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Rhoden Not Addressing Affordability Challenges
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- 6 hours ago
- 2 min read
For Immediate Release
12/3/2025
Pierre, SD - Following Governor Larry Rhoden’s budget address, the Joint Democratic Caucus issued the following statement:
"We appreciate the Governor’s commitment to fiscal responsibility and his honesty about slowing revenues and the realities of a lean budget year. We also welcome several bipartisan priorities in his proposal, including investments in National Guard training, women’s prison staffing and services, technical colleges, rural broadband, and IT infrastructure."
"Despite these positives, the budget does not adequately address the most urgent challenge facing South Dakotans: affordability. Families across the state are being strained by rising costs—food, housing, childcare, and health care—and this proposal does not meet the scale of that crisis."
"Our biggest concern is the lack of any increase for schools, community service providers, or state employees. A zero-percent increase for the “Big Three” is effectively a cut in an inflationary year. Asking schools and essential services to do more with less erodes opportunity and weakens the system that prepares our children for the future."
"Food security also remains largely unaddressed. Last year, we drastically cut funding for programs that help families, and we are concerned we are still not fully funding these essential supports. Thousands rely on TANF, SNAP, food banks, and other safety nets, and leaving these needs unmet—especially amid unstable federal funding—is deeply troubling."
"Finally, while South Dakota holds historic reserves, we could have offered more in one-time funds to address urgent needs. Simply maintaining high reserve levels while underinvesting in families and communities is difficult to justify."
For questions, please contact Dan Ahlers, Executive Director of the SD Democratic Party at dan@sddp.org or 605-940-3071.
Paid for by the South Dakota Democratic Party | www.sddp.org