Kristi Noem abused the power of her office when she was Governor. But don’t take my word for it. Now that the self-absorbed Snow Queen has taken her corruption to new levels in Washington, legislators on the Government Operations and Audit Committee are willing to say Governors shouldn’t use the Future Fund and state credit cards the way Noem did. At its Thursday meeting, GOAC approved a draft bill to end the Governor’s unchecked control of the Future Fund:
Noem’s controversial uses of the Future Fund included $350,000 to pay for a fireworks show in 2020 at Mount Rushmore, $13.5 million toward the construction of a Rapid City-area shooting range that opened last week, $2.5 million to promote and conduct a Governor’s Cup rodeo in Sioux Falls, and up to $9 million on a workforce recruitment campaign that Noem starred in.
…The bill draft, which the committee endorsed 7-1 with two members excused, would require each Future Fund grant to be approved by a majority of the Board of Economic Development, which already oversees other programs controlled by the governor’s office. The board’s members are appointed by the governor and confirmed by the state Senate.
The bill would also order the Governor’s Office of Economic Development to create rules establishing an application process for Future Fund loans and grants; the methods for assessing or estimating the economic impact that a project would have on the state; the criteria for determining how a project is selected for a loan or a grant; the process for setting an interest rate on a loan; any requirements that applicants must meet to be awarded a grant; and the process by which a loan or a grant is disbursed [Joshua Haiar, “Noem’s Use of Credit Cards and an Economic Fund Cause Lawmakers to Propose Restrictions,” South Dakota Searchlight, 2025.11.13].
With time running short, GOAC voted 6–1 to support the idea of legislation to subject the Governor and other officers of the state to the same oversight other state employees face when they are handed a state credit card:
A Dakota Scout investigation earlier this year uncovered roughly $750,000 in charges to Noem’s state-issued credit cards over six years, including travel tied to a book tour and a Canadian hunting trip.
“I mean, the previous governor traveled to more than 30 states,” [Sen. Taffy] Howard said. “Places that you really had to wonder if every one of those was done on official state business. So, unfortunately, this is somewhat of a blowback because of previous actions.”
The bill addressing credit cards would direct the state Bureau of Finance and Management to write rules for how a state officer or employee can be issued a bank card, what criteria are used to assess that request, and maximum amounts for lodging, meals, transportation and other expenses charged. The bill would also establish a process to recover from an employee’s wages any spending above those caps [Haiar, 2025.11.13].
Remarkably, GOAC did not have the votes to advance a draft bill that would end the Governor’s exemption from the restrictions on reimbursement for out-of-state travel that apply to every other state officer and employee. Draft Bill 330 would have required the Governor to submit her out-of-state travel receipts to the State Board of Finance for approval for reimbursement. Perhaps GOAC felt credit-card oversight is sufficient to keep an eye on out-of-state spending. But I’m stunned that we don’t already impose such oversight on the Governor’s travel expenses; I hope Senator Howard will submit the out-of-state-expense bill on her own initiative come January.
Kristi Noem’s corruption proved that we can’t run state government on small-town trust, because even small-town girls like Kristi can turn into big-time abusers of power. If GOAC and the voters had figured that out sooner, we might have saved the state and now the nation millions of dollars in vanity spending.