After a year of increasing government, the Noem Administration is finally taking a teeny-tiny step toward Kristi Noem’s campaign promise to check government bloat. On Thursday, state lottery chief Norm Lingle told the Lottery Commission he wants to shrink that body from seven to five:
Lingle said broader state laws on conflicts of interest and other restrictions in recent years present “a real challenge” for governors seeking citizens to serve on state boards and commissions.
He said a five-person panel overseeing the lottery would fall in line with the South Dakota Commission on Gaming that has five seats. Both of the commissions and agencies operate under the state Department of Revenue.
Lingle said he hopes the Legislature provides “very little resistance” to the change [Bob Mercer, “Smaller S.D. Lottery Commission Sought,” KELO-TV, 2019.12.05].
Changing the Lottery Commisson statute won’t make much real difference: commission members only receive mileage and per diem for their service, and right now only five of the seven seats are occupied. But every penny counts!
Of course, we could shrink the board even further by getting rid of the state’s dependency on gambling entirely. Now that would be a real move toward smaller government… not to mention a more honest budget and fair tax system.
Maybe is education would start controlling spending the Gov’s brothers would not need as much in subsidies. Property taxes for Ag our outrageous and 70% of your property tax goes to eduction. It is time for cuts in education budgets. Cutting a admin position in many cases will allow hiring of two teachers.
Better yet, Sam2, a more progressive tax system that has the higher income levels paying their fair share, rather than farmers overpaying. School budgets can then better meet the students’ needs all across the state.
What we need is a lottery Czar who can put the gambling on the internets but based out of South Dakota so all the out of staters who covet our state can pay us money. Lottery is a voluntary tax on the stupid. We need to do more online gaming.
Lottery was supposed to pay for education..remember?
I think it does, Mr. jerry. Education is the biggest hog at the trough who gets to eat all the lottery money, plus a half a penny just for them, from me, and yet I keep paying more and more in property taxes to the county of Pennington who just gives it to the schools. What, I ask, is up with that? Let me tell you, jerry, it is the fatcat administrators who are the gluttons.
Mr. jerry, are you out there or are you at the bar playing video lottery, the fairest tax of them all?