SENATOR JOHN THUNE DISCUSSES MEDICAID, TOWN HALLS, AND TARIFFS DURING VISIT WITH WATERTWON ROTARY

WATERTOWN, S.D. (Makenzie Huber / South Dakota Searchlight) – The scene outside Thursday’s Watertown Rotary luncheon turned raucous in the presence of South Dakota’s senior U.S. senator.

Not long after the event, staffers urged Republican U.S. Senate Majority Leader John Thune into a black sedan as protesters outside Watertown’s Elks Lodge yelled “do your job.”

Before he left, though, Thune said he didn’t take issue with the people doing the yelling.

“We hear in our office on a fairly regular basis from people across the state on sort of all sides of the issues. Clearly these protesters are very anti-Trump policy, and so they have every right to make their voices heard,” Thune said. “We welcome that.”

The protesters want Thune to oppose several of the president’s efforts, and for him to hold public town halls.

The noon event where Thune took questions was open to Rotary Club members and media, not the general public. Several protesters said they’d reached out to Thune’s office through phone or email in recent months without a response.

“Our senator doesn’t have the guts to stand up to what Trump is doing,” said Kay Solberg, an organizer who said she plans to hold another protest in Watertown this weekend.

It was the second gathering of displeased citizens to greet Thune in as many days. More than 100 people protested outside a Thune event in Rapid City Wednesday.

Thune said he doesn’t see how a public town hall “accomplishes anything that we don’t accomplish on a daily basis.” He maintains that he’s “probably one of the most accessible politicians in South Dakota.”

That’s why Thune was behind schedule on Thursday, his staff said. He’d taken two too many questions from Watertown Rotarians, held a second press conference that wasn’t scheduled, and stopped to shake hands again and again with Watertown residents who had lingering questions and concerns.

Wednesday marked Thune’s third event in the state this week during Congress’ April recess, following the Pennington County Republican Women’s meeting in Rapid City and an appearance at Northern State University in Aberdeen on Tuesday. He’s also spent hours visiting with the public at the state basketball tournament in Aberdeen in March, he said.

“If people have questions, we’re available on a regular basis,” Thune said.

Thune answered several questions during the Rotary meeting, addressing the uncertainty regarding foreign trade, immigration and cuts to entitlement programs.

Thune encourages patience on tariffs

Thune has long been a critic of tariffs and supportive of free trade deals, but said South Dakotans should offer grace to Trump and his shifting tariff policy “to see what kind of deals he can strike.”

At a town hall earlier this week, Augustana Economics Professor Reynold Nesiba said tariffs risk relationships with other countries. U.S. beef exports to China were halted, the former Democratic state lawmaker said, allowing Australia to fill the gap. The same can happen with China’s soybean imports, Nesiba said, shifting from the United States to Brazil.

Trump’s intention, Thune said Wednesday, is to negotiate better trade deals and create a “more level playing field,” especially regarding China’s trade practices. He said he’s heard support from agricultural producers in the state on the plan.

America should explore partnerships with other countries in the meantime, Thune said. He supported the Trans-Pacific Partnership during the Obama administration, which would have opened up markets in countries like Japan and South Korea.

“We have a lot of national security interests in the region, and they’re allies of ours and we can use that to isolate China,” Thune said. “What you don’t want is these countries running into China’s orbit.”

If Trump’s trade policies are “used in a way that gets a trilateral deal in place, for example with Japan and South Korea, that would be a win.”

Medicaid’s role in budget reconciliation

Republican U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson’s plan to pass a budget reconciliation bill by Memorial Day is “certainly aspirational,” Thune said.

Since Republicans control the House and Senate, they can unlock the reconciliation process to fast-track major spending legislation and bypass the Senate’s 60-vote filibuster role with a simple majority.

Thune expects to iron out differences between budget resolutions from the House and Senate and send the finished product to Trump’s desk “hopefully by the middle of summer to create some economic certainty.”

Congress needs to “get it done right,” Thune said.

“Whatever amount of time that takes, we’re going to do the right thing,” he said.

