The Chamber Advocate – Week Nine

Final Action

Week 9 marked the final week of the 2026 South Dakota Legislative Session. One of the major highlights of the final week was the Legislature’s consideration of SB 245, a bill that would utilize 0.3% of the state’s sales tax revenue to pay a larger share of the state’s education and special education levies in an attempt to lower owner-occupied property taxes. This portion of the bill would not go into effect until July 1, 2027. However, the bill also utilizes $55,896,576 in state dollars to “jumpstart” the program. This legislation passed both chambers and will go into law upon the Governor’s signature.

The other large lift during the final week was approval of the supplemental budget and the ongoing budget for FY 2027. One highlight from the ongoing budget is that lawmakers were able to provide a 1.4% funding increase for education, Medicaid providers and state employees after the administration’s original recommendation was a 0% increase.

Recap Coming Soon

Your Greater Sioux Falls Chamber of Commerce policy team will be sending a recap in the coming weeks covering the major pieces of legislation that were passed and defeated this session that we advocated on. A few of the major highlights include funding for the Sioux Falls Airport, funding for the advanced manufacturing program at Southeast Technical College, defending economic development tools in South Dakota and many others. Please check the May issue of Chamber News for a more in-depth review of legislation, along with our Legislative Scorecard.

Thank You

We also want to take a moment to thank our members for their support of our advocacy efforts in Pierre and their willingness to engage in the legislative process. Our policy team cannot do this work without your support. Thank you for a great 2026 legislative session.