KSFY: Legislators note winners and losers in the budget

From KSFY.com, Republican Jason Gant and Democrat Mary Glenski talk about who won and who lost in this years' legislative budget battle:

Both Democrats and Republicans on the committee that divides up the money say schools were the biggest winners this session, ending with a 4.2% increase over this year.

But Sioux Falls Senator Jason Gant also says the state's largest city was one of the big winners.

"I think the city of Sioux Falls and the citizens of Sioux Falls. We were able to secure 260 acres on the northwest side of Sioux Falls to expand USDSU," he said.

Representative Mary Glenski says another group to benefit greatly is the Attorney General's office. Lawmakers made a $4. 5 million bond payment, paying off the agency's new building.

"And it made it easier for the DCI building to operate without as expensive a budget, " she said.

Overall the budget increased from $3.05 billion the year before to $3.2 billion for this coming year. It also includes an additional 252 full time positions. Many of those positions will go to the Department of Regents so the universities can compete for grant opportunities.

One group Glenski says was not a big looser was South Dakota Public Broadcasting. Half-a-million dollars of the agency's money was moved in the closing hours of the session.

"We didn't actually take money away from them, but we did shift it from general fund to others funds," she said.

Read it all here.

Comments

Anonymous said…
EVERYBODY knows that South Dakota needs that 7th regental university.

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