In a report to the Joint Appropriations Committee of the South Dakota Legislature, Derek Johnson of the Bureau of Finance and Management says that the budget assumed a three percent growth. He says that the year over year shortfall is 4%. However, Johnson says that the shortfall so far during the first four months of this fiscal year is 20.2%. The State is hoping that as holiday shopping and spending picks up that sales tax collections will have a commensurate rise as well.
In other legislative news, Representative Ernie Otten of Tea – the Chair of the Government Operations and Audit Committee of the Legislature – says that the raft of fraud and embezzlement cases that have been uncovered recently in the executive branch of state government has shaken the confidence of South Dakota taxpayers in state practices, procedures and institutions. Otten says that reforms need to be enacted, and oversight needs to be expanded to help restore confidence in state government.