With a multi-million dollar state budget deficit, the price of running the state is getting to be more of a challenge, and the candidates for South Dakota governor are ready to cut.
"We need to contain state government growth to some degree as we're able," South Dakota Republican gubernatorial candidate Dennis Daugaard said.
And shrink the size of state government.
"I'm a small government kind of person and that's the kind of governor I'll be," Scott Heidepriem, the lone Democrat running for South Dakota Governor, said.
"South Dakota is really at a crossroads and that we need to start grappling with our problems," South Dakota Republican candidate for governor Dave Knudson said.
All five candidates for South Dakota governor in 2010 say state government is too big.
"We have had a significant growth in the amount of people that are employed by the state and we need to pull back the reigns on that," South Dakota Republican candidate for governor Scott Munsterman said.
"Our government has been growing in numbers and in dollars for the last 20 years we've had increasing revenues," Republican gubernatorial candidate Ken Knuppe said.
When South Dakota's next governor takes office, the millions of dollars in federal stimulus money will run out. And the more than 12,000 state workers and the programs they run will be the biggest item on the chopping block. All of the candidates running for governor in 2010 point to their past experience as the reason they can lead South Dakota out of a financially challenging time and into the future.
Dennis Daugaard has been lieutenant governor for seven years. But he says his two decades as the head of Children's Home Society, which takes care of abused and neglected children, is the real proof that he can navigate the state out of its budget shortfalls. Daugaard says the organization was deeply in debt when he took over; it now has $30 million in reserves.
"I think that demonstrates that I can take an organization and reverse financial difficulties and put it on a good path," Daugaard said.
Scott Heidepriem is one of two Democrats running for governor and points to a proportional cut of state government as a way to fix South Dakota's budget woes. Heidepriem says shrinking government will also shrink the problems for the state pocketbook.
"This administration has swollen the beauracracy at the rate of five to six percent a year for seven years, year in and year out. At the same time, we tell local government that they can't grow faster than three percent or the consumer price index. That's hypocritical," Heidepriem said.
Republican candidate Scott Munsterman has a similar idea to fix the state's finances if he's elected governor. Munsterman became the mayor of Brookings in 2001 and put a stop to increased spending.
"The rate of growth of government could not exceed the rate of growth of the economy, very important principle. And what we have had the last seven years in this state is that we have been spending reserves for ongoing expenses," Munsterman said.
Ken Knuppe of Buffalo Gap is leaning on his experience as a rancher to fix the state budget. The Republican candidate says when times are good on his ranch, his family spends money, but when times are tough, they cut back.
"When your income is cut back, like they say in the cattle industry, right now cattle are bringing in less money, then we have to cut back on the money we spend and it's no different in government," Knuppe said.
Senate Majority Leader Dave Knudson has been dealing with the state budget crunch first hand in the South Dakota legislature. Knudson doesn't think the approach to trimming state government worked last year; he wants to make cuts to every state agency.
"I think trying to find a laundry list of programs like Birth to Three, arts and so forth and cut those in total just doesn't make as much sense as focusing on across the board kind of cut," Knudson said.
Because when the state has been wounded by the recession…
"Of course, our hope is that revenue will come back and this recession will end. I believe that. We all believe that," Daugaard said.
"You'd like to think South Dakota could get the economic recovery started and start adding jobs instead of losing jobs," Knudson said.
…the only way to fix the budget from bleeding is to make cuts.
"The first thing we should do, especially in this economy where we have decreasing revenue, is cut back on our expenses," Knuppe said.
"But you have to have the political will to do that. You can't be afraid of making people unhappy," Heidepriem said.
"It's going to take a different way of doing business in Pierre," Munsterman said.
Democratic candidate Ron Volesky told KELOLAND News that he would fix the state budget by reducing the budget for the department of corrections, and establishing a corporate profits tax. Volesky estimates the added tax would raise 100 million dollars for education. The state is using $88 million in stimulus money to balance the budget this year. It has another $65 million it can use for the budget year that starts in July 2010.
