A longtime South Dakota politician says voters should carefully examine a ballot measure focused on economic development. State lawmakers spar over whether the Large Project Development Fund established in Referred Law 14 is the best way to entice big business to South Dakota.
Representative Bernie Hunhoff is the top Democrat in South Dakota’s House. Since Referred Law 14 was a bill, Hunhoff has spoken out against the measure. He says establishing this sort of a large project development fund benefits only a few big companies at the governor’s discretion while diverting dollars from other state programs.
"The general fund has been sacred. There’s never enough money there for the schools; we all agree we underfund the schools, and we cannot bleed money from the general fund for large corporate projects like this. So the funding source is critical," Hunhoff says."
Hunhoff says he supports economic development, pointing to ethanol, wind energy and rural water opportunities, but he says using money from the contractor’s excise tax is the wrong answer.
Pat Costello with the Governor’s Office of Economic Development writes the ballot argument in favor of Referred Law 14. He says businesses receiving grants will be paying construction taxes that will fund future grants. Costello says there’s no net loss to the state.