PIERRE, S.D. – South Dakota lawmakers on Thursday approved two separate revenue numbers that guide state spending.
First, the Joint Committee on Appropriations voted to update the estimate for the current budget year (FY26). Second, the committee voted to set the revenue target for next year’s budget (FY27), which lawmakers are writing now.
The committee voted 13-0 on both motions. Five members were absent.
In plain terms, these votes tell lawmakers how much money they can safely plan to spend. The FY26 update helps state agencies finish the current year without surprises. The FY27 target becomes the starting point for the budget the Legislature will pass later this session — affecting how much room there is for raises, school funding, prisons, roads, and other big-ticket items.
For FY26 — the budget year that ends June 30 — the committee adopted $2,479,571,670 in ongoing general fund revenue and $2,648,956,822 in total revenue.
For FY27 — the budget year that begins July 1 — the committee adopted $2,551,340,518 in ongoing general fund revenue.
Sen. Glen Vilhauer, R-Watertown, co-chaired the revenue subcommittee. He said the work went smoothly because the state’s two forecast groups were close to each other–the Bureau of Finance and Management and the Legislative Research Council.
For FY26, he said the numbers were only about $3 million apart.
“We were kind of a situation where we can’t go wrong,” Vilhauer said.
For FY27, the two forecasts were about $22 million apart, still less than one percent. Vilhauer said the committee again picked a middle number. He noted the FY27 target is higher than what Gov. Larry Rhoden proposed earlier in the session.
“The projection that we are looking at setting is about $30 million more than what the governor proposed in his budget address back in December,” Vilhauer said.
Rep. Mike Derby, R-Rapid City, the committee’s lead co-chair, said lawmakers could have gone higher but did not.
“We did not choose to do that. I think this is a very thoughtful and conservative budget moving forward,” Derby said.
Rep. Erik Muckey, D-Sioux Falls, said he was glad to see revenue moving up.
“It’s a good thing to see South Dakota trending in the right direction economically when we’re talking about adopting a revenue figure,” Muckey said.
Sen. Ernie Otten, R-Tea, said the targets help the state avoid future budget problems.
“I think we’ve got ourselves on a proper guide platform, heading for (FY) 28, making sure that we’re stable, that we don’t have any large cliffs that we’re setting ourselves up for,” Otten said.
Thursday was the deadline under legislative rules for adopting revenue targets.
