Even the conservative Cato Institute agrees that Kristi Noem isn’t that great of a governor. In its 16th biennial Fiscal Policy Report Card grading governors’ performance on budgets and taxes from a limited-government perspective, the Cato Institute gives Noem a C.
Noem’s score of 49 out of 100 places her in a tie for 23rd place with Democrat Janet Mills of Maine and Republican Spencer Cox of Utah. Cato says only seven of 26 Republican governors do worse on fiscal policy than Noem. Five Democratic Governors—Roy Cooper of North Carolina, Michelle Lujan Grisham of New Mexico, John Bel Edwards of Louisiana, Tony Evers of Wisconsin, and Steve Sisolak of Nevada—score better on Cato’s conservative scoring than Noem.
Cato notes that while Noem has proposed cutting state spending per capita by 2.8%, she has actually enacted budgets since 2020 that increase per capita spending 8.3%. In other words, Noem has made government bigger. Cato notes that its mixed grade for Noem stems in part from her resistance to cutting the sales tax:
Noem’s middling grade on this report stems from a lack of tax cuts during a period when many other states passed large tax cuts. It is true that South Dakota already has low taxes, so fewer tax‐code targets are available for a conservative governor to reform. That said, the state enjoyed a large budget surplus in 2022, but Noem leaned against a House‐passed plan to cut the sales tax rate from 4.5 percent to 4.0 percent.198 The Senate did not back the plan, so it did not reach the governor’s desk.
Noem has looked for modest ways to reduce the tax burden, such as cutting fees for starting new businesses, cutting fees for getting concealed carry permits, and eliminating taxes on bingo. She also has restrained spending and not sought any tax increases, so the Cato grade may not fully capture her fiscally conservative stance [Chris Edwards and Ilana Blumsack, “Fiscal Policy Report Card on America’s Governors 2022,” Cato Institute, 2022.10.12].
Noem can argue she deserves a better grade because of her great late conversion to Democratic orthodoxy on cutting the food tax, but in fiscal policy as well as school grades, promises aren’t the same as doing the homework.
Conservatives agree: Kristi Noem just isn’t that great of a conservative governor.
Does the measure of fiscal performance also measure what we get for that money spent? How are our roads and bridges (not paid for by the federal government)? How is our internet access? How is our care for the poor and needy?
Budgets are moral documents. How has this governor’s measured SD’s morality?
My favorite – eliminating taxes on bingo. Let’s skip the beatification process and go straight to St. Kristi. We can all get behind that, right?
The best economy in the nation. Why would we cut taxes when Mr. Nesiba wants to pay people more. He and Extreme Mr. Smith think money grows on radioactive pineapple bushes in Edgemont.
I’ve got radio active, glowing rocks and cycads from Edgemont, Mr. G. If I sell them, they produce money. Im trying to generate superpowers with them in the meanwhile.
The best economy bit is just BS, unless you’re talking about your elite friends with yachts, Grudz. And, I mean, really Grudz, “Extreme Mr. Smith?” I call that “in-state name-calling.” South Dakota has always had a love/hate relationship with taxes. The politicians say they hate taxes, but the tax everything, except the income of Grudz’s elitist friends. I’m for defunding South Dakota completely.
I post this without comment…. https://www.cnbc.com/2022/10/21/us-budget-deficit-cut-in-half-for-biggest-decrease-ever-amid-covid-spending-declines.html
drumpf was gonna cancel deficit in how many years? drumpf lied? (this was not a comment)
Come on give Grudz a break, facts are meaningless to Republicans. It’s all about feelings to the GOP.
New Mexico Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham and South Dakota’s governor served in Congress at the same time but enjoys a ‘B’ from CATO maybe because our legislature works while my home state’s lawgivers don’t trust Mrs. Noem as far as they can throw a D4.
Oh oh, should the traveling governor of South Dakota lose in the race of relevance for Governor in November; the state funded private plane will be gone. The one house gated community will be gone. The private state funded security detail will be gone. The “big” consultant tagging after her will be gone. The FOX News studio in the capitol city will be gone. There is that custom desk that fits in her horse trailer to take back to the government funded ranch that was lost to the death tax collector before it was not. Her political popularity rating will be in the Sarah Palin range, or lower.
As she campaigns for South Dakota Governorship in WI, IL, NM, AZ, CA, FL, TX, GA, SC, NC, WY, NE, OK, or anywhere but SD the true conservative Republicans outside South Dakota have graded her an inept, inbred Republican leader. Yep, when the boot fits. The state she flys from weekly would have been much worst economically had the pandemic not come about stuffing state coffers with more federal dollars then what the state normally sucks out of Washington. As proclaimed by her and other inept inbred South Dakota Republicans, South Dakota has the best economy, they forget to mention; that federal money subsidizes.
Putting this political traveler back in the state governorship will see her taking voter’s initiatives to her court appointed judges to stop. Remember the weed vote? Next is health care cost assistance. Oh ya , the second weed initiative when it gets voted in again. Shoot (not 2nd amendment shoot, but slang for dang… explanation needed for most republicans) it took almost 4 years to implement medical weed initiative passed in 2018.
Go vote. The future of South Dakota probably depends on it, as 51.35% (results of a beer funded poll taken in nowhere South Dakota) of sensible voters know and will show.
“Pointing out the truth that Republican controlled states (with higher poverty, less access to healthcare & social safety net & opportunity, easy access to guns) have more violent crime than Democratic states is really messing up some deeply held misconceptions people have about US.” – David Rothschild
https://www.readfrontier.org/stories/we-fact-checked-the-oklahoma-governors-debate-between-kevin-stitt-and-joy-hofmeister/
Mark, although I agree that it is NEVER facts,.I would correct you on one element, it is all about dogma for the GOP — not feelings.
The feeling I’m getting from the news is that Trump will pick Marjorie Taylor Green for his next V.P. candidate. Sorry, Kristen. Try again, later.