Joshua Haiar/South Dakota Searchlight
BROOKINGS — South Dakota Gov. Larry Rhoden announced state economic development grants in two more communities Tuesday, drawing criticism from opponents in the race for governor who equated the announcements to campaigning.
Rhoden awarded $900,000 to Dakota BioWorx in Brookings, a bioprocessing pilot facility in South Dakota State University’s Research Park, and $500,000 to the city of Watertown for infrastructure improvements at Calvin Industrial Park.
The news comes shortly after Rhoden announced a $1 million grant to support two new business parks in Aberdeen, the hometown of Toby Doeden, one of Rhoden’s opponents for next year’s Republican nomination for governor.
Doeden said the timing and tone of the grant announcements make them look more like campaigning than governing. Doeden alleged that Rhoden “uses taxpayer money the same way career politicians have been using taxpayer dollars for decades — largely for his own benefit.”
“His latest attempt to buy votes with minuscule handouts to communities he has otherwise entirely ignored will prove to be too little too late in the eyes of the voters,” Doeden said.
Rhoden responded to the criticism during the event in Brookings by saying, “I am doing my job.”
“We’re in a campaign, but life goes on,” Rhoden said. “And I continue to be governor through this campaign, so we’re going to continue to do our jobs and do public announcements like this. I think we owe it to the public to let them know what we’re doing as a state.”
The source of the grants is the Future Fund, a pool of money that was created in 1987 at the request of then-Gov. George Mickelson. It was placed under the control of the governor, with the intent of enabling the state’s chief executive to respond quickly when economic opportunities arise.
State law mandates only that the fund be used “for purposes related to research and economic development for the state.” The money comes from South Dakota employers, who pay a fee to the Future Fund when they submit payroll taxes to the unemployment benefits program.
Rhoden’s other two competitors in the June 2026 primary election also criticized his recent Future Fund announcements.
U.S. Rep. Dusty Johnson, R-South Dakota, said Future Fund grants are an important tool for helping South Dakota’s economy; however, he said, “they aren’t meant to help someone’s campaign.”
“Even if these projects have merit, taxpayers are right to worry when the announcements start looking like campaign rallies,” Johnson said.
State Speaker of the House Jon Hansen, R-Dell Rapids, said “it’s obvious that the Future Fund has been used by governors for political favor.”
“At this point, the Future Fund isn’t funding South Dakota’s future, it’s funding the governor’s political future,” Hansen said.
Rhoden’s predecessor, Kristi Noem, sparked controversy and bipartisan lawmaker criticism with several uses of the Future Fund, including a fireworks show at Mount Rushmore, a Rapid City-area shooting range that legislators refused to pay for, a Governor’s Cup rodeo in Sioux Falls, and a workforce recruitment campaign that Noem starred in.
Noem resigned as governor in January to run the federal Department of Homeland Security, elevating Rhoden to governor. Publicly available information indicates that Future Fund awards and approvals since then have totaled at least $21 million, including some commitments made by the Noem administration before she left.
Eight lawmakers recently filed a bill that would take some control of the fund away from the governor. The bill would require each Future Fund grant to be approved by a majority of the Board of Economic Development, which is appointed by the governor and already has oversight of other economic development programs.
The current, unobligated Future Fund cash balance is $20 million, according to the Governor’s Office of Economic Development. The state budget gives Rhoden the authority to spend $7 million more from the Future Fund this fiscal year, which ends June 30. South Dakota’s primary election is June 2.