The report on November general fund receipts from the Legislative Research Council shows that a timing glitch in insurance company tax and a pleasant imbalance between unclaimed property receipts and claims has us riding $14.6 million above what the Legislature expected for revenues in November and $14.1 million for the fiscal year to date:
Note that, absent November’s revenue outburst, we’d be riding within less than half a million dollars (less than a third of the cost of a bad ad campaign) of perfect fiscal balance, taking in just enough money to pay for just what the Legislature ordered after midnight just before that March blizzard…
…which gets me thinking about Governor Kristi Noem, her cheapskate budget, and how to use conservative budgets to strangle public education. When the law requires the state to raise funding for public education by a specific amount each year, theocrats like Kristi Noem can simply declare times are tight, ignore that law, and allocate less to our K-12 schools. They lock in that lower allocation, guaranteeing that schools continue fall behind the goals we set when we raised sales tax to raise teacher pay. Then when (surprise, surprise?) revenues come in ahead of the last winter’s lowball projections, schools have already locked in their teacher salaries and budgets, and the Governor and Legislature can claim that those extra revenues that would have gone to the schools under more accurate budgeting projections are really one-time surplus dollars, better dedicated to the Governor’s favored projects of the moment.
Now reasonable budget hawks can say, but wait: we don’t want to gamble school budgets on optimistic budget projections. What if we allocated $673 million to K-12 (enough to raise teacher compensation by the legally required 2.0%) instead of the $570 million the Governor is asking for to support zero teacher pay raises in FY2021, and then got to December 2021 and found revenues were falling short by $14.1 million? We don’t want to find ourselves in that hole, do we?
Of course not. But just as the Governor gets to raid the surpluses for her priorities instead of restoring K-12, a Governor and Legislature facing a deficit would have to delay or raid the Governor’s impulsive priorities to meet the legally mandated budget promises already made to the public schools. The state would have to find the money to satisfy the obligations made to K-12 for the full school year, and the Executive Branch’s mad-money projects would just have to wait.
Overly conservative budget estimates excuse breaking our K-12 budget law, undermine our public schools, and facilitate creeping executive power. Our schools and our balance of power would be better off if the Legislature would commit to fully funding K-12 education and telling present and future Governors they’ll have to trim their Christmas lists.
And yet Kristi found a way to give her privileged daughter a very nice raise. Funny how she can find money when it comes to nepotism, but not when it’s about helping SD teachers. Corruption to the core. Did she learn that from trump?
I feel like I am beating the dead horse, coming back to the same conclusion. Budgets are documents that demonstrate priorities (values). One demonstrates priorities (values) by not only allocation, but order of allocation of resources. The top priorities go in first, and at the level of priority (weather that priority is internally driven or externally mandated . .. ).
I really do applaud the many GOP and Democrat State Congressmen/women and Senators coming out for getting SD to that 2% education funding. That priority (not just formula/law) was set BECAUSE the public and 2/3 of the House and Senate agreed to that priority. I have a deep respect for those lawmakers who may not be 100% on the funding education train, but are holding that a deal is a deal. Promises made must be promises kept. In my mind, that is TRUE conservative thought.
Isn’t this SOP for Dakota’s wingnuts? Rosy tax revenue projections always fall short, but before doom and gloom set in, they always manage to find one time only spending windfall, but never for needed or desirable works like teacher salaries. Rinse and return to dungeon for next tax season.
I’ll applaud with you O. There are law abiding SD legislators who believe that public schools are a public good and critical to the state’s welfare. They’re right.
There is no national conservative party in the USA now. We need one.
South Dakota dealt with a similar situation about 3-4 decades ago. This concerned pay for state workers that was to be raised over a ten year period. It was somewhat controversial when it was proposed. State workers didn’t believed that promise was going to be sustained over that time frame, but I recall that governors and legislators more or less kept that promise. Of course those workers were people the governors had direct contact with every day, and felt a bit more responsibility for than the teachers in school districts.
I’m liberal on most things, but I’m fiscally conservative. My priorities on where to spend money might lean toward supporting people in tough situations and environmental protection, rather than welfare payments to the elite, but I do believe in conservative budgeting.
I’m sorry, I don’t view what Noem does as conservative budgeting. You don’t hire your own kids and give them cushy jobs at the taxpayer expense if you’re conservative about spending. You don’t raid the Department of Education to provide money for one of your PR events dressed up as a fake conference. You don’t welch on a deal, then give your kids a huge raise for jobs they shouldn’t even have.
Yeah, budget conservatively. Take away all those pots of money used for nepotistic staffing and fake conferences and expensive marketing efforts. Give that money to education.
Mr. Pay, if they got the lists of all the pots of money to raid, they should insist it only goes to teachers and not the fatcat administrators. This would be money paid in bonuses once to teachers because then it’s gone, so they could give Arbor Day bonuses or something to the teachers after the sessions are done. Or they could give these pots of money to the fatcats who would build more fancy buildings or buy nicer football helmets.
I budget conservatively, but I also commit. K-12 is the single most important function funded by state government. It should get the first dollar and the last dollar. We should say at the beginning of the budget year that K-12 gets every dollar promised by law and more for worthwhile projects if we can find it. If the economy stagnates and we don’t take in as much money as we expected, we cut everything else first, starting with the Governor’s staff.
ACHTUNG<CORY!
Getting 404 error messages on Mr B's comment section. I wondered why no one has commented, yet.
Here’s another thing that I don’t like: travel. I’d cut out a lot of this from the budget.
If someone has to travel for a good purpose, fine. For example, if a state worker needs to attend specialized training, and it can’t be provided over the internet, go take the mini-course or seminar. But conferences? I think a lot of that is just wasted money. People go to drink, golf and socialize, not to attend any of the educational programs given. If you aren’t taking notes and sharing what you learned at a conference, you are wasting taxpayer money.
I see this budget – and education (funding) specifically – as the issue that may well define the SD GOP. As the leader of the party (as Governor), I don’t think Gov. Gnome can sit this issue out; I don’t think the rank-and-file GOP is willing to sit on the bench (see the GOAC grab) and let what has PROVEN to be a popular issue with the public (measured by the willingness to reach into their pockets) not be a central part of political advocacy.
A stance on education will identify/define the next GOP leadership.
I agree with Cory that education ought to be the first priority.
I agree with Mike that I can’t comment on that post either.
I agree with Donald on cutting down on unnecessary travel.
I agree with O that this budget decision is a defining issue.
I guess I’m feeling very agreeable right now.