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American Rescue Plan Circumvents Noem Graft, Sends $633M to SD Counties, Colleges, Schools

Governor Kristi Noem made a big show of rejecting some federal unemployment assistance last summer, complete with misrepresentations of data. Of course, she also misrepresented her own sloganeering, saying South Dakota wasn’t suffering and didn’t need help but then spending the fall and winter pouring out millions of dollars of coronavirus aid to businesses and her rich brothers.

Translation: Noem only wants federal aid that she can launder into favors for her friends and family.

The American Rescue Plan enacted by Congress and the President offers Governor Noem a lot of aid that she can deem unnecessary and turn back. She can reject all the state funding that is designed to help reverse the cutbacks in public jobs, which have hurt public service and local economies. But she won’t be able to block the money that the ARP  will send directly to county governments, colleges, and schools.

The National Association of Counties says the ARP will provide South Dakota counties with $171.6 million to help recover from the coronavirus pandemic:

County ARP direct relief
Aurora $533,540
Beadle $3,578,846
Bennett $652,621
Bon Homme $1,338,406
Brookings $6,802,968
Brown $7,532,585
Brule $1,027,321
Buffalo $380,518
Butte $2,022,640
Campbell $266,867
Charles Mix $1,802,126
Clark $724,574
Clay $2,728,790
Codington $5,432,173
Corson $792,455
Custer $1,740,064
Davison $3,835,239
Day $1,051,951
Deuel $843,850
Dewey $1,142,717
Douglas $566,510
Edmunds $742,611
Fall River $1,301,945
Faulk $445,877
Grant $1,367,692
Gregory $811,655
Haakon $368,299
Hamlin $1,195,470
Hand $618,875
Hanson $669,688
Harding $251,739
Hughes $3,399,060
Hutchinson $1,414,045
Hyde $252,321
Jackson $648,548
Jerauld $390,409
Jones $175,131
Kingsbury $957,889
Lake $2,481,899
Lawrence $5,012,285
Lincoln $11,855,399
Lyman $733,302
Marshall $957,113
McCook $1,083,370
McPherson $461,392
Meade $5,494,817
Mellette $399,718
Miner $429,780
Minnehaha $37,457,150
Moody $1,275,375
Oglala Lakota $2,749,542
Pennington $22,065,961
Perkins $555,649
Potter $417,561
Roberts $2,015,852
Sanborn $454,604
Spink $1,236,586
Stanley $600,838
Sully $269,776
Todd $1,973,766
Tripp $1,055,248
Turner $1,626,025
Union $3,089,913
Walworth $1,054,085
Yankton $4,424,635
Ziebach $534,509

The Learning Policy Institute says the ARP will send $382.0 million in emergency relief directly to South Dakota’s K-12 schools, about $2772 per student. The American Council on Education estimates that South Dakota’s colleges and universities will receive $79.5 million:

Institution estimated ARP allocation
Augustana $3,213,000
BHSU $5,415,000
DSU $3,223,000
Dakota Wesleyan $1,918,000
Lake Area Tech $5,150,000
Mitchell Tech $2,600,000
Mount Marty $1,754,000
N.Am. Baptist Seminary $163,000
NSU $2,699,000
Oglala Lakota $4,712,000
Presentation $1,410,000
Sinte Gleska $1,466,000
Sisseton Wahpeton $558,000
SDSMT $4,008,000
SDSU $17,669,000
Southeast Tech $5,389,000
USF $3,259,000
USD $11,975,000
Western Dakota Tech $2,920,000

That’s over $633 million going straight to our counties, colleges, and schools, money that Noem won’t be able to stash away in the bank to collect interest, fabricate a state surplus, or buy jet planes for her frequent vacations. Now you just have to keep an eye on your local officials to make sure they don’t get any silly ideas about doing favors for their well-to-do friends….

8 Comments

  1. Susan Johannsen 2021-03-17 07:55

    It is nice to see some money get down to the local entities, BUT left out of this are the townships where the need is ignored the most.

  2. South DaCola 2021-03-17 09:55

    I have no doubt most counties (commissioners) will find a way to piss it down their legs.

  3. o 2021-03-17 10:48

    This seems basic to me. The Fed is saying that if a state has CHOSEN to reduce its tax base, then the Fed is not going to backfill that gap for them.

    In a way, it is an up-front and true denial of “trickle down” economics/stimulus conservative voodoo economics. It also tacitly acknowledges that cuts made in times of trouble tend to stick around after the trouble clears — addressing the false GOP contention that EVERYTHING is always a “reason” to cut taxes.

    In the middle of an economic crisis caused by a global pandemic, who considers cutting revenue streams?

  4. o 2021-03-17 10:50

    South DaCola, isn’t this the golden opportunity for counties to move forward on their bridges and roads infrastructure repair/replace “New Deal?” That was THE issue from last year’s legislative discussions.

  5. bearcreekbat 2021-03-17 11:18

    This also seems likea golden opportunity for more progressive candidates, Democrat or old school Republican, to highlight the potential down side of re-electing pols like Thune, Rounds, and Johnson whose votes exemplify and support the Trumpian/Noem philosophy of personal selfishness and greed rather than supporting our public institutions, cities and towns. Had the votes of these pols prevailed, none of these funds would have come to these South Dakota localities.

  6. Arlo Blundt 2021-03-17 20:21

    well….its a windfall that South Dakota and other small states receive because they are small states with 2 Senators (votes for passage)…the minimum award is always quite generous, virtually a “free lunch” in this case as neither Rounds nor Thune voted aye for the money. We’ll buy a lot of culverts, maybe a new gravel crusher.

  7. V 2021-03-18 05:26

    I see lots of raises for county employees, additional health insurance benefits for same, and new employee vehicles.

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