SD Lawmakers Examine Sequestration Numbers

Across-the-board federal spending cuts are all but certain. 

With the deadline just hours away, Senate Republicans and Democrats are staging a politically-charged showdown.  Neither party wants to be blamed for a disruption in government services, so they've each come up with their own plan.  Officials say both measures are doomed.

That news has states scrambling to lessen the impact at midnight.  South Dakota officials have been studying the numbers, and it turns out it won't be as dramatic as originally thought for state agencies.

"A lot of the big pieces of our state budget are not impacted by sequestration so as we've dwelled through the numbers for FY 13, the current fiscal year that we're in today that ends June 30th, we're only looking at an impact to our current state agencies of $2.1 million," Sen. Deb Peters (R) of Hartford said.

Economists told the Joint Appropriations Committee on Thursday that the revenue estimates and economic growth in South Dakota are expected to be below average in the upcoming fiscal year due to the uncertainty at both the national and global level.  That includes sequestration and what might happen with proposed cuts at the federal level.

Governor Dennis Daugaard says the cuts will be manageable in the short-term but if they are prolonged, the state may be required to take some action.  His message right now is that South Dakota can manage through this.