Governor Kristi Noem campaigned on the promise to fight government bloat. But once again, when she finds it politically convenient, she proposes expanding government. Amidst all the other big spending facilitated by her acceptance of giant federal handouts, she calls for “investments”—i.e., more government spending, and more government jobs:
Unfortunately, as safe as South Dakota is, we’re not immune from emerging threats to our communities, threats like human trafficking, drugs, crimes against children, Medicaid fraud, and cyber threats. In my budget, I am recommending a series of investments to confront those threats head on.
That includes the creation of a Human Trafficking State Coordinator to work under the Attorney General’s Office, funding for human trafficking training materials for law enforcement, the hiring of a specialist to work exclusively on cases involving missing or murdered Native Americans, a crime response vehicle for gathering and securing evidence, the development of a Medicaid Fraud data system, modernizing the state radio system that law enforcement uses to communicate, replacing state radio towers in Redfield and White River, and modernization of the state IT system to ensure our citizens’ data is safe and secure [Gov. Kristi Noem, budget address, Pierre, SD, 2021.12.07].
Another coordinator, another specialist—dang! Kristi’s going to run out of relatives to hire pretty soon.
Now overall, Noem’s Fiscal Year 2023 budget recommendation calls for 41.3 fewer full-time equivalents than the FTEs budgeted for FY 2022 and 15.0 fewer than state agencies requested. But her proposed 13,983.9 FTEs is 5.7% higher than the actual FTEs in the FY 2019 budget (the last budget from former Governor Dennis Daugaard), 6.8% higher than the actual FTEs in her first budget, FY 2020, and 8.3% higher than the actual FTEs from FY 2021.
As I said earlier, I don’t mind spending money on good government. But hiring more people to work in government isn’t what Kristi Noem promised when she ran for Governor.
The one specialist to work on missing or murdered Native Americans SOUNDS good. The details, the details. I love the rejector of healthcare going after Medicaid fraud. All those welfare queens you know, that one goes way back, but it still thrills the pubs. Modernizing the Dick Tracy watches is good too. Human trafficking is a popular subject why not mention it in preparation for the national campaign. Noem might as well change her name to Janus.
I do appreciate the irony that the GOP is all for going after the “welfare cheats” but will fight against providing the IRS the capability to go after the tax cheats. That is where the real money and corruption lies.
Something is incomplete. But we expect that shady work from our marginal college grad part time governor.
Where’s the funding to build and staff her Rapid City white elephant, a women’s prison?
Certainly this is not needed. The US has the highest incarceration rate in the world. Most of those imprisoned are for non-violent crimes. We must do better, smarter.
Imperical evidence shows that by far the biggest perpetrators of Medicaid fraud are nursing homes and hospitals, not individuals.
https://www.whistleblowerattorneys.com/medicare-fraud/nursing-home-hospice-fraud
https://www.lawsuitlegal.com/hospital-fraud.php
Floriduh sinator Rick Scott was one of the biggest Medicare fraudsters ever.
https://www.sun-sentinel.com/opinion/fl-op-col-rick-scott-medicare-fraud-20181002-story.html
Columbia HCA paid a 1.7 billion dollar fine. Scott waltzed away from the mess with 300 million in stock, 5 mil plus severance pay and a large 5 year consulting contract for keeping 2 sets of books.
Crime paid for Scott.
Well…for the time being she is running as a Democrat…NOT trying to outflank Haugaard on the right…moving to the center…and why not?? There is plenty of money and the doofus legislature makes the final funding decisions anyway.
The criminals in Pierre wear suits and skirts as they go to the dome of corruption from January to around March annually. Periodically the criminals will gather off season throughout the state of places and faces like the recent flash mobs that rush in breaking and grabbing.
Now the GOP gov acting like a donkey is proposing to fight crime and other human woes. The favor of the GOPers are the corporate criminals who look to get another pass as the warped concept of trickle down effects of their illegal acts are helpful to the local economy. That is until they blow their brains out in a distance field or kill their family, self and burn the house down. Heck even the old credit card guy is skirting the laws of having unmentionable items on his computer; put a statue of self up, put your name on any building higher then 3 stories… laws need not apply. Like the old guy in Florida who liked muscle relaxing massages for cash. Trickle or tricky?
Keep in mind what is proposed might or might not make it into law. Bills with the inbred Republicans in Pierre and Washington are like a magician’s acts; what I show you is not what you get.
The last time the acting like a donkey GOP gov though about Natives in her state, she quickly put together legislation to hinder them from gathering to express their 1st amendment rights. Now she wants to find them or does she want to tap the federal dollars becoming available? Motives! One wonders if she is aware that 3 of the poorest counties in the U.S. are in South Dakota? But she or her kind had not nor will not do anything to address economic issues of those counties. It is laughable if she think economic development is putting up a police communication tower in 1 of the counties. Magician gov.
Propose away Ms GOP gov acting like a donkey. Come November 2022 we’ll see if your name is on the state or federal side of the ballot. What she shows you is not what you get. The exceptions are Washington consultants.