(PIERRE, SD) – South Dakota Governor Larry Rhoden had a unique way of describing the state’s economy since the COVID-19 pandemic.
Gangbusters.
“We came out of COVID with the strongest economy in the nation,” Rhoden said.
Since then, however, the economy has seen a decline. He notes the decline in commodity prices as one of the reasons for the decline in the state’s economic picture.
“We’ve had a pretty significant downturn in our budget this year,” Rhoden said. “So, we’ve had to make some tough decisions.”
Those decisions, however, didn’t result in anything less than a balanced budget as presented by former Governor Kristi Noem to the legislature earlier in the session.
“When I took the reins, I announced in my speech that I wasn’t going to change the budget,” Rhoden said. “Hopefully we’ll find if the revenue numbers improve then we’ll be able to restore some of the cuts that we’ve made.”
He said that he told legislators that for every dollar spent, revenue would have to increase as well.
