Home » State Early Childhood Policy Landscapes » South Dakota Early Childhood Policy Landscape

South Dakota

South Dakota, like all states, has a unique early childhood policy landscape that is shaped by economics, demographics, political history, coalitions, and other factors that create a state-specific environment for policy advocacy.

State early childhood policy progress is dependent both on the state’s environment and the numerous efforts—by the organizations listed on this page, other organizations, parents, policymakers, practitioners, and more—who work both independently and collaboratively to achieve wins for young children.

2024 State Early Childhood Policy Environment and Progress

Early Childhood Landscape:

Research shows that family economic security is foundational to children’s overall wellbeing. Research also shows that widespread disparities in opportunity (especially by race) drive wide disparities in outcomes. States with policies that offer strong support to young children and their families are more likely to see 1) declining numbers of children in low-income households and 2) low racial disparity among those children.

Young Children in Low-Income Households: Declining

Approximately 38% (39,000) of the state’s children 0-8 live in households below 200% FPL (2022). This number represents a decrease from 40% (42,000) in 2017.¹

Racial Disparity Among Young Children Living in Low-Income Households: High

Black, Hispanic/Latino, and Native children aged 0-8 are significantly more likely to be living in households below 200% FPL than are Asian and non-Hispanic White children.²

(NOTE: Selecting for age 0-8, state, and race can yield small cell sizes that can make percentages less accurate. Bars marked with S indicate data with extremely small cell sizes, which is not displayed. Bars marked with C should be interpreted with caution. Though the cell sizes are larger, they still fall below a threshold of reliability.)

Advocacy Landscape:

State General Fund Appropriations: Even/Increasing

On March 20, South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem signed the state’s fiscal 2025 budget into law. The enacted budget calls for $7.32 billion in total spending in fiscal 2025, a 2.5 percent decrease from the budgeted amount for fiscal 2024. Fiscal 2024 spending included $275.5 million in emergency special appropriations and $177.2 million in continuous appropriations/transfers. General fund spending is projected to increase 0.1 percent in fiscal 2025, while spending from federal funds is estimated to decline 4.6 percent and other funds projected to decrease 2.1 percent. Total general fund receipts are estimated to decline 3.8 percent compared to fiscal 2024’s revised level, while ongoing receipts are projected to increase 0.6 percent.³

Key Revenue Sources:⁴

- - State Sales Taxes ($1,865 per capita)
  - Property Taxes ($1,661 per capita)

State Budget Rules:⁴

South Dakota uses an annual budget. The legislature must pass a balanced budget, but it can carry a deficit over into the following year. South Dakota further limits annual revenue growth with a binding rule that requires a legislative supermajority or vote of the people to override. A legislative supermajority vote is also required to pass any legislation that raises taxes or revenue. South Dakota limits total debt service incurred by the state, but not authorized debt.

Political Alignment: Aligned Republican

During the 2023 session, the state’s Senate and House were both Republican controlled. The state’s Governor was also a Republican.⁴

Types of Ballot Measures Available:⁵Five

- Legislature-initiated state statute: Appears on a state’s ballot as a ballot measure because the state legislature in that state voted to put it before the voters.
- Voter-initiated initiated state statute: Earns a spot on the ballot when sponsors collect signatures according to the laws governing the initiative process in South Dakota.
- Legislature-initiated constitutional amendment: A constitutional amendment that appears on a state’s ballot as a ballot measure because the state legislature in that state voted to put it before the voters.
- Voter-initiated constitutional amendment: An amendment to a state’s constitution that comes about through the initiative process.
- Veto referendum – When citizens of South Dakota disagree with a statute or legislative bill enacted by the state legislature, they can collect signatures to force the issue to a vote. If enough signatures are collected, the bill is placed on the statewide ballot.

Key State Policy Advocacy Organizations Include:

Early Childhood Policy Advocacy Multi-State Initiatives Include:⁶

2024 Policy Progress:

Highlights from the state’s early childhood policy advocacy community include:⁷

Allies pursued Senate Bill 125, an act to require the Department of Social Services to conduct a state-wide study on child care, to provide an appropriation therefor, and to declare an emergency. If enacted this bill would primarily focus on a statewide true cost of care study. This bill based unanimously out of Senate State Affairs and Joint Appropriations. However, it passed out of Joint Appropriations with $1 and it would be further debated, later on the floor. During that time, DSS reached out to Senator Reed (prime sponsor) and asked to negotiate dropping the bill because they said they were already conducting a study like this. DSS eventually shared with Senator Reed the scope of the studies they were referring too and noticed the plan was not as robust as the intention of his bill. After several sessions of negotiation, DSS agreed to all Senator Reed’s recommendations. Over the summer, DSS will be conducting 3 studies with ICF: Workforce Study, Market Rate Analysis, and Cost Modeling Study. The reports for all three studies should be complete before the end of the year.

2023 Grantee Policy Agenda:

Our key ally and grantee in South Dakota, the South Dakota Association for the Education of Young Children (SDAEYC), works through Early Learner South Dakota to advocate at the local and state level to improve policy for early care and education in the state. Early Learner South Dakota’s vision is that all children have access to high-quality early learning experiences and environments to create a solid foundation for lifelong success.

South Dakota Association for the Education of Young Children is working to advance early childhood policies in several areas that align with the Alliance’s birth-through-eight policy framework:

Early Care and Education

Child Care

Child Care Workforce

Child and
Maternal Health

Family
Supports

Family Economic Seecurity

Early Childhood Infrastructure

Early Childhood Governance

Click here for more information on advocates’ policy agenda.

RECENT ADVOCACY SNAPSHOT:

Alliance Allies in South Dakota Launch Game-Changing Child Care Supply Maps

April 27, 2023

In another example of the Alliance Effect, Alliance allies Early Learner South Dakota (an initiative of the South Dakota AEYC) and the Committee for Economic Development have partnered to design a comprehensive set of statewide interactive early care and education program data maps to address South Dakota’s historical challenge of having very little publicly available child care supply and demand information.

NOTES:

¹Kids Count Data Center, Annie E. Casey Foundation, Children Ages 0 to 8 Below 200 Percent Poverty, January, 2024.

^{2 National Center for Children in Poverty, Children Ages 0 through 8 Below 200 Percent Poverty, October 2024, NCCP analysis of ACS 5-Year Estimates – Public Use Microdata Sample 2018-2022}

³National Association of State Budget Officers, Proposed and Enacted Budgets, FY 2025.

⁴Urban Institute, State Fiscal Briefs, June 2024.

⁵National Conference of State Legislatures, 2024 State & Legislative Partisan Composition, April 29, 2024.

⁶Ballotpedia, Ballot Measures by State, Kids Count Data Center, retrieved July, 2024.

⁷Alliance for Early Success, Multi-State Initiatives for Early Childhood Policy Advocacy, July, 2024.

⁸Alliance for Early Success, State-Wide Advocacy Highlights Survey, April-October, 2024; and 2024 Prenatal-to-3 Legislative Highlights, Prenatal-to-3 Policy Impact Center, July, 2024.