On Monday, February 29, at 8:00 am the SD Joint Committee on Appropriations will possibly take on number of bills after budget setting items. This is compiled using the agenda at the time of composing this post. Agendas can and do change!
One way to listen to these meetings live is via the audio links on the Schedule page of the LRC website. While there you can also view the status board for the meetings as they are going on.
BUDGET SETTING SCHEDULE:
Bureau of Finance & Management
Legislature
Department of Revenue
Department of Labor & Regulation
Board of Regents
Bureau of Information & Telecommunications
Unified Judicial System
Secretary of State
**** I have listened to very few of the Appropriations committee meetings. That means I haven’t listened to previous hearings on most of the bills below!
BILLS FOR POSSIBLE ACTION WHICH HAVE HAD PRIOR HEARING.
HB 1015 (SoDakLiberty Posts) – Authorize the Department of Human Services to dismantle and demolish buildings and to restore the demolition site to its natural state on the South Dakota Developmental Center campus, to make an appropriation therefor, and to declare an emergency.
SoDakLiberty Stance: Undecided
Prime Sponsors: The Committee on Appropriations is the prime sponsor at the request of the Department of Human Services.
The bill would appropriate $1,808,000 so DHS could undertake the campus overhaul. I actually did a pretty lengthy post on the bill. Since doing that post I have had a chance to learn more about the building in question. One of the buildings is in very poor shape and not used for anything. Another building also has structural issues, and is only lightly used for storage. There is a companion bill, HB 1208 (SoDakLiberty Posts), to sell some of the land after the demolition is completed.
HB 1029 (SoDakLiberty Posts) – Make an appropriation to the Department of Health to fund the rural residency program and to declare an emergency.
SoDakLiberty Stance: Undecided
Prime Sponsors: The Committee on Appropriations is the prime sponsor at the request of the Department of Health.
This has already had a hearing. Here is what I said prior to the previous meeting:
This bill would appropriate $205,000 “to support the development of a rural family medicine residency track for six medical students to address health care workforce shortages.”
I wonder how well this bill will do while the legislature is being asked to raise more revenue for teach shortage problems…
HB 1043 (SoDakLiberty Posts) – Revise the state aid to special education formula.
SoDakLiberty Stance: Undecided
Prime Sponsors: The Committee on Appropriations is the prime sponsor at the request of the Bureau of Finance and Management.
The 0.3% increase for the special education portion of K-12 funding.
HB 1044 (SoDakLiberty Posts) – Revise the state aid to general education formula.
SoDakLiberty Stance: Undecided
Prime Sponsors: The Committee on Appropriations is the prime sponsor at the request of the Bureau of Finance and Management.
The 0.3% increase for K-12 funding.
HB 1046 (SoDakLiberty Posts) – Make an appropriation to the railroad trust fund and to declare an emergency.
SoDakLiberty Stance: Undecided
Prime Sponsors: The Committee on Appropriations is the prime sponsor at the request of the Department of Transportation.
Here is what I said when the bill was prefiled:
This bill would appropriate $1,000,000 to the railroad trust fund “for the purposes of planning, enlarging, maintaining, equipping, and protecting railroads and railroad facilities”.
The committee meeting for this one should be interesting to listen to. Is this money needed to handle new rail traffic expected due to agricultural projects going on in SD? Or is this to update sections of line already in use? The bill has an emergency clause, that means the DOT would get the money right away after being signed into law.
Hopefully it won’t be used for non-infrastructure projects like federal DOT money was misused in Fort Pierre.
HB 1203 (SoDakLiberty Posts) – Pay off bonds and make certain other changes necessary to effectuate a tuition freeze by the Board of Regents and the technical institutes, to make an appropriation therefor, and to declare an emergency.
SoDakLiberty Stance: Undecided
Prime Sponsors: The Committee on Appropriations is the prime sponsor at the request of the Office of the Governor.
This was mentioned by the Governor in his budgetary address as his way to freeze tuition. The money saved by paying off the bonds can then be used to freeze tuition. My only problem with this is it does nothing to address the rising costs that cause tuition to go up.
HB 1221 (SoDakLiberty Posts) – Accommodate legislation relating to education funding.
SoDakLiberty Stance: Undecided
Prime Sponsors: Rep Spencer Hawley (D, Dist 7) and Sen Billie Sutton (D, Dist 21) are the prime sponsors.
This is a hoghouse vehicle bill with no actual content. This is a blank check signed by the House that must be watched to ensure it doesn’t get any last-minute legislation filled into it that can avoid a public hearing.
SB 46 (SoDakLiberty Posts) – Revise the notice filing fee for open-end management companies from a variable level tiered structure to a flat fixed fee.
SoDakLiberty Stance: Undecided
Prime Sponsors: The Committee on Appropriations is the prime sponsor at the request of the Department of Labor and Regulation.
