congressional race include parties that have ties to the activities surrounding the legislature. Also, let’s not forget that the 2 year terms for all 105 legislators will also be up at the end of 2026. It will indeed be “interesting and challenging”!!

Stay tuned! I will again try to provide a weekly recap of the events from my perspective. I have said it many times before, but I am truly humbled and honored to serve in this capacity. Again, don’t hesitate to track me down if you want to discuss something. Take care!!

Related