Rep. Haugaard: Federal fund hand-outs lead to rising federal debt

This week, the South Dakota Legislature hosted the Council of State Governments, a national legislative organization with regional member states. The conference was held in Rapid City and was attended by legislators from several Midwest states and some Canadian representatives. The content of the conference revolved around legislation and issues that impact us all, especially COVID-19 problems. Conferences such as this are an opportunity to exchange information and ideas that help us prepare for the upcoming session and learn about what has been successful or unsuccessful in other states. These conferences are often the source of policies and legislation that will spread across the nation, so it is important that we are involved.

All of the states continue to receive grants of federal dollars (new national debt) that are intended to assist in the recovery from the pandemic. Some examples from the most recent bill, “The American Rescue Plant Act of 2021”, include sections such as: ‘Farm loan assistance for socially disadvantaged farmers and ranchers, forest land owners and operators and groups’; ‘Funding for vaccine confidence activities’ in the amount of $1 billion; ‘funding for global health’; ‘funding for family planning’; ‘Assistance for Older Americans, Grandfamilies, and Kinship Families’; ‘Continued Assistance for Rail Workers’; as well as funding for the National Endowment for the Arts, Humanities, and Museum and Library Services. It provided special grants to universities located near the Capitol in Washington, D.C. And, it also included funding for nearly every other ‘pork barrel’ project you could imagine with many of the funding sections referring to previous spending measures.

Dollars actually allocated to the vaccines and associated public health accounted for approximately ONE-THIRD OF 1 PERCENT of the overall spending package.  

An example of how other states are using some of these federal funds include millions of dollars to such things as ‘gun violence prevention’, 24-hour bullet-casing testing center in Connecticut, and in Kentucky they have announced a one-time, $1,500 payment to the first 15,000 Kentuckians who return to work, which is using taxpayer dollars to bribe people to get off their couch and get a job.

In South Dakota we are “discussing” possible uses for these federal funds, but the legislature is effectively being limited to “recommendations” as opposed to being engaged in the shaping of long-term policy matters.  Unfortunately, we do not have the political resolve to convene the legislature to actually represent the best interests of the voters in the use of this extraordinary amount of money.

Our revenues continue to be strong and that is true in many other states. It is further evidence that the infusion of federal (debt) money is actually not necessary at this point. Sadly, those businesses that actually needed to be rescued from last year’s state and federal government action did not have timely access to the necessary funds and many of those businesses have disappeared.

So, in an effort to prop up the economy we are being flooded with federal (debt) dollars with no regard for the long-term damage this is doing to our economy and the future of our children.  

I have said in the past that we should be the responsible adult in the room and send back to the federal government those dollars that essentially are unrelated to the pandemic. Some say that “If we don’t take it someone else will.” To that I would simply respond with what we always tell our children “Just because someone else is doing it doesn’t mean that you should. Just do the right thing.”.

I again encourage everyone to inform yourself as to what is happening in state government by going to www.sdlegislature.gov.