The State of South Dakota is so rich—
How rich is it?
—the State of South Dakota is so rich that, if we all stopped paying taxes, the Legislature, in its Special Session tomorrow, could smash the state piggy banks and keep state government operating for nine months.
The Legislative Research Council has published this chart of the state’s reserve and trust funds as of the end of July. We have $1.24 billion dollars in our state mattress:
Cash and Investment Balances in State Reserve and Trust Funds as of July 31, 2018, LRC, 2018.09.10.
That’s three quarters of the $1.63 billion appropriated last March (in a budget handed to all legislators twenty minutes before the final vote) to the state general fund.
Legislators can’t up and take all the cookies out of this jar by normal means. The cement plant fund is open for uses that “benefit the citizens of South Dakota.” But to raid the education enhancement trust fund and the health care trust fund, the Legislature would have to muster three-fourths votes from each chamber.
Not that I’m saying burning up our reserves and trust funds is a good idea. I’m just pointing out the size of our stash.
The State of South Dakota has this much money rat-holed away, yet yammer about school districts having a reserve fund.
And then they claim they don’t have money to remediate the Gilt Edge Superfund Site, and have to take the bribe from Agnico-Eagle Mines to get the job done?
Here’s an interesting development on that front: EPA’s internal watchdog is now on the trail of former Administrator Scott Pruitt’s criminal Superfund scams. I’m going to do my best to apprize these folks of the criminal conspiracy between EPA, the State of South Dakota and Agnico-Eagle Mines.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/powerpost/paloma/the-energy-202/2018/09/10/the-energy-202-epa-watchdog-to-probe-scott-pruitt-s-pet-superfund-project/5b9577cf1b326b47ec9594d3/
Good luck with your latest endeavor, Mr Pay. It thrills me to the marrow to find conscientious folks who love and enjoy the environment and don’t much care for those that rape the land and water for profit and leave the messes behind for taxpayers to clean up. My hat is off to you.