A state legislator said Gov. Mike Rounds' recommendation to slash $2 million from the state Highway Patrol budget is not conducive to "providing protection" to South Dakotans.
Sen. Gene Abdallah, R-Sioux Falls, has a unique insight into the Highway Patrol after serving as the agency's superintendent from 1995 to 2000. He said the plan to cut from the agency's budget -- a proposal that is part of large cuts to Department of Transportation funds -- will be one of his primary concerns when the legislative session begins in January.
"I'm waiting until session starts to see what the logic is," he said.
The high number of alcohol-related fatalities in South Dakota may make the decision to reduce Highway Patrol funds unwise, Abdallah said, and he said he will not be in favor of any plan that would decrease the Highway Patrol budget by such a large amount.
In fact, he feels the budget should be increased, since, to the best of his knowledge, the Highway Patrol hasn't had an increase in manpower for more than 20 years.
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He expects word to spread about the plan and hopes that South Dakotans will voice their opinions on the issue.
"There are other areas to cut other than public safety," he said. "The public deserves to have protection (and) by cutting them $2 million, I don't think that's a plan for providing protection."
If the cut should go through, Abdallah expects the training of new recruits to be hit hardest. With "turnover all the time," he said it's going to make it difficult to adequately staff the Highway Patrol.
The proposal to cut the Highway Patrol's budget makes another one of the governor's proposals even harder to swallow, Abdallah said. In Rounds' proposed budget, he would like a $10 million energy-conservation loan fund as an emergency supplemental appropriation for the current budget. Rounds spokesman Mitch Krebs said the loan would be repaid from energy savings.
Under the plan, $5 million of the fund would be set aside for loans to schools and local governments while the remainder would be available for state agencies.
"That boggles my mind right now," Abdallah said. "They're talking about a shortfall in the budget, and yet they're proposing a $10 million program. That makes no sense to me."
Col. Dan Mosteller, the Highway Patrol's top officer, declined to be interviewed for this story.
