PIERRE, S.D. – As South Dakota lawmakers enter the home stretch of this year's session, here's a summary of the top five developments heading into the final week.
Property taxes
After Gov. Larry Rhoden claimed victory with the passage of Senate Bill 96, which encompasses his proposal to allow counties the option to adopt an additional sales tax as a way to lower property taxes, his office will be keeping a close eye on Senate Bill 245 which is up for consideration in the House.
The bill, endorsed by the governor, would create a homeowner property tax relief fund for homeowners using the funds generated by the planned 0.3% sales tax increase next year.
While he was initially skeptical of such a plan, the governor has now backed the move after negotiations with legislative leadership, in particular fellow Republican House Speaker Jon Hansen.
A related bill, championed by Republican House Majority Leader Scott Odenbach of Spearfish, is also set to be considered on Monday. House Bill 1253 would cap annual property assessment growth at 5% over a five-year period.
Referendum deadline
Another potentially impactful bill still pending, which the House will consider next week, is House Bill 1323. It would increase the number of days residents have to obtain signatures for a referendum to 30 days from the current 20 days.
The bill is primarily viewed as a vehicle to allow residents to petition their individual counties to implement Rhoden's property tax plan.
Budget
Above all other pieces of pending legislation, setting the budget for the upcoming fiscal year that starts July 1 will be top of the agenda next week. After taking a relatively streamlined process in determining revenue estimates, the Joint Appropriations Committee will meet to finalize budgetary discretions for the various state agencies and additional funds for school districts.
The committee expects a roughly $30 million increase in revenue projected for the fiscal year by Rhoden's office. Rhoden has called for the extra funds to go toward a 1% increase in teacher salaries.
Summer studies
Legislators will also have an opportunity next week to discuss what issues they think were not addressed in this year's session and could be studied by the Legislative Research Council during the summer.
Republican Sen. Sue Patterson of Sioux Falls has called for a Senate Taxation Committee meeting on Monday to explore tax legislation. It comes after several bills aimed at providing tax incentives for data centers failed during the 2026 legislative session.
Kristi Noem
Despite the consequential legislation still pending, the top South Dakota political story from this week didn't happen in Pierre but in Washington, with the firing of former Gov. Kristi Noem as secretary of Homeland Security.
President Donald Trump appointed Noem to the newly-created – and yet to be defined – role of United States Special Envoy for the Shield of the Americas. There was previous speculation Noem, who is the first Cabinet secretary in Trump's second term to be dismissed, would potentially launch a late challenge against fellow Republican and former South Dakota governor U.S. Sen. Mike Rounds. Noem will leave the DHS on March 31.
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South Dakota News Watch is an independent nonprofit. Read, donate and subscribe for free at sdnewswatch.org. Contact politics and statehouse reporter Alexander Rifaat: 605-736-4396/alexander.rifaat@sdnewswatch.org.