Republicans hope to leverage the process to extend and expand expiring tax cuts, increase border security and defense spending and cut federal spending throughout the budget.

Medicaid is on the chopping block, Thune said. The House budget envisions a Medicaid cut of $880 million over a 10 year period, although the House Energy and Commerce Committee would have to hammer out how to save the money.

Medicaid is a federal-state health insurance program for people with low income. Medicaid spending is projected to cost $7.4 trillion over the next decade.

Thune proposed Medicaid work requirements rather than cutting the program as a way to “achieve a significant level of savings that would strengthen the program and not harm people who are beneficiaries.”

The change would generate more than $100 billion in savings over a decade, he said.

South Dakota voters approved a constitutional amendment during the 2024 general election to allow the state to implement Medicaid work requirements if the federal government allows them.

Thune says he’s ‘not worried’ about legal status of immigrants

Rotarian Don Goldhorn said he appreciated Thune’s appearance, but said some responses left him disgruntled.

Goldhorn and his wife sponsored a work visa for a Ukrainian family, he said, helping them adjust to life in the United States during Russia’s ongoing war with Ukraine. The two-year work visa will end in September, and Goldman is concerned the family won’t receive an extension and be forced to return to their besieged home country.

“If they came here legally into this country,” Thune said, “and they’re law-abiding citizens here, I’m not worried.”

Other Rotarians received similar responses from Thune about the detention of Pro-Palestine protesters because of allegedly antisemitic behavior.

“I’m not satisfied,” Goldhorn told South Dakota Searchlight, “and it’s nothing personal against Sen. Thune. I went to get some specific answers, and I didn’t feel like there were specific answers.”

Driving past protesters to enter the building before the luncheon began, though, Goldhorn wondered if a town hall would accomplish what the protesters might hope it would.

Thune could speak directly to all constituents, he said, and they could raise their concerns or dissatisfaction to him. But the Rotarian worries that larger, more public town halls could turn from peaceful to confrontational.

 

MILLIONS SPENT TO KEEP MANURE OUT OF THE BIG SIOUX AND IT’S PAYING OFF

SIOUX FALLS. S.D. (Joshua Haiar / South Dakota Searchlight) – Keeping cattle waste out of the river that runs through the state’s largest city will cost about $11 million over the next five years, and the city will pay more than half the price.

One of the designers of the water quality program that money pays for, however, told an audience in Sioux Falls that past investments have paid off.

The Big Sioux River is polluted with dissolved soils, agricultural chemicals and livestock waste beyond levels safe for uses like fishing and swimming. City, federal and state money has been used for a little over a decade to pay landowners to leave strips of tallgrass or other vegetation in the land along the banks of a river or a tributary. The root systems in those buffer strips catch and filter out pollutants before they enter the water, and also prevent erosion.

During Thursday’s Big Sioux Stewardship Summit, program developer Barry Berg,  said his team and partners have enrolled over 100 stream miles into their buffer strip program since its inception.

“We finally reached the century mark with the program,” he said during a morning presentation.

The enrolled areas now total more than 4,000 acres, with an additional 250 to 300 slated for enrollment this spring, Berg said.

Under the primary model of the program, livestock are blocked from bank access from April through September. Farmers are allowed to cut the grass for hay after June 15. The idea is to keep cattle out of streams during hot summer months when they’re most likely to wade in and defecate, spiking E. coli levels.

Berg said advancing the program is an arduous process that involves enrolling landowners in conservation agreements, coordinating federal and state funding streams, and adapting grazing and haying practices to better protect streambanks and riparian vegetation.

A focal point of the effort is Skunk Creek, which flows about 70 miles from Brant Lake into the Big Sioux River near Sioux Falls. Skunk Creek now contributes over half of the water that flows over the falls at Falls Park and through the city, due to a diversion upstream on the Big Sioux near the airport.

Skunk Creek historically carries a lot of E. coli into the river. But today, he said 44% of its banks in the program’s footprint and 48% of adjacent pastureland acres have been enrolled. And that’s making a big difference, he said. It’s possible, he said, for the state’s integrated water quality report to take Skunk Creek off its list of impaired water bodies if the program keeps its momentum.

