You don't get all the toys you want, because Mom and Dad need to keep a little money in the bank, just in case you crack your skull riding that new sled. Now go outside and play.
South Dakota state government operates the same way, sternly denying us all our desires in case we do dumb things, like building houses in flood plains. But South Dakota is a more stern (nervous? stingy?) parent than most states.
According to reports found on the Bureau of Finance and Management's nifty new dashboard, which our green eye-shade friends in Pierre were poetically tweeting about yesterday , Governor Dennis Daugaard has increased our budget reserve from $43.4 million at the beginning of his reign in 2011 to $105.2 million as of November 2014. Governor Daugaard has kept our monthly general fund cash balance at a yearly average of about $100 million. BFM says we currently have 37.3 days of general fund cash on hand. If police brutality protesters could organize a mass economic boycott and get South Dakotans to buy nothing and withhold all property tax payments, the state could cruise along for a month and a week before bouncing any checks.
According to the fall 2014 report of National Association of State Budget Officers, South Dakota's rainy-day funds equal 10.7% of our state expenditures. The national average is 5.9%. Only seven states maintain higher rainy-day balances:
- New Mexico: 10.8%
- Texas: 16.6%
- North Dakota: 16.8%
- Nebraska: 17.2%
- West Virginia: 20.1%
- Wyoming: 50.4%
- Alaska: 194.7%
While we strive to maintain the eighth-highest budget reserve in the nation, we take no action to raise ourselves out of the gutter for teacher pay. If we reduced our budget reserve to a percentage that aligned with national averages, we would free up about $47 million, which would be enough to fund half of my moonshot plan to raise every South Dakota K-12 teacher's pay by $10,000.
Better teacher pay isn't some extravagant Christmas gift that threatens our fiscal stability. It's a necessary investment that keeps good teachers at the whiteboard and builds long-term strength to our workforce and fiscal outlook.
$100 million x 50 states ect. is a sizeable source of bucks republicans and investment bankers should privatize for some short term gain for the 1%!! Caymans here we come!!! Joop, get over here!!!!
Another case of "South Dakota common sense" that only the Grinch would appreciate. Merry Christmas, y'all!
96 Tears, at the end of the story Grinch, and even Scrooge, had a change of heart.
Will the governor and legislators have a change of heart? Probably not, but it is not impossible.
So this is Christmas
And what have you done?
Another year over
And a new one just begun
And so this is Christmas
I hope you have fun
The near and the dear one
The old and the young
A very merry Christmas
And a happy New Year
Let's hope it's a good one
Without any fear
And so this is Christmas
For weak and for strong
For rich and the poor ones
The world is so wrong
And so happy Christmas
For black and for white
For yellow and red ones
Let's stop all the fight
A very merry Christmas
And a happy New Year
Let's hope it's a good one
Without any fear
And so this is Christmas
And what have we done?
Another year over
And a new one just begun
And so this is Christmas
I hope you have fun
The near and the dear one
The old and the young
A very merry Christmas
And a happy New Year
Let's hope it's a good one
Without any fear
War is over over
If you want it
War is over
Now
John Lennon
Thanks JeniW. Love that song. I don't know what will change their black hearts. Good point about the Grinch and Scrooge. Seems the power clic in Pierre are in love with having total control and nothing else.
we need to rise up for SD's 48,000 w/o health care. who/what can change daugaard's political will? can we sue him personally? what a "chicken little"!
I am reading that the republicans want to get rid of the current director of the CBO because he actually does his job. What their wet dream will now be is to put in "Dynamic Scoring", a smoke and mirror trick that steals your money while giving you a smile. All the money in the world will not be enough for the bankers on Wall Street when the crash comes again. They may send our dumbass state a little reach around thank you though for the contribution. The big question is this, why does South Dakota need the handout from the federal tax collection if we have money in the bank? Republican mantra states that to the poor who need healthcare and other services, why does the EB-5 Daugaard guy, get a pass?
This in from Forbes on how our country could actually start cutting back on contributions to our state by implementing healthcare reform. It sickens me to see this bloated mess sitting as if it belongs to the governor rather than the people. The EB-5 Daugaard guy is not the king. http://www.forbes.com/sites/elaineschattner/2014/12/24/a-gift-health-care-without-the-business/
This is the kind of concept that made sense before shady dealers like the blue dogs got a hold of the current ACA. This kind of Xmas present is long overdue.
