ASBSD Open Forum Blog News Feed

Appropriators 0-3 on supporting public education

3/30/2010 2:48:04 PM

Appropriators have frozen public education funding for FY11, eliminated funding for ESAs and enacted a $300,000 cut to the Dakota Digital Network.

ASBSD's staff at the Capitol are still gathering information surrounding these cuts. ASBSD will have more as the day progresses.

It's high noon, nothing yet

3/29/2010 11:45:15 AM

The Joint Appropriations Committee meet for about 30 seconds this morning just to tell faithful followers of the state budget that the committee is recessing and will meet at a later time at the discretion of the chair.

We'll have more once lawmakers actually... do something.

An Open Forum hiatus

3/18/2010 9:10:01 AM

Still plenty to talk about in the forum, but we're taking the week off from posting. The overloaded work inbox needs a little clearing out, and we've all earned a bit of a break from legislative information.

Thanks for reading.

Conference committee recommends zero percent

3/11/2010 4:17:21 PM

The House and Senate have agreed on language that freezes education funding for FY11.

The decision came Thursday during a conference committee hearing on SB 22. Both chambers must pass the bill.

Light posting - switching to e-mail updates

3/10/2010 12:34:29 PM

A note to our readers: We're going to go a bit more under the radar in the final days of session. We're switching to e-mail updates, for the most part, although we'll post a story or two during the week in addition to our regular member e-mail updates.

Legislators predict economic rebound for FY11

3/9/2010 12:24:14 AM

A legislative subcommittee believes the state's economy is set to rebound next year.

Members of the Joint Appropriations Committee approved a $1.14 billion FY11 state budget revenue estimate Monday. The estimate is up from $1.107 in FY10, which amounts to a 3 percent increase.

In essence, the action means lawmakers have enough confidence in the state economy for state revenue to increase by more than $33 million next year. The change is accounted for by projected increases in sales tax revenue and contributions from the state’s trust funds, which are projected to regain enough principle to contribute to the state’s general fund next year.

The estimate adopted by legislators is approximately $10 million less than the revenue estimates the governor proposed in December. Gov. Rounds’ initial budget was based on $1.150 billion in revenue, but actual collections have caused the governor to revise the estimates.

Revenue Estimates - Continuing Receipts
FY 10		FY 11
Gov. Recommended	$1,107,912,360	Gov. Recommended	$1,143,984,038
Legis. Adopted	$1,106,912,360	Legis. Adopted	$1,140,553,052

House to take critical votes Tuesday

3/9/2010 12:15:56 AM

The House continues to stall action on school funding decisions, but will likely take action tomorrow. Lawmakers continue to hold their intentions close, so House votes tomorrow on SB 124 and SB 22 will provide the first formal direction we’ve had from the House this session. At this point in the session, the two issues on the table are per-student funding and changes to the index factor.

Per-student funding:

Both pieces of legislation the House will consider tomorrow contain a per-student funding freeze for FY11. The governor’s plan to freeze per-student funding is alive in SB 22. The bill, which originally had to due with the birth-to-three program, was changed completely by the House Appropriations Committee and approved to be a “bargaining chip” for ongoing negotiations with the Senate. Senate Bill 124 also contains a per-student funding freeze, but also includes changes to the index factor. We know there are several legislators from both parties who are committed to reinstating the 1.2 percent increase, but the idea has not caught on with the legislative leadership and has been voted down twice in the Senate.

Index factor:

Senate Bill 124 seeks to change the index factor, the law that determines annual increases in per-student funding. The measure the House will consider tomorrow was changed in the House Education committee earlier in February – in its current form, it changes the “3 percent or the CPI-W, whichever is less” language in state law to “2 percent or the CPI-W, whichever is greater.” In its Senate-approved form, it changed the index factor language to “4 percent or CPI-W, whichever is greater” with some limitations that tie per-student increases to state continuing receipts.

ASBSD will continue to advocate for the Senate-passed SB 124, which contains “4 percent or greater” language. We will also support amendments to restore the 1.2 percent for FY11.

Knudson takes stand on index factor change

3/5/2010 3:23:22 PM

In his final legislative term and well into his campaign for governor, Senate Majority Leader Dave Knudson, R-Sioux Falls, is standing firmly behind his signature education issue.