“Back in 2013 and 2014, we had samples on Skunk Creek with 50 to 70% exceeding standards,” for permissible E. coli and suspended solids, he said. “Now we’re down around 10 to 11% exceeding. If we get down below 10 and hold that for two years in the integrated report, they’re gonna say, ‘Hey, we’re passing. Skunk Creek is no longer impaired.’”

For Skunk Creek, “no longer impaired” would mean its waters would be safe for non-immersion recreational activities like kayaking or canoeing. Because it feeds the Big Sioux, that would move the river’s water quality within city limits closer to what advocates want: a swimmable river.

Participating farmers see financial benefits, Berg added. He described working with one landowner to calculate returns on haying the buffer land. The landowner made more through incentive payments and hay than he would have by planting corn or soybeans.

When the last five-year phase of the project wraps up this summer, the water quality investments will have supported 16 watering stations, over 4,000 feet of fencing, 12,000 feet of pipe, and four barns, built with manure-trapping pits beneath them. Additionally, the final phase also saw over 1,000 acres of cover crop planted and 900 more acres enrolled in the buffer program.

The next five years will continue that work, with $11 million already earmarked. That includes about $5.8 million from Sioux Falls, $3.2 million in federal grants and funding, $1.4 million in local cash and donations, $465,000 from Dell Rapids, and $263,000 from the East Dakota Water Development District.

Berg said his long-term goal is to enroll 75% of Skunk Creek’s streambanks.

“If we can get there, I believe we’ll see it delisted for E. coli,” he said. “We’re already close.”

Travis Entenmann, director of Friends of the Big Sioux River, said the effort is not only about compliance and conservation, but the city’s future. A clean river, he said, is one that people can use.

“It’s a huge opportunity for us for tourism,” he said. “The idea that it could be 90 degrees outside and there’s not families recreating in the river; it is kind of sad. And we should want better.”

A voluntary, incentive-based approach is how the state primarily tries to tackle the issue of E. Coli contamination in its waters, but he said more could be done.

“The three things that I believe will clean our river are regulation, enforcement of regulation, and land use change,” he later said.

 

THE SOUTH DAKOTA RURAL/URBAN SPLIT ECONOMY

PIERRE, S.D. (Todd Epp / Northern Plains News) – Your wallet, your job, and your community are all feeling the pinch of South Dakota’s economic stagnation, even as some cities boom.

It’s a tale of two economies that’s reshaping daily life across the state.

According to U.S. Census Bureau data reported by the United States Federal Reserve, the state’s population reached 924,669 as of July 1, 2024, reflecting a 4.3 percent increase since April 1, 2020.

Despite this population growth, South Dakota’s economy has stagnated. The U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis reports that real gross domestic product showed no growth in the fourth quarter of 2024. This places South Dakota as one of only two states without economic growth during that period, ranking 48th nationally in economic growth compared to the national average of 2.8 percent.

Despite economic data showing stagnation, South Dakota Gov. Larry Rhoden maintains a positive outlook.

“South Dakota continues to lead the nation in economic growth, and I’m committed to ensuring our state remains Open for Opportunity,” Rhoden said in an April 10 Governor’s Office of Economic Development press release.

During his March 2025 “Open for Opportunity Tour,” Rhoden expressed, “I am very high on South Dakota… some of the businessmen we met today that had moved here from other states… are just giddy about South Dakota.” This contrasts with the Bureau of Finance and Management’s February 2025 report acknowledging “a pretty significant downturn in our budget this year” requiring “tough decisions.”

Despite Rhoden’s optimism, South Dakota’s economic stagnation contrasts sharply with neighboring states. According to the bureau, Wyoming’s economy grew by 3.8 percent, Montana’s by 2.7 percent, and North Dakota’s by 2.1 percent in the same quarter. Minnesota exceeded the national average with 2.9 percent growth, while Nebraska and Iowa saw increases of 2.0 percent and 1.7 percent, respectively.

