Lawmakers in Pierre now have one piece of legislation aimed at funding repairs to South Dakota’s roads and bridges. Members of the House State Affairs committee Tuesday killed one of two bills that increase taxes to support state infrastructure.
In January lawmakers had two different plans for raising enough money to support roads and bridges across South Dakota. Legislators quickly amended the State Senate’s version of the transportation bill to look like the one introduced in the House of Representatives.
House Bill 1131 never made it out of its initial committee. Lawmakers spent hours hashing out different parts of the bill before State Representative Roger Solum moved to kill the legislation. He says lawmakers have too many unanswered questions.
"I think we need to take the ideas that have been generated off of 1131 and let’s wait for Senate Bill 1 and then incorporate some of those ideas into Senate Bill 1, and then we will certainly have a highway funding bill," Solum says.
House Bill 1131 died with a unanimous vote.
The companion measure – Senate Bill 1 – is already waiting for House members’ consideration. Senators made changes to the measure in committee and on the floor. The full body approved the legislation well ahead of the crossover day deadline.
Now the House State Affairs committee plans to work off of Senate Bill 1 as they decide which tax increases can generate the roughly $50 million needed to cope with roads and bridges that need repair.
