Nearly $14B in Coronavirus Relief/Stimulus Comes to South Dakota

While she preens her budget-hawk feathers by rejecting $3 million for climate change planning, Governor Noem isn’t sending back any of the more than $10 billion in pandemic relief and stimulus that came to South Dakota under the previous Administration. Nor is she refunding the $3.8 billion that will ultimately come from the American Rescue Plan enacted by the current Administration:

In congressional funding packages passed on a bipartisan basis between March and December 2020, South Dakota was allocated about $10.1 billion in coronavirus stimulus funding that helped keep state residents and the economy alive. Some of the money went directly to state government, while the majority was used to support businesses, individuals, health care providers and schools and universities during the pandemic.

But when it comes to the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) enacted by Biden and congressional Democrats in March 2021, Republicans from South Dakota have been extremely critical of the program, even though it will provide an estimated $3.8 billion to the state through December 2026.

Of that total, about $1.4 billion in ARPA money is being given directly to the state, cities and counties for a wide range of programs to “support households, small businesses, impacted industries, essential workers and hardest-hit communities,” according to a state fiscal report obtained exclusively by South Dakota News Watch. The report also indicates that “these funds can also be used to make necessary investments in water, sewer and broadband infrastructure” [Bart Pfankuch, “South Dakota Republicans Criticize Program That Provided $3.8B to State,” South Dakota News Watch, 2023.03.30].

Federal spending doesn’t hurt South Dakota’s economy. Federal spending keeps South Dakota’s economy and government alive.