Politics.

The U.S. Capitol, pictured on Oct. 8, 2025. (Photo by Jennifer Shutt/States Newsroom) WASHINGTON — The U.S. Senate failed to advance

A spring 2020 view of a sinkhole in Black Hawk that opened near homes built atop a former gypsum mine.

U.S. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., speaks with reporters in the U.S Senate press gallery on Wednesday, Oct. 8,

Electric transmission lines near Clark. (Robert Zullo/States Newsroom) Xcel Energy is requesting a rate increase that would cause electric bills

James Comey, author and former FBI director, speaks at the Barnes & Noble Upper West Side on May 19, 2025

The U.S. Capitol on July 2, 2025. (Photo by Ashley Murray/States Newsroom) The U.S. Senate confirmed Ron Parsons on Tuesday

Tax increment financing (TIF) districts have become a go-to tool for cities and counties to spur economic development. As the number of TIFs grows, so does the debate.

U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem on the roof of the Portland ICE facility. (Photo by Alex Baumhardt/Oregon Capital Chronicle)

U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi testifies before the Senate Judiciary Committee in the Hart Senate Office Building on Capitol Hill

The federal courthouse in Sioux Falls. (John Hult/South Dakota Searchlight) President Donald Trump has nominated the head of South Dakota’s

Gov. Larry Rhoden, surrounded by legislators and other officeholders and staff, signs an executive order creating a rehabilitation task force

Men exercise in the maximum security yard of the Lansing Correctional Facility in Lansing, Kan. The prison population in Kansas

Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker speaks at a news conference in Chicago on Oct. 6, 2025. Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson stands

A sign advising that the Capitol Visitors Center in the U.S. Capitol is closed, in Washington, D.C., is pictured on

President Donald Trump speaks to the media in the Oval Office at the White House on Sept. 2, 2025 in

Federal agents, including members of the Department of Homeland Security, the Border Patrol, and police, attempt to keep protesters back

Rep. Charley Thomson speaks at an event with landowners and politicians opposed to CO2 pipelines on Sunday. (Photo by Cami

Dakotans for Health Chairman Rick Weiland, standing beside signed petitions, speaks to the press on Feb. 7, 2024, at the

Conflicting answers to a residents’ question about a TIF in Mitchell highlights concerns about if tax increment financing districts are being done correctly.

To highlight some of the projects that tax increment financing districts have helped fund, here are 10 examples in South Dakota from the past 20 years.

South Dakota Gov. Larry Rhoden speaks to the media on March 6, 2025, at the Capitol in Pierre. (Makenzie Huber/South

Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem at a Nashville press conference on July 18, 2025, to discuss arrests of

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York speaks to reporters at a press conference at the U.S. Capitol during

The University of South Dakota campus. (Courtesy of University of South Dakota) The University of South Dakota and the state

White House budget director Russ Vought, who is depicted as the Grim Reaper in a video posted by President Donald

A monument erected to victims of the 1890 Wounded Knee Massacre stands in the middle of the memorial and cemetery

The U.S. Capitol on the evening of Tuesday, Sept. 30, 2025, just hours before a federal government shutdown. (Photo by

A sign on the entrance to the U.S. National Arboretum says it is closed due to the federal government shut

Andrew Streff drives his combine while harvesting soybeans on Sept. 29, 2025, near Salem. (Joshua Haiar/South Dakota Searchlight) SALEM —

Political researchers said the government shutdown situation swirling around Washington, D.C., might turn even more people off to civic engagement

A closed sign is seen on the Washington Monument on Oct. 1, 2025 in Washington, D.C. The federal government shut

The commissary warehouse at the South Dakota State Penitentiary. (Courtesy of South Dakota Department of Corrections) Members of the advisory

The U.S. Capitol on the evening of Tuesday, Sept. 30, 2025, just hours before a federal government shutdown. (Photo by

Some USDA office functions will be suspended during the government shutdown. (USDA Photo by Lance Cheung) Nearly half of U.S.

Internal investigation still ongoing almost a year after a man was shot and killed by U.S. Marshals Service officers in Yankton Reservation.

U.S. Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., speaks to the media at the U.S. Capitol on Sept. 30, 2025 in

Congressional Hispanic Caucus Chair Adriano Espaillat, a New York Democrat, speaks at a press conference outside the U.S. Capitol in

Rep. Jon Hansen, R-Dell Rapids, speaks on the state House floor on Jan. 16, 2024. (Makenzie Huber/South Dakota Searchlight) Less

The U.S. Capitol is seen behind a barricade on Sept. 30, 2025 in Washington, DC. If lawmakers fail to reach

Ashaun Roach-Valandra, Sisseton Wahpeton Law Enforcement Services; Akia Winters, Oglala Sioux Tribe Department of Public Safety; and Michelle Casiano, Sisseton

The U.S. Capitol on Oct. 9, 2024. (Photo by Jane Norman/States Newsroom) State officials from both parties urged Congress to

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, left, and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, both New York Democrats, speak to reporters Sept.

