SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (KELO) – South Dakota has now become the only state to decline federal funding for home energy rebates and democratic leaders are voicing their disappointment with Gov. Kristi Noem rejecting the $68 million.
The home energy rebate program provides rebates to purchase energy-efficient appliances for single-family and multi-family buildings. Democratic Rep. Linda Duba, who was a member of the joint appropriations committee, said she was frustrated the money was turned down.
“[The] program would have benefited regular South Dakotans as well as commercial builders as well as individuals or companies that are contracting to get bigger jobs done,” said Rep. Linda Duba.
Last month, Jim Terwilliger, South Dakota’s Commissioner of the Bureau of Finance and Management (BFM), said they might reject a federal funding program because of a lack of administrative staff to over the project, the money isn’t recurring every year and will eventually run out and if the state doesn’t agree with the policy’s supported in the program.
“I know that the dollars could help individuals, but at the same time, as appropriators, we have to prioritize our spending because the amount of dollars we have is finite and we can’t just keep printing money, watching our national debt exceed $35 trillion,” Republican Rep. Chris Karr told KELOLAND News Thursday.
South Dakota’s Democratic Party Executive Director Dan Ahlers said he thinks the reasons for not accepting the funding are excuses and the state not being able to “find a way to take this on” is “poor management.”
“South Dakotans are suffering to make political points,” he said.
Duba and Ahlers both gave suggestions for how the program could have worked in South Dakota, including moving existing staff around or contracting out a vendor if our administration doesn’t have the staff.
“Which is what we did for other COVID-related programs that we had throughout that period,” Duba said. “We used outside vendors to manage the amount of money that was coming to us and we could have done that.”
Karr explained that one of the reasons he didn’t support accepting the money was because it would “increase the national debt.” However, Duba said the money has already been earmarked for the program and would eventually be spent.
“If South Dakota doesn’t use it, it will go to another state and considering all 49 other states took advantage of it, it will be used over time,” she said.
