SDDP Executive Director Responds to State of the State Address

PIERRE, S.D. – The South Dakota Democratic Party released the following statement from Executive Director Sam Parkinson in response to today’s State of the State Address by Governor Dennis Daugaard:

“40 years of one-party rule has led to one budget shortfall after another, a state government plagued by scandal and which regularly overturns the expressed will of the voters, a state educational system falling behind our neighbors, and a state economy where working families are struggling to get ahead. South Dakotans deserve better leadership than they have received from the Republican establishment in Pierre. South Dakota Democrats are fighting for a state government and a state economy that works for everyone, not those at the top, like the powerful and well-connected special interests who have way too much power in Pierre. It’s time for a change in leadership; this November, South Dakotans will remember who is fighting for them and who is fighting for the special interests.”

Here’s a look at how the Republican leadership in Pierre has failed the people of South Dakota:

  • Working families are having to work harder to make ends meet, and many are falling behind.
    • SD is top in the nation in multiple-jobholding rates, according to most recent estimates available – We’re at 9.1% and the national average is 4.9%
    • We rank second in the nation in the percentage of our families where both spouses are in the workforce – We’re at 61.7% and the national average is 51.2%.
    • We’re 42nd in the nation for median earnings for men and 41st for women, and women in South Dakota earn about $10,000 less than men on average.
    • We have the 7th highest percentage of our elderly population below the poverty level.
    • We have an infant mortality rate higher than the national average.
    • South Dakota has the largest employment gap between American Indians and Whites in the nation.
      • In 2016, the employment rate of White adults in South Dakota was 35.2 percentage points higher than for American Indian adults.
      • South Dakota ranked 49th in the nation for proportion of American Indian adults working at just 45.2% in 2016. By comparison, 80.4% of White adults were at work—the second highest proportion in the nation.
  • State government isn’t working as it should.
    • There’s a profound lack of accountability, and the state isn’t making the smart investments to support an innovative and dynamic economy.
    • SD has been ranked 3rd-most corrupt state in the nation.
    • SD has been named one of the 10 least innovative states in the nation by Forbes.
  • Under our current system of politics as usual, our economy is sputtering.
    • Our low unemployment rate (3 %) can’t overcome other fundamental weaknesses:
      • South Dakota’s economy shrank 0.3% from Quarter 1 to Quarter 2 in 2017. Iowa was the only other state with a negative GDP (-0.7%) in Q2 of 2017.
      • South Dakota’s economy has now shrunk in three (3) consecutive quarters (-2.9 in Q4 of 2016, -5.9 in Q1 of 2017, and -0.3 in Q2 of 2017).
      • Since 2011, Gov. Daugaard’s first year in office, through 2016, SD’s per capita GDP growth has been 0.2% (an average of 0.04% a year).
        • During that period the overall per capita GDP growth in the United States has been 6% – 30 times faster than South Dakota’s.
        • The only neighboring state which has underperformed South Dakota during this period is Wyoming.
      • In 2016, South Dakota’s per capita personal income grew just 0.4%, below the national average of 2.5% in metro areas and 1.0% non-metro areas.
      • Per capita personal income fell in 45 South Dakota counties in 2016 and rose in only 21 counties. County charthere.

Source: The Census Bureau, unless otherwise another hyperlink is provided.

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