Harrisburg School District Superintendent Jennifer Lowery speaks at a Downtown Sioux Falls Rotary meeting on Sept. 29, 2025. (Makenzie Huber/South

Attorney General Drew Wrigley testifies to a legislative committee on March 24, 2025. (Kyle Martin/For the North Dakota Monitor) North

A U.S. Department of Education employee leaves the building with their belongings on March 20, 2025 in Washington, D.C., amid

The Trump administration has asked the U.S. Supreme Court to consider an executive order seeking to end birthright citizenship. (Photo

Bill Even sits with South Dakota Searchlight for an interview in Sioux Falls on Sept. 8, 2025. (Joshua Haiar/South Dakota

Jaime Harrison, former chairman of the Democratic National Committee, speaks to attendees at a South Dakota Democratic Party fundraiser on

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, U.S. President Donald Trump and U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth attend a Cabinet

Demonstrators protest the suspension of the “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” show outside the El Capitan Entertainment Centre, where the show is

Members of the Comprehensive Property Tax Task Force meet in Sioux Falls on June 25, 2025. (Makenzie Huber/South Dakota Searchlight)

The U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C., is pictured on Tuesday, Feb. 25, 2025. (Photo by Jennifer Shutt/States Newsroom) WASHINGTON —

U.S. Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-South Dakota, interacts with attendees on Sept. 26, 2025, at the Black Hills Forum

The U.S. Supreme Court on Oct. 9, 2024. (Photo by Jane Norman/States Newsroom) WASHINGTON — The U.S. Supreme Court on

Plastic flowers and American flags are placed atop graves at the Wounded Knee Memorial and cemetery on June 30, 2024.

The sun illuminates the Albert V. Bryan United States Courthouse in Alexandria, Virginia, on Sept. 26, 2025, the morning following

The New Jersey Capitol is pictured along the banks of the Delaware River in Trenton. A new analysis put New

While the $650 million project was a contentious issue, the need to help repeat offenders received a lot of agreement.

Author James Comey, former FBI director, speaks at the Barnes & Noble Upper West Side on May 19, 2025 in

Cody Kafka sits at his work desk in Mitchell with his new land purchase displayed on his computer screen on

Sarah Baus of Charleston, South Carolina,  holds a sign that reads “Keep TikTok” as she and other content creators Sallye

Protesters gather at the North Dakota Capitol in Bismarck to voice opposition to the Summit Carbon Solutions CO2 Pipeline on

Cells at the South Dakota State Penitentiary. (Courtesy of South Dakota Department of Corrections) Three inmates died on three consecutive

People in New York City look at a sign informing them that the Statue of Liberty is closed on Oct.

USDA is canceling a report that measured food security nationally. (Photo by Lance Cheung/USDA) The U.S. Department of Agriculture has

Rapid City lawyer Jim Leach speaks to the media outside the federal courthouse in Sioux Falls after a hearing on

South Dakota Department of Social Services Secretary Matt Althoff presents the department’s budget to the Legislature’s Joint Committee on Appropriations

Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins, President Donald Trump, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Education Secretary Linda

Gov. Larry Rhoden addresses a joint session of the South Dakota Legislature on Sept. 23, 2025, at the Capitol in

A sign displays the names of South Dakota’s three elected public utilities commissioners outside of their Pierre office in January

U.S. President Donald Trump speaks during the United Nations General Assembly at the United Nations headquarters on Sept. 23, 2025

The University of South Dakota campus. (Courtesy of University of South Dakota) A University of South Dakota art professor facing

Workers install fiber optic cables for a school in Harrisburg, Pa. The Trump administration’s changes to a federal grant program

U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., joined by President Donald Trump, delivers an announcement on “significant

Rep. Peri Pourier, D-Rapid City, speaks on the House floor on March 3, 2025. (Makenzie Huber/South Dakota Searchlight) South Dakota

The South Dakota State Penitentiary in Sioux Falls, as seen on Jan. 9, 2023. (John Hult/South Dakota Searchlight) When the

Daylong special session will end with fifth vote on proposed men’s facility. “The only way this prison will cost $1 billion is if we keep kicking the can down the road.”

Erika Kirk joins U.S. President Donald Trump onstage during the memorial service for her late husband, conservative political activist Charlie

(Photo by Daniel de la Hoz/Getty Images) The beauty of South Dakota’s public school system is that each school district

Standing Rock Tribal Chairwoman Janet Alkire, front, speaks to the South Dakota State-Tribal Relations Committee on Sept. 19, 2025, in

The late Charlie Kirk, founder and executive director of Turning Point USA, speaks at the opening of the Turning Point

U.S. Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., speaks with reporters on Capitol Hill on Friday, Sept. 19, 2025. (Photo by

Katie Jenner, Indiana’s secretary of Education and the state’s commissioner for higher education, testifies during a hearing in the U.S.

During a prison work group meeting on April 2, 2025, Ryan Brunner, an adviser to South Dakota Gov. Larry Rhoden,

U.S. Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., speaks to reporters at the Capitol as lawmakers work on the One Big

The E. Barrett Prettyman U.S. Courthouse in Washington, D.C., home of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia,

DACA supporters rally outside the U.S. Supreme Court in 2019. (Photo by Robin Bravender/States Newsroom) WASHINGTON — Advocates Thursday raised

The U.S. Capitol building in Washington, D.C., is pictured on Sunday, June 29, 2025. (Photo by Jennifer Shutt/States Newsroom) WASHINGTON

People take photos of the closed signs at the Smithsonian National Zoo, which was closed to the public due to

A child receives a COVID-19 shot in Annandale, Va., in 2021. Virginia is among the states that have parted ways

South Dakota Gov. Larry Rhoden speaks to reporters during a press conference on March 31, 2025, at the state Capitol

U.S. Rep. Rashida Tlaib, a Michigan Democrat, speaks at a press conference Sept. 17, 2025, outside the U.S. Capitol in

Former Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Susan Monarez testifies before the Senate Committee on Health, Education,

The South Dakota House of Representatives meets on Feb. 6, 2025, at the Capitol in Pierre. (Seth Tupper/South Dakota Searchlight)