PIERRE, S.D. – South Dakota lawmakers are taking a break in the legislative session until they return later in March to consider any bills Republican Gov. Kristi Noem vetoed.
Republican legislative leaders were focused on cutting taxes when the session began in January. They now can declare victory on that topic.
The record was more mixed on other topics, ranging from restricting gender-affirming care for transgender people to limiting foreign ownership of farmland.
As legislators opened the session with a $423 million surplus, lawmakers were intent on passing a sales tax cut — and they accomplished that goal earlier this month. The Legislature approved a general sales tax cut from 4.5% to 4.2% that is set to end after four years. The change is expected to reduce taxes by $104 million per year.
The legislation included the removal of a mechanism known as the “Partridge Amendment,” which gradually reduced the state’s sales tax as more money was collected from internet sales.
Rather than the general sales tax reduction, Noem had campaigned for reelection on a promise to repeal sales taxes on groceries. Since legislators took a different approach, it wasn’t clear whether she would sign the legislation.
“I still believe that the best budget option for our state’s future is the one that I presented in December, including the elimination of the sales tax on groceries,” Noem said Friday in a statement. “And in the coming weeks, I will have to decide whether the budget that has been presented to me is worthy of my signature.”