He has tried for several years to revise part of the school funding formula that generates annual per-student increases in state aid to education. His plans have typically met their demise during final-hour negotiations with the House.

During his weekly press conference, the majority leader indicated he doesn’t intend to compromise on the index factor plan this year.

Sen. Knudson told reporters that it appears as though there is a “fairly strong divide” in between the House and Senate regarding an index factor language.

“I don’t personally expect the Senate to have much give from the way SB 124 passed,” he said. “I think the possibility of passing anything that has a zero percent increase in K-12 education, without having SB 124 in its Senate form, is close to zero.”

The Senate’s version of SB 124 aims to change the index factor to give schools less in difficult budget times but more when the economy rebounds. In most years, per-student funding will increase by 4 percent or the rate of inflation, whichever is greater. In a tight economy, aid will go up at the same rate as the state budget.

Gov. Rounds slams GOP budget plan

3/5/2010 2:33:55 PM

Shortly after his political party’s legislative leadership announced their plans to significantly scale back the governor’s recommended budget, Gov. Mike Rounds pushed back against the plan.

Open Forum wasn’t around to cover the governor’s comments, so we’ll give you a small sentiment from today’s news reports. Here's a hint: Gov. Rounds isn't a fan.

From the Pierre Capitol Journal:

Rounds sharply criticized the Republican budget, saying it was “not the appropriate way to build a budget” and would have a “devastating” impact on the Board of Regents and other programs.

He also accused them of basing their budget on unrealistic assumptions and mocked a proposal to save money by finding another source to pay for the Opportunity Scholarship.

“I used to believe in Santa Claus,” Rounds said. “But I can’t count on Santa Claus to pay the bill.”

Knudson said the Republicans succeed in finding cuts where Rounds repeatedly said they would fail.

“When we said we’re going to find $40 million in cuts, my guess is a lot of people thought that would not occur,” Knudson said. “We believe this is proof in the pudding that it can.”

And from the Rapid City Journal:

But Rounds said the proposed cuts are irresponsible, in part because they include across-the-board reductions that leave the difficult duty of deciding who and what to cut to department and agency heads. The cuts could be especially harmful to programs, services and employees who are struggling in a difficult recession, Rounds said.

Using a portion of the state's reserves, often called "rainy day" funds, makes more sense, he said.

"At a time when we still have a national recession, we should be doing everything we can not to inflict pain on citizens, but rather reduce the amount of pain they're suffering," Rounds said. "I think this qualifies as a rainy day."

Knudson said the economic weather will be much worse next year if something isn't done now.

"I kind of like the rainy day analogy, and there's no question it's raining outside," he said. "The problem is we've got a hurricane heading toward us next year, with a deficit of $100 million to $120 million."

GOP legislators announce budget cuts

3/5/2010 2:25:38 PM

Republican leadership in the House and Senate may not be willing to increase education funding this year, but they don’t plan to cut state aid either.

The revelation came Thursday as Senate Majority Leader Dave Knudson and House Majority Leader Bob Faehn revealed their long-awaited plan to cut the governor’s recommended budget by more than $43 million. The cuts, which are intended to be ongoing, are part of an effort to eliminate a $40 million budget deficit without dipping into state reserves.

Schools won’t escape completely unharmed. The proposal eliminates funding for Education Service Agencies and the South Dakota School for the Deaf.

The plan calls for a 2 percent across-the-board reduction in state general fund spending, excluding dollars that flow to K-12 education or Medicaid. Legislators also targeted phantom employees and travel expenses, trimming an additional $8 million from the state agencies.

In addition to broad-based cuts, lawmakers targeted specific programs within several state departments, including the Board of Regents, corrections, agriculture, tourism and health.

On top of cuts to the FY11 budget, GOP leadership outlined an additional $9 million in savings they expect to capture next budget year. Consolidation incentives and aid to growing enrollment districts are counted as ongoing reductions, but the items don’t come as a surprise.

Legislation to eliminate consolidation incentives has already passed the House and Senate. The bill strikes incentives going into the future, but honors commitments to recently completed mergers. The proposal won’t have much effect next year, considering the lack of consolidation planning currently going on across South Dakota.

The deficit reduction blueprint also claims $3.5 million by eliminating payments to growing districts. That item is also related to recently passed legislation that allows for on-time funding for districts with increasing enrollment, and will not result in financial hardship for schools.