Republicans Set Precedent for Common Ground Reserve Fund Use
From an SDDP release:
On September 28th, the entire slate of Democratic candidates unified behind the Common Ground plan. The Common Ground plan does not raise or add taxes. According to the South Dakota Department of Legislative Audit there is $862,751,977.89 in South Dakota’s taxpayer money held in Pierre.
Upon the release of Common Ground and in the absence of their own plan, Republican leadership criticized Common Ground stating “…but you just can’t say ‘Oh we’ll take the money out of the reserves to settle that.” [SDGOP Chairman Frederick, Capital Journal 10-06-06]
Today, Democratic legislators responded to Republican leadership’s assertions by illuminating the fact that in the last legislative session, lawmakers set a precedent for reserve fund use by using the Railroad Trust Fund to fund other projects.
“It’s hypocritical of Republican leadership to back last session’s use of the Railroad Trust fund, and then criticize us for wanting to use some of the nearly one billion of taxpayer dollars in Pierre to help small businesses,” said Senator Julie Bartling, who sits on the Senate Appropriations Committee. “We spent reserves to purchase the Homestake mine because it was the right thing to do. Converting school buses to bio-diesel is also the right thing to do.”
“We have no intention of spending the funds down,” said Representative Paul Dennert, who serves on the House Appropriations Committee. “We intend to follow the precedent set by the governor and the legislature to partially utilize reserve funds for the positive programs proposed in Common Ground like early childhood education.”
The components of Common Ground that do not require state funding are:
• Tax-free zones for small business start-ups.
• Restructuring the REDI Fund to include small businesses and for requiring REDI Fund loan recipients to pay a living wage.
• Addressing the challenges facing Native Americans by keeping their economic development opportunities free from undue government influence and bureaucratic red tape.
• Introducing legislation to make South Dakota’s government open and accountable. This includes reforming reporting requirements for legislative races and tightening regulations on political slush funds.
• Introducing legislation that focuses on the issues that unite South Dakotans, not divide us.
Common Ground calls for a new direction for South Dakota, and a return to the meat and potato issues of better jobs and wages, better use of taxpayer dollars, and a brighter future for all South Dakotans.
# # #
On September 28th, the entire slate of Democratic candidates unified behind the Common Ground plan. The Common Ground plan does not raise or add taxes. According to the South Dakota Department of Legislative Audit there is $862,751,977.89 in South Dakota’s taxpayer money held in Pierre.
Upon the release of Common Ground and in the absence of their own plan, Republican leadership criticized Common Ground stating “…but you just can’t say ‘Oh we’ll take the money out of the reserves to settle that.” [SDGOP Chairman Frederick, Capital Journal 10-06-06]
Today, Democratic legislators responded to Republican leadership’s assertions by illuminating the fact that in the last legislative session, lawmakers set a precedent for reserve fund use by using the Railroad Trust Fund to fund other projects.
“It’s hypocritical of Republican leadership to back last session’s use of the Railroad Trust fund, and then criticize us for wanting to use some of the nearly one billion of taxpayer dollars in Pierre to help small businesses,” said Senator Julie Bartling, who sits on the Senate Appropriations Committee. “We spent reserves to purchase the Homestake mine because it was the right thing to do. Converting school buses to bio-diesel is also the right thing to do.”
“We have no intention of spending the funds down,” said Representative Paul Dennert, who serves on the House Appropriations Committee. “We intend to follow the precedent set by the governor and the legislature to partially utilize reserve funds for the positive programs proposed in Common Ground like early childhood education.”
The components of Common Ground that do not require state funding are:
• Tax-free zones for small business start-ups.
• Restructuring the REDI Fund to include small businesses and for requiring REDI Fund loan recipients to pay a living wage.
• Addressing the challenges facing Native Americans by keeping their economic development opportunities free from undue government influence and bureaucratic red tape.
• Introducing legislation to make South Dakota’s government open and accountable. This includes reforming reporting requirements for legislative races and tightening regulations on political slush funds.
• Introducing legislation that focuses on the issues that unite South Dakotans, not divide us.
Common Ground calls for a new direction for South Dakota, and a return to the meat and potato issues of better jobs and wages, better use of taxpayer dollars, and a brighter future for all South Dakotans.
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posted by DC at 2:16 PM
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