Governor Kristi Noem’s Weekly Column: 100 Days of Progress

100 Days of Progress
By Governor Kristi Noem

On January 5, I put my hand on my dad’s Bible and pledged to lead our state in a way that will make South Dakota a better place for the next generation.

It’s been just over 100 days since then, and in that time, we’ve made some real progress. I signed 222 bills into law, met with hundreds of South Dakotans, and hit all four corners of the state to listen to peoples’ priorities and share some of mine.

We finished the legislative session with a balanced budget. We’re confronting challenges like our nursing home crisis by giving a 10 percent funding increase to providers and incentivizing new innovations in care. We’re fighting our meth epidemic through education, enforcement, and treatment. We’re highlighting foster care, expanding habitat, closing the broadband gap, and bringing the next generation bomber to Ellsworth Air Force Base.

The budget approved by the state legislature funded these priorities and provided additional funds to increase teacher salaries, increase the State Emergency Response budget, and continue support for the state workforce. And we did all that without raising taxes.

This progress couldn’t have been done without a strong leadership team that is dedicated to serving people and strengthening South Dakota. My cabinet and staff will continue being laser-focused on the needs facing our state and the ways we can best prepare for the future.

Because there’s still a lot to do. We have some big challenges ahead of us.

After the storms this spring, many people are experiencing livestock loss, flooded homes, and damaged infrastructure. The state has a major role to play in recovery efforts, and we’re doing everything we can to make sure folks come back from this stronger than before.

Farmers and ranchers continue to struggle with low commodity prices and market uncertainty. I’m working to increase education and opportunities in production-boosting research, such as biotechnology and precision ag. We’ll also continue looking for additional market opportunities and pushing leaders at the federal level to expand trade and keep ag strong.

What’s more, we still have a long way to go to expand access to high-speed internet, recruit the next big industry to South Dakota, bolster our workforce, increase transparency in state government, better support our veterans, strengthen our tribes, and battle the meth epidemic.

I’m proud of the progress we’ve seen these first 100 days, and we’re not stopping here. Serving as South Dakota’s governor is an honor and a privilege that I will never take for granted, and I’ll continue working to tackle the problems facing our state. Let’s work together to make South Dakota stronger for the next generation.

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