Senate State Affairs defers Democrats’ education plan to 41st day

Sioux Falls, SD (February 22, 2016)-

The South Dakota Democratic Party expressed their disappointment at the deferment of SB 151 to the 41st day in Senate State Affairs, effectively tabling the Democrats’ plan to raise teacher salaries. It proposed a 1 penny sales tax excluding food and groceries to reach a targeted teacher salary of over $50,000. This would have ranked South Dakota 3rd in our 6 state region.

“The South Dakota Budget and Policy Institute has reported that our plan would have put forth more money for South Dakota teachers and actually taken less taxes from South Dakotans to accomplish it. It’s the bold step we needed this session,” said Michael Ewald, South Dakota Democratic Party Communications Director.

Last week, HB 1182, the Governor’s proposal to address teacher salaries failed in the House by just one vote.

“We’re not done yet. We’ll be working until the very end of session to find a solution to keep our schools adequately staffed. If we don’t increase teacher pay this session, the people of South Dakota will need to determine if they want a Republican legislature so broken, they can’t fix a problem universally recognized to threaten our schools,” said Ewald

WATCH Rep. Gosch and the House Republicans brag about defeating teacher pay!

###