Following my Wednesday post on the recessionary impacts of state budget cuts by Dennis Daugaard and other governors, a frequent conservative reader gently questinoed one of my sources. I cited data from the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, which my slightly chafed reader said "Is operated and funded by Voices for Children, which is a group that advocates for more spending on social programs."
I appended this connection to my article. I erred in doing so, as, it appears, did my reader in asserting this connection. As far as I can tell, there is no funding connection between Voices for Children and the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. There is a South Dakota Voices for Children which runs the very useful and informative South Dakota Budget and Policy Project. SDBPP does participate in the State Fiscal Analysis Initiative, which CBPP coordinates. However, money does not appear to flow in either direction through that SFAI connection.
Both the SDBPP and CBPP strive to offer accurate and non-partisan fiscal information. I, however, reamin free and happy to point out that Republicans like those in charge of the South Dakota Legislature tend to do a much worse job of investing in education and community safety nets than Democrats.