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There is federal assistance and are grants available to towns to help with housing for those who provide valuable work in the communities but may not be able to afford to buy a house right away. Local development corporations within the town's may build apartments and charge reasonable monthly rates to renters. A few years ago our state created an infrastructure plan to provide money to aid cities with projects, knowing a community cannot grow or bring in new industry if there is no housing available.
I think we have already achieved a lot in this area. Tuition scholarships are donated by private people and organizations at all levels. We have allowed tax credits to companies that give to private education scholarships. Many scholarships are available to high school students who want to attend a college or tech school. I think our Board of Regents has done a fine job in helping students be able to get a post high school degree1. Also tech schools have recruited partners that pay for student tuition and supplies and in return, the student will work for that industry for a specified amount of time. Our state has also provided distance learning classes for high school students at a 50 per cent discount per credit hour.
I do believe we have a good, streamlined process in place. The petition system is fair and accessible to the people if they want to initiate or refer an item that affects them.
In South Dakota we have a pretty secure voting process. Presenting an ID at the polls is the proper way to be able to vote. No campaigning should be going on at the poll site.
Child care assistance is available through grants based on financial need. The premise is that if affordable daycare is available, families will be able to be employed and increase their standard of living. I would like to see if this is actually being studied b1y providing data. I would also favor that when big companies enter our state, they would build daycare centers for the children of their work force. I think this would even help company workforce stability.
We have increased costs of expanded Medicaid as our population continues to need more and more services. Along with that , the shuttering of nursing homes is critical.
Also, as people are having smaller families and rural areas are declining in population, small schools are seeing a sharp rise in per pupil education cost.
No property tax reductions have been given to renters or landlords, and housing prices are high enough to outright price out first-time homebuyers. As a state, we can do better. I support property tax relief that reaches renters too, not just owner-occupied homes. We should also support workforce housing development in our small towns, where young families want to settle but can't find a place to live.
Teachers do their best work when they're given the resources, respect, and autonomy to do their jobs. South Dakota needs to protect our strong public school system, raise teacher pay so we can keep good educators in our communities, and expand pre-K access statewide. When we invest in our schools and kids, we invest in our future workforce and our small towns.
South Dakota pioneered this process and keeping an ability for the people of South Dakota to directly modify the law is a priority, and this includes the referred law process too. I oppose efforts to make petitioning harder, like requiring signatures from every Senate district, which would shut out grassroots campaigns. The people of South Dakota should always have a path to act when their legislature can't or won't.
Elections work when voters trust the system and have real access to it. I'll be watching to make sure new requirements don't disenfranchise eligible voters, like elderly residents who may struggle to find documentation, or rural voters with difficulty in polling access. Integrity and access aren't opposites. Both matter, and we should evaluate every change by whether it actually improves either one without sacrificing the other.
Childcare is one of the biggest barriers facing working families in our small towns. When parents can't find affordable care, they can't work. When they can't work locally, our communities lose. The state should support childcare workforce development, expand tuition assistance for childcare workers, and partner with rural communities to keep small daycare operations open. This is an economic issue and a rural viability issue, not just a family issue.
Three things keep me up at night. First, rural decline. Our small towns are losing population, businesses, and services, and we need real investment and economic development to reverse it. Second, healthcare access. Too many rural South Dakotans can't see a healthcare provider when they need one. Third, a state government that's stopped listening to regular people. These aren't separate problems. They're connected, and they require leaders who actually show up in places like Redfield and Raymond and Yale, not just Pierre and Sioux Falls.
