Guest Column: Big Government is Not the Answer by Drew Peterson State Representative, District 19

Big Government is Not the Answer
by Drew Peterson
State Representative, District 19

As the 100th South Dakota Legislative Session comes to a close, I want to reflect on the work accomplished and the challenges that remain. This year, we passed a balanced budget for the 136th consecutive session—continuing South Dakota’s long tradition of fiscal responsibility. We cut $70 million in ongoing expenses to give a 1.25 percent increase to the Big Three of Education, State Workers, and Healthcare, and ensured other critical funding remains intact, including support for veteran burial funding, libraries, and South Dakota Public Broadcasting (SDPB), which provides invaluable coverage of our high school activities and educational programming for all ages. These are priorities that matter to our communities, and I am proud to have supported them.

One of the biggest discussions in this session revolved around property tax relief, with over twenty bills introduced on the subject. Governor Rhoden’s proposal was the only one that passed, and I supported it after it was improved for funding growing tax districts. The bill provides relief to owner-occupied homeowners. While I support efforts to reduce the tax burden on South Dakotans, I am cautious about any proposal that shifts the burden onto agriculture and commercial properties, which includes rental housing. This is only the first step in what the Governor hopes will be a broader, long-term solution. I will continue to work with Governor Rhoden, Lieutenant Governor Venhuizen, and legislators to ensure that the legislature provides meaningful tax relief without simply passing the cost onto another group of taxpayers. A short-term fix is not enough—we need a comprehensive approach that fairly addresses property tax concerns without harming our family farms, family businesses, and renter communities.

I must mention that, for the first time as a legislator, I have spent more time with my allies opposing and often defeating bad bills than passing good ones. Many days, we killed 5-10 bills on the House floor in one afternoon—but we didn’t get them all.  As a citizen legislator and fifth-generation South Dakotan, it’s starting to feel like our state is a political playground for out-of-state interests to run bills that are intended to fix problems that don’t exist in South Dakota. It baffles me that people move here from coastal states because South Dakota is the greatest state in the Union, and then proceed to try and flip our state on its head with bills pushing big government, new entitlements, and overregulation.

When I ran for the Legislature, it was to ensure we advanced our state. South Dakota is an amazing place to raise our growing family, have a career, and live in peace. We have come a long ways as a state the nearly 40 years I’ve been alive, creating an economy where young people want to live instead of moving out of state after they graduate. But I do not want us to rest on our recent success that is decades in the making—we need to ensure we are pushing legislation that benefits everyone, improves the economy, and, most importantly, allows individuals to be personally responsible and self-determined.

Looking ahead, my focus remains on advocating for responsible fiscal policies, protecting agriculture and our schools, and supporting economic development across South Dakota. We must continue making strategic investments that strengthen communities of all sizes while ensuring that the government does not overreach, overregulate, or place unnecessary and extraordinary burdens on rural South Dakotans.

If we work every day to advance our state, we will provide our kids and grandkids with a better South Dakota than our parents and grandparents gave to us. May God bless you and the great state of South Dakota.