Statehouse

Legislators on the Interim Rules Review Committee looked ahead to next session by discussing five changes they want the committee to support in Pierre.

Property taxes are one of the state’s biggest headlines heading into the next legislative session. With 19 recommendations from committee ranging from minor to radical, other lawmakers are beginning to weigh in.

The State Tribal-Relations Interim Committee approved four proposals it plans to bring to South Dakota’s next legislative session.

Gov. Larry Rhoden announced his plan to provide state funding toward the Rapid City and Sioux Falls airport expansions.

The day-long property tax committee hearing reflects the challenges of navigating the subject. As South Dakotans want relief, the state is already a low-tax haven.

At the latest Emergency Medical Services Interim Committee meeting, federal dollars set aside in a Rural Health Transformation Fund were discussed to help gaps in EMS funding.

While the state Legislature and the Governor’s office have agreed to build a prison, conversations about rehabilitation inside the prison walls are now coming into focus.

South Dakota’s Highway Patrol reports the department is understaffed by about 25. Officials say that impacts drunk driving and citations across the state.

In a special session, lawmakers moved forward with a plan to construct a new 1,500-bed prison facility in Sioux Falls.

As tax increment finance, or TIF, districts continue to be debated, they were an item of focus at the most recent meeting of the state comprehensive property tax task force. Some lawmakers still aren’t convinced of their effectiveness.