I don’t know about this one, I’ll have to hear testimony before speaking about the bill.
SB 48 (SoDakLiberty Posts) – Revise the General Appropriations Act for fiscal year 2016.
SoDakLiberty Stance: Undecided
Prime Sponsors: The Committee on Appropriations is the prime sponsor at the request of the Bureau of Finance and Management.
I haven’t had time to look at this one yet. We are in the middle of fiscal year 2016 right now.
SB 49 (SoDakLiberty Posts) – Revise certain fees collected by the secretary of state, to revise the allocation of fees, to make an appropriation for an online business registration and filing system, and to declare an emergency.
SoDakLiberty Stance: Undecided
Prime Sponsors: The Committee on Appropriations is the prime sponsor at the request of the Office of the Secretary of State.
See my post about the bill here, and then a post looking further at it here.
This is an idea I like. But I do have apprehensions. The proposal is only as good as the SOS. If we get an SOS like the previous one this might be a bad situation. However if a good SOS is elected I think this is a great proposal!
SB 67 (SoDakLiberty Posts) – Make an appropriation and transfer certain money to support the South Dakota need-based grant program and to declare an emergency.
SoDakLiberty Stance: Undecided
Prime Sponsors: The Committee on Appropriations is the prime sponsor at the request of the Office of the Governor.
This would appropriate $2,100,000 for the need-based grant fund.
SB 84 (SoDakLiberty Posts) – Require municipalities to reimburse the counties for certain judicial and law enforcement expenditures.
SoDakLiberty Stance: Undecided
Prime Sponsors: Sen Jenna Haggar (R, Dist 10) and Rep Elizabeth May (R, Dist 27) are the prime sponsors.
This wouldn’t take effect until June 1, 2018. This bill likely comes about because of the many mandates passed down by the state, and the counties looking for any way to get revenues to offset those costs. In this case it would force municipality to pay more of their share of county judicial and law enforcement costs.
SB 86 (SoDakLiberty Posts) – Amend the 2017 General Appropriations Act to revise certain programs and promote efficiency in state government.
SoDakLiberty Stance: Undecided
Prime Sponsors: Sen Deb Peters (R, Dist 9) and Rep Justin Cronin (R, Dist 23) are the prime sponsors.
This is a hoghouse vehicle bill with no actual content. This is a blank check signed by the Senate that must be watched to ensure it doesn’t get any last-minute legislation filled into it that can avoid a public hearing.
The bill as amended to add an appropriation of $11.82. Yes that amount has a meaning, even if this bill won’t be used… HB 1182 (SoDakLiberty Posts)
It is still a hoghouse vehicle bill, basically a blank check to circumvent the legislative process.
SB 87 (SoDakLiberty Posts) – Revise certain programs and promote efficiency in state government and to make an appropriation therefor.
SoDakLiberty Stance: Undecided
Prime Sponsors: Sen Deb Peters (R, Dist 9) and Rep Justin Cronin (R, Dist 23) are the prime sponsors.
This is a hoghouse vehicle bill with no actual content. This is a blank check signed by the Senate that must be watched to ensure it doesn’t get any last-minute legislation filled into it that can avoid a public hearing.
SB 88 (SoDakLiberty Posts) – Revise certain programs and promote efficiency in state government.
SoDakLiberty Stance: Undecided
Prime Sponsors: Sen Deb Peters (R, Dist 9) and Rep Justin Cronin (R, Dist 23) are the prime sponsors.
This is a hoghouse vehicle bill with no actual content. This is a blank check signed by the Senate that must be watched to ensure it doesn’t get any last-minute legislation filled into it that can avoid a public hearing.
SB 92 (SoDakLiberty Posts) – Continue a math pilot project at the South Dakota School of Mines and Technology, to make an appropriation therefor, and to declare an emergency.
SoDakLiberty Stance: Undecided
Prime Sponsors: Sen Terri Haverly (R, Dist 35) and Rep Jeff Partridge (R, Dist 34) are the prime sponsors.
This would appropriate $250,000 to the South Dakota School of Mines and Technology for the continuation of the 2015 math pilot project.
The only apprehension about the bill I have is that it would use taxpayer dollars to fund a project that was being funded privately before. It is a good program though…
SB 161 (SoDakLiberty Posts) – Lower the state sales and use tax on certain food items and to increase the rate of taxation for the sales and use tax on certain goods and services.
SoDakLiberty Stance: Undecided
Prime Sponsors: Sen Angie Buhl O’Donnell (D, Dist 15) and Rep Ray Ring (D, Dist 17) are the prime sponsors.
This is the yearly attempt to get rid of tax on food. If this bill passed there would be 0 state sales tax on food items. All other items would raise from 4% to “four and thirty-five hundredths percent”.
This bill is DOA so I’ll stop looking at it and move on to other bills.
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