SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (KELO.com) — It’s crunch time for putting together a new state budget in Pierre.
The 2020 State Legislature is at the half-way mark.
It’s a sore point with House Speaker Steve Haugaard of Sioux Falls that every year there’s not enough time to get it done properly.
“It’s one of those frustrating things from my perspective. we just do not have the time, or take the time to drill into that budget to allocate resources where they really need to be.”
Haugaard tells Kelo Radio’s It’s Your Business Show with Bill Zortman that the goal is to get more information to state lawmakers earlier in the process.
“…Even well before the session starts, and try to get the agencies to step up and justify why they are asking for the dollars that they are.”
One good thing. State lawmakers have been told that they will have $19 million more than they thought they’d have, in large part because tax revenues were up higher than projected.
State workers and public school teachers are still hoping for pay raises. Governor Kristi Noem left raises out of her budget proposal.
