The South Dakota Legislature wrapped up the 2025 session on Thursday, after finishing up key details, such as how much state employees are paid.
Throughout the session, legislators called it a lean budget year, and said next year could be too.
They approved a 1.25 percent wage increase to what’s called the Big Three — that’s state employee salaries, education and community service providers. That amount is less than half the rate of inflation.
The budget for 2025-26 of $7.3 billion will start on July 1, assuming it is approved by Governor Larry Rhoden.
Some expect sales tax collections to come in even lower than the appropriations committee forecasts. Lawmakers are also keeping an eye on any funding cuts made by the federal government. Just over 40 percent of the state budget is federal money.
Democratic Representative Eric Muckey said lawmakers cut or reducing some services, such food stamps and Medicaid.
Republican Rep. Mike Derby said some budget cuts were essential to restore public broadcasting funding, and increase oversight and government accountability.
“We had to make tough decisions, but we also were able to invest in key priorities,” Derby said.
*The leader of the Iowa Senate Democrats is calling on Republicans to pass their annual school funding bill, nearly a month past their deadline.
Republicans control both chambers, and their leaders in the Senate want the increase for public schools to be 2 percent, while House leaders want 2.25 percent.
Senate Minority Leader Janice Wiener said the proposed increase is not enough, and that the delay will make it difficult for schools to meet upcoming deadlines for submitting their budgets and renewing teacher contracts.
Republican House Majority Leader Pat Grassley said Republicans in the chamber feel “very strongly” about their school funding package, but says how fast it advances depends on the willingness of other parties to negotiate.
The Iowa legislature has to decide on school funding for the next school year within 30 days of the governor releasing their budget proposal, which came out in mid-January.
*Also in Iowa, a top state official says all state agencies have put a pause on creating new positions until further notice while new hiring protocols are put in place.
Iowa Department of Health and Human Services employees received an email this week from Director Kelly Garcia, which said requests for new positions must be submitted to her and the finance department for review and include a “robust and in-depth justification for consideration.”
Officials say the change does not affect hiring to fill existing positions or new positions that have already been posted.
A spokesperson for Gov. Kim Reynolds says this does not mean there is a hiring freeze on new state government jobs.
Democrats say they’re concerned this change could lead to feelings of uncertainty for state employees.
*A Nebraska Legislature bill that would allocate funding for cybersecurity protections in K-12 schools was discussed in the Education Committee this week.
The bill, known as the HACKER Act, would also create a state cybersecurity team. State Senator Wendy DeBoer, who introduced the bill, said schools are facing an increasing number of cyber threats.
The bill allocates $10 million for the state to create a program for schools to buy cybersecurity products and services.
Powerschool, a school support software, reported a data breach earlier this year to schools across the country, including several in Nebraska.
Seward Public Schools Superintendent Josh Fields said he supports the bill to protect schools from attacks on Nebraska’s networks. No one in the committee meeting spoke against the bill.
*Additionally, South Dakota’s reliance on agricultural trade makes it more susceptible to the fluctuations of President Donald Trump’s tariffs and trade wars.
Farming helps drive the state economy, with agricultural production and processing accounting for about 14 percent of South Dakota’s gross domestic product. Sales of corn, wheat and soybeans brought in $10 billion in overall revenue in 2024, according to South Dakota News Watch
Farmers recall the volatility of commodity prices and exports during Trump’s first White House stint in 2018, when much of the state's soybean flow to China was halted due to tariff retaliation.
South Dakota’s Republican congressional delegation has publicly backed Trump's aggressive trade strategy, while also calling for reasonable time parameters.
U.S. Sen. Mike Rounds in a statement said, "there needs to be an end game, and I believe the president is working with that same goal in mind."
*In other news, the Iowa Supreme Court ruled on Friday that police use-of-force reports are open to the public to obtain.
The decision comes in a lawsuit against the Des Moines Police Department. The department refused to turn over use-of-force reports to racial justice activist Harvey Harrison of the nonprofit Just Voices.
Harrison wants to use those reports to see if certain incidents of racial bias went unreported.
A city attorney argued the reports are protected as personnel records, but the justices said they record basic facts of what happened.
The justices’ decision confirms a lower court’s order to release the reports.
