Opinion: South Dakota will get through these hard times

As we enter into the last 14 days of the session, things are shaping up to meet the challenges of balancing the budget.

Serving on the Appropriations Committee, all department hearings have been completed. I believe the legislators have a good handle on what it is going to take to get the state through this deficit budget. We saw the state income drop 3.5 percent in 2009. With 2010, we are starting out between $10 million and $11 million under estimates, the challenge is enormous.

In December, the governor presented his budget. At that time he was using about $30 million in reserves to balance

the upcoming budget. Many of the legislators believe that we should balance this budget without using reserve funds by making cuts and eliminating programs. These measures will affect each and every one of us in an adverse way. The South Dakota Constitution states that on the 30th of June, a balanced budget must be in place, unlike the federal government, which is now paying the bills with 42 percent borrowed money.

This means that for every dollar the federal government spends, 42 cents is borrowed. The process begins with hearing many agency bills and what they need to run their agencies for the upcoming year. I believe that every department has been forthright in helping the legislators find some deductions within their budgets. As we head into crossover day, we start to see where the spenders and savers are. But even so, there is a lot of work to be done to ensure that we don’t hurt economic development and those who cannot take care of themselves.

There is still some very important legislation on the table. School funding, funding for higher education and funding for the underground lab are a few of the critical legislation decisions yet to be worked on.

There is a piece of legislation that has not been acted on. This is HJR 1004, a proposal to change the Constitution. When the state cement plant was sold, the money was put in trust with the state instructed to withdraw $12 million per year. No one foresaw the downturn in the economy and the stock market that has happened in the past 18 months. The total in that account at the end of 2007 was $280 million. Today, that same account is worth $224 million.

HJR 1004 is proposal to reduce the amount the state must withdraw over a period of years to protect the principal so that our children’s children will have the opportunity to see some revenue coming from this account. I hope this can make the ballot in November.

We will balance the budget. South Dakotans are resourceful people. We will get though these hard economic times to see a brighter future.

Lance Carson, of Mitchell, is a Republican member of the state House of Representatives. He represents District 20, which includes Aurora and Davison counties.

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