By: Mitch Rave, Greater Sioux Falls Chamber of Commerce Vice President of Public Policy
During the 2024 South Dakota Legislative Session, the Greater Sioux Falls Chamber advocated on several exciting issues that continue to promote the business community by advocating for economic growth, education, workforce, and so much more. Below, you can read about a handful of initiatives that were passed by the 2024 Legislative body that the Chamber was actively engaged on this session.
Economic Growth
Infrastructure
One of the biggest wins for the Chamber this year was securing $10 million in funding for a grant program that will allow airports across the state to access dollars to improve and expand their current facilities. This is an exciting step, as the Sioux Falls Regional Airport is currently planning to expand their terminal and gate space to accommodate a continuously growing volume of flights.
There were also exciting developments regarding water and wastewater. Over $130 million in American Rescue Plan dollars were appropriated to update and expand wastewater and freshwater infrastructure across South Dakota. Thanks to this major investment, communities across South Dakota will be able to continue to accommodate the growth we are seeing both in the business community and with our increased number of residents.
Carbon Pipelines, Corn Producers, and Landowner Rights
During the session, there were over a dozen bills introduced on each side of the issue, and at the end of session three major pieces of legislation were passed and signed by Governor Noem. SB 201, HB 1185, and HB 1186. Together, these three bills create curbs and gutters around surveying regulations, landowner and county compensation for the project, and protections for private property owners as well. The goal of these pieces of legislation is to ensure that South Dakota remains open for business for large scale linear projects, especially ones that provide such a benefit to our agriculture industry, but also gives our private property owners the rights and protections they deserve. Thanks to these compromises, the agriculture industry may be able to see considerable increases in their products at market if the project goes through as planned.
Education and Workforce
A 4% increase in funding for our K-12 education system was approved for Fiscal Year 2025, along with SB 127 which provides a targeted ongoing benchmark for teacher salary increases. Together these two initiatives show continued support for both our educators and children in South Dakota.
SB 45 provides an appropriation to create a new curriculum for quantum computing at some of our South Dakota regental universities. This will allow our students to step into an emerging industry and be on the cutting edge of the next generation of computer sciences.
On the topic of the workforce, this year the legislature passed some additional licensure compacts in the healthcare industry to help garner more workforce in the long-term care space. Also, a deep dive into the issues surrounding available and affordable childcare will be addressed this legislative offseason. Legislators and stakeholders will get together to determine what steps can be taken to help alleviate this issue felt across the state and in every industry.
Closing
I want to thank all our members for being so vocal and engaged with our public policy team here at the Greater Sioux Falls Chamber during this legislative session. It is only with your continued input, engagement, and support that we can be effective advocates for the business community at every level of government.