TAS Day 25
On the 25th legislative day the Senate, and House Appropriations Committees met separately to discuss bills. Today’s bill hearings were the last to be heard before crossover day. Action was taken on 3 separate Senate Bills, along with 5 separate House Bills.
The Senate Appropriations Committee.
SB 190: revise the General Appropriations Act for fiscal year 2011. SB 190 is the General Appropriations bill that will have many different agency proposed budgets. SB 190 passed with a unanimous vote with all amendments included. This bill will be amended several times before it’s actually adopted.
SB 185: revise the per student allocation for the state aid to general education formula. SB 185 is a vehicle bill that deals with all appropriations to education, it passed with a 8-1 vote.
SB 191: repeal certain provisions providing for the sales tax on food refund program. SB 191 is a bill is asking for a repeal of the food refund program.
SB 191 was amended and had a recommendation of Do Pass unanimously.
The House Appropriations Committee:
HB 1250: revise certain provisions regarding the South Dakota opportunity scholarship program. HB 1250 was tabled with a vote of 6-3.
HB 1115: make an appropriation to the Board of Regents for the general operation. HB 1115 was tabled by a unanimous vote.
HB 1213: limit increases in state government spending. HB 1213 was deferred to the 41st legislative day.
HB 1243: revise the property tax levies for the general fund of a school district. HB1243 was amended, and then passed unanimously as amended.
HB 1244: make an appropriation for costs related to disasters in the state. HB1244 passed committee with a 8-1 vote.
LD 26 TAS
The Department of Education had their budget hearing today. This is the last of many budget hearings that the Appropriations Committee has taken testimony from throughout the legislative session.
The Department of Education (DOE) receives 33.9% of the State’s General Funds at $359,436,293. This is a $41,013,241 or 10.2% reduction. The DOE in addition receives $208,318,380 in federal funds, and $4,404,700 in other funds. The DOE receives $572,159,373 in overall funding.
DOE appropriates $329,331,804 or 92% of their General Funds to K-12 State Aid, $20,540,284 to Technical institutes, and the other 2% goes to other various needs in the department.
General Administration receives $6,941,084 in funding. This funds the Secretary’s office, Indian Education, and Finance & Management. There are 34.5 FTE in General Administration office; this includes the Board of Education which sets policy for public education in the state.
The division of curriculum, career, and Technical Ed receives $11,585,845 in overall funding from the DOE. This includes 15 FTE and offers services such as assisting schools, and post secondary institutes in program planning, and implementation of programs.. This includes Advanced Placement (AP) courses which are some higher level classes that are taught over the Internet.
Education Resource division provides general supervision, regulation, execution, and control over the elementary and secondary education system, providing leadership and technical support to all public and non-public schools for a quality education. This division is appropriated $198,268,934 in overall funding from the DOE.
The state library is funded under the DOE and supports the development of local libraries, provides online databases for research, and provides services for state employees. The state library is appropriated $2,988,999 in overall funding with 28.5 FTE.
Technical Schools currently have student placement rates of 93% with 80% of those students being employed in South Dakota. Technical Schools of South Dakota are appropriated $20,540,285 in overall funding.
The Division of State Aid to Education was the last division heard from by the DOE. The DOE is appropriated $329,331,804 in general funds. This includes a $38,913,040 decrease in general funding. The state expects there to be 125,998 students in the state next year. Currently students are allocated $4,804.60, however with the cuts that Governor Daugaard would take, the allocation per student would be $4,324.14. If the state aid were to stay the same, DOE would be appropriated $605,321,944.80 however, with the cuts the DOE will be appropriated at $544,789,231 for the Per Student allocation. For a full calculation of the State Aid Formula, visit the DOE website at www.doe.sd.gov.
The Appropriations Committee will have no more budget hearings; however the Bureau of Personnel will be coming in to talk about the health insurance benefits. You can review all of the information from previous Hearings in the daily report of TAS. Bill hearings will resume immediately on the 27th legislative day.
