Cuts to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program in last summer’s federal budget reconciliation bill coincided with over 4,100 South Dakotans no longer receiving SNAP benefits. Average SNAP benefits per participant in South Dakota were $200 a month in Fiscal Year 2024; that drop in participation means $9.94 million less in federal support for groceries flowing into South Dakota’s economy.
Governor Larry Rhoden will try to make up for that loss of federal economic stimulus by dumping $6 million into guns instead of butter:
South Dakota’s governor took the next step Wednesday in his effort to make national security the state’s “next big industry” by announcing the creation of the South Dakota Defense Institute.
Republican Gov. Larry Rhoden, who formerly served in the National Guard, identified national security as a primary economic development focus in his State of the State address three months ago. He made Wednesday’s announcement at the Black Hills Defense & Industry Symposium.
“The federal government is looking for partners who can deliver,” Rhoden said. “South Dakota is that partner.”
Rhoden will provide $6 million in grants for the institute from the governor-controlled Future Fund for economic development, bringing the fund’s unobligated balance down to about $13 million. The state gets money for the fund by charging a fee to employers. They pay the fee when they submit payroll taxes that support unemployment benefits.
Most of the grant money, $5 million, will go toward the establishment and operation of the institute for its first five years, including the hiring of three employees. The state will give $1 million to help Elevate Rapid City, a local economic development group, purchase a building in the city for the institute [Seth Tupper, “State Providing $6 Million to Grow National Security Jobs, Governor Announces,” South Dakota Searchlight, 2026.04.08].
Don’t be fooled by any tough-guy security-industrial complex talk—Rhoden is simply continuing South Dakota’s dependence on the federal government, just in a less humane way.
Yes, socialized agriculture, socialized dairies, socialized cheese, socialized livestock production, a socialized timber industry, socialized air service, socialized freight rail, a socialized nursing home industry, socialized water systems, a socialized internet, socialized infrastructure and now a socialized war machine are all fine with Republicans in South Dakota but then they insist single-payer medical insurance is socialized medicine.