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.

2025 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

In March of 2025, South Dakota’s governor signed the state’s fiscal 2026 budget into law. The enacted budget calls for $7.30 billion in total spending in fiscal 2026, a 0.86 percent increase from the budgeted amount for fiscal 2025. Total general fund expenditures are $2.47 billion in fiscal 2026, a 0.3 percent increase from the revised fiscal 2025 level. Total general fund receipts are estimated to decline 6.8 percent from the revised fiscal 2025 level due to a decline in one-time receipts, while ongoing receipts are projected to increase 3.3 percent.³

Key Revenue Sources (after federal transfers):⁴

- - State Sales Taxes ($2,206 per capita)
  - Property Taxes ($1,708 per capita)

South Dakota does not levy a corporate income tax or individual income tax.

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.

Permanent State Funding Stream Dedicated to Early Childhood: No

South Dakota has no permanent state funding stream—such as lottery revenue, nicotine tax, or trust fund distributions—dedicated by statute to early childhood supports.9 (Examples of states with such funding in place can be found in the Alliance’s Revenue and Early Childhood Finance resource center.)

Political Alignment: Aligned Republican

During the 2025 session, the state’s Senate and House were both Republican controlled. The state’s Governor was also a Republican.⁶

Types of Ballot Measures Available:⁷Five

- 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:⁸

2025 Policy Progress:

Highlights from the state’s early childhood policy advocacy community include:⁹

It was a challenging year for early childhood policy advocates in South Dakota, with harmful changes to TANF and Medicaid enacted by the legislature.

Advocates, however, continue to make steady progress on early care and education. Advocates worked with policymakers to draft and introduce an amendment to HB 1132, an act to establish provisions for eligibility in the child care assistance program for certain child care employees. This bill would have provided a workforce child care benefit for parents working in licensed child care programs—a proven strategy to recruit and retain staff. The bill passed the house and the senate before its veto by the governor. The passage in both houses marked a first, and signals promising growing support for child care among policymakers.

Ongoing Grantee Areas of Advocacy:

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

K-3 Education

Preschool and Pre-K

Child and
Maternal Health

Infant and Child Health

Maternal Health

Family
Supports

Family Economic Security

Paid Family and Medical Leave

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.

²National 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 2026.

⁴Urban Institute, State Fiscal Briefs, April 2025.

⁵Alliance for Early Success, State Examples of Dedicated Funding Streams, 2025

⁶National Conference of State Legislatures, 2025 State & Legislative Partisan Composition, January 31, 2025.

⁷Ballotpedia, Ballot Measures by State, Kids Count Data Center, 2025.

⁸Alliance for Early Success, Multi-State Initiatives for Early Childhood Policy Advocacy, July, 2024.

⁹Alliance for Early Success, State-Wide Advocacy Highlights Survey, April-October, 2025.