What's your point, Cory? South Dakota has no reason to invest in anything except Alpha Centers and mining companies.
The point, Larry, is that we are sitting on more wealth than the normal rate for states, wealth that could be put to good use.
Fat chance, CAH. We who?
The EB-5 Daugaard guy should also be proud of this. http://www.splcenter.org/get-informed/hate-map#s=SD
Maybe if he would get off his fanny and invest some of our money, we could rid ourselves of some of the hate. Surely there has to be a profit in there for him to fleece.
Jerry, do you refer to this article from National Memo?
http://www.nationalmemo.com/will-gop-turn-cbo-fantasy-league/
That article says it could happen; have we heard statements from the GOP leadership that they plan to make it so?
South Dakota could easily burn up his reserves defending against lawsuits because of the Big Stone power plant sending heavy metal oxides into Minnesota and for dairy pollution that violate WOTUS rules.
Budget reserves dedicated to education help more people participate in democracy and the economy. Equality is a pretty good defense against the hatred you're talking about Jerry.
(Looks like I'm going to have to fight to keep this conversation on track!)
An old canard that bears repeating: Money is like manure. It doesn't do any good unless you spread it around. Daugaard could easily cut the reserve by half and still retain SD's AA+ rating from S&P, which would make it relatively cheap and easy to borrow money if we actually got into an unlikely pinch. There doesn't seem to be much grasp of finance and economics in this administration.
New Mexico's budget surplus will be gone because revenues from oil and gas are evaporating so the legislature is considering legal cannabis to make up for losses.
Daugaard spending money for a common good is so unrealistic it's laughable.
Yes Cory, the "Dynamic Scoring" is a hit already. What stands in the way of insanity is the CBO, and the republicans want to put concrete overshoes on Doug and toss him overboard. http://www.redstate.com/2014/12/24/dynamic-scoring-cbo-congress/
If you thought the road to oblivion prior to 2008 (say, isn't that a town by Keystone) was the end of America, republicans just found a new way to fast track it. This is not a good sign for our future.
When will people wake up to the idea that the real plan all along is to destroy this place and make it more like Mother Russia? Now you know why republicans like to see Putin without his shirt because they know we all are about ready to loose our own. We get what they deserve.
John T, it seems the failure to expand Medicaid (and create a State exchange) confirms your assessment that "There doesn't seem to be much grasp of finance and economics in this administration."
On the other hand, our state may need those Dauguaard reserves to feed South Dakota's poor and hungry residents if newly elected Senator Rounds and friends succeed in their goal to eliminate the food stamp program.
http://dailyleak.org/2014/12/newly-elected-republican-senators-agree-to-eliminate-food-stamp-program/
Back to what John T. so eloquently states "There doesn't seem to be much grasp of finance and economics in this administration." What city slickers like Rounds and the rest of this bunch of snake handlers and swindlers, fail to realize is that SNAP benefits main street as well as farmers and ranchers. That whole lot is out of touch with reality. This will not only devastate the poor, the veterans, the farmers and ranchers, it will devastate the economy as a whole. More fuel to the fire to destroy America by republican rule. There will be pitchforks.
Beyond surviving a winter session in Pierre where Steve Hickey is showing Democrats the way: what do Dems hope to do there?
http://www.plaintalk.net/local_news/article_162b6630-8d0a-11e4-af48-1b306d9f1948.html
Note, Larry, they as most cap the tax at four wheels putting grandma's cost right up their with truckers, farmers and motor homers. Our tourists and transients pay no wheel tax in SD.
What I see happening in all republican strong holds in America is basically that they fail to provide for the citizens. They are kind of like these guys with their right wing religious mantra. “ISIS doesn’t know how to do this stuff,” said the U.S. official, using an acronym for the group. “When stuff breaks down, they get desperate. It doesn’t have a whole lot of engineers and staff to run the cities, so things are breaking down.” http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/middle_east/the-islamic-state-is-failing-at-being-a-state/2014/12/24/bfbf8962-8092-11e4-b936-f3afab0155a7_story.html?hpid=z1
While we are not as bad here yet, if the trend keeps being that the reserves not being released for the healthcare needs and the education and infrastructure needs, then we are much the same.