Governor Larry Rhoden continues his predecessor Kristi Noem’s tradition of keeping South Dakota dependent on the federal government. Rhoden’s budget proposal for Fiscal Year 2027 relies on federal dollars to cover 42.2% of South Dakota’s general appropriations:
Rhoden’s 42.2% is a slight decline from the 42.7% that Uncle Sam is providing for this year’s state budget. However, like every Noem-Rhoden budget, the FY 2027 proposal relies on the federal government to provide more dollars than South Dakotans (and visitors paying sales tax!) pay into the state general fund. State general funds haven’t exceeded federal handouts since FY2019, the last budget of the truly conservative Dennis Daugaard.