Urban Growth vs. Rural Challenges

Despite this population growth, South Dakota’s economy has stagnated. Lincoln County, home to Harrisburg and Tea, is the fastest growing county in South Dakota and the third largest in population increase and new housing units. This growth is primarily driven by the southward expansion of Sioux Falls.

While urban areas flourish, data from the U.S. Census Bureau shows that half of South Dakota’s counties continue to lose residents, creating a widening economic divide across the state.

Sioux Falls Mayor Paul TenHaken emphasized the importance of planning for this growth in a recent publication by the Sioux Falls Chamber of Commerce.

“The success of our community is a direct result of the transformational initiatives championed by past leaders,” he wrote. “Sioux Falls Tomorrow 4 provides a roadmap for continued growth and progress in our city.”

Census data shows Harrisburg’s population surged by 37.8 percent between July 1, 2020, and July 1, 2023, making it the fastest-growing South Dakota city with over 5,000 residents. Nearby Tea grew by 29.9 percent during the same period.

Joe Kirby, a Sioux Falls community leader, noted in a December 2024 blog post that “Strategic and thoughtful growth has been essential to Sioux Falls’ success,” highlighting the importance of planning for inevitable development.

Labor Market Dynamics

South Dakota continues to face significant workforce challenges. According to the South Dakota Department of Labor and Regulation, as of February 2025, the state’s unemployment rate stood at just 1.9 percent, with only 9,200 persons unemployed. The labor force totaled 492,200 workers, an increase from 484,800 in February 2024.

The department’s March 2025 labor market report reveals a stark imbalance: approximately 33,000 open jobs but only 10,000 unemployed people statewide. This gap costs businesses productivity and limits economic growth, especially in rural areas already facing population decline.

The tight labor market shows in the latest employment data from the department. Private Education and Health Services increased by 2,500 workers (3.2 percent) over the year, with Health Care and Social Assistance accounting for most of this growth by adding 2,700 workers (3.9 percent). Construction added 1,800 workers (7.1 percent), while Professional and Business Services rose by 1,400 workers (3.9 percent).

Childcare shortages compound the problem, costing the state an estimated $329 million annually in lost economic activity, according to a 2024 report from the South Dakota Department of Social Services.

Economic Indicators

According to U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis data, despite GDP stagnation, personal income in South Dakota increased by 4.6 percent in the fourth quarter of 2024. This growth rate placed South Dakota in the middle range of states nationwide.

The bureau reports that South Dakota’s real GDP reached $57.5 billion in 2024, a minimal 0.4 percent increase from $57.3 billion in 2023. This growth rate significantly trails the national average of 2.8 percent.

Agriculture’s Economic Impact

Agriculture remains fundamental to South Dakota’s economy. A 2021 Economic Contribution Study from the South Dakota Department of Agriculture and Natural Resources found that agriculture, forestry, and related industries contributed $11.7 billion in total value added to the state’s economy and supported 129,753 jobs.

The Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago, which includes South Dakota in its district, reported in its July 2024 Beige Book that “economic activity in the Seventh District increased slightly overall,” but noted that “prospects for 2024 farm income declined some,” a concerning trend for South Dakota’s agricultural sector.

Research and Innovation Initiatives

South Dakota is investing in research and innovation to address economic challenges. In April 2025, the National Science Foundation awarded SD EPSCoR and the South Dakota Board of Regents a five-year $20 million Research Infrastructure Improvement grant. The project involves six state universities, three tribal colleges, two private universities, and the Governor’s Office of Economic Development.

Why This Matters

These economic patterns directly affect South Dakota residents through job opportunities, housing markets, tax bases for public services, and overall community vitality. The contrasting growth between urban centers like Harrisburg and the statewide economic stagnation creates disparate experiences for residents depending on their location.

Residents of rapidly growing communities like Harrisburg and Tea are experiencing increasing housing demand and infrastructure needs, while many rural areas face continued population decline and economic challenges. The persistent workforce shortage affects businesses statewide, potentially impacting service delivery and economic expansion.

Understanding these economic trends helps residents, businesses, and policymakers make more informed decisions for South Dakota’s future.