SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (KELO) — From education funding to state salaries and a new penitentiary… Gov. Kristi Noem has laid out her plans for the 2025 budget.
Tuesday’s budget address included a handful of new programs along with some cuts.
1.25%. That’s the increase the governor is proposing for the so-called big three: education, health care and state employees.
And judging from these brief chats with Eric Emery of Rosebud and Helene Duhamel of Rapid City, the conversation around increases for the big three doesn’t look like it will wrap up anytime soon.
“What stands out the most is 1 and a quarter percent given to the ‘big three,'” Democratic Rep. Eric Emery of Rosebud said. “That’s a little bit less than I expected. I think I would have liked to see maybe two and a half to three percent but, I think it’s going to be a big road ahead of us to climb that for the big three.”
“Compared to what we’ve been doing, that will feel like a cut to them, and so there will be a lot of fighting over that number,” Republican Sen. Helene Duhamel of Rapid City said. “I don’t know if there’s any flexibility, but that’s something that’s new that our ears perked up because right there the public schools, the big three will say, that’s a cut.”
This upcoming legislative session, Duhamel will be in the Senate, while Emery will be in the House.
