Governor Kristi Noem delivers her State of the State speech at the Capitol in Pierre on Jan. 9, 2024. (Joshua Haiar/South Dakota Searchlight)
Joshua Haiar/South Dakota Searchlight
PIERRE — Governor Kristi Noem recounted her administration’s achievements while offering few new proposals Tuesday during her 2024 State of the State address at the Capitol.
Noem organized the speech as a “Top Ten List of things we are doing here in South Dakota to ensure that Freedom Works Here.” The list highlighted her efforts to support gun rights, hunting, agriculture and other priorities.
Noem did introduce some policy ideas. She said her Department of Labor & Regulation is bringing legislation to provide “second-chance license opportunities.”
“This bill creates a set of standards to consider criminal histories and any possible rehabilitation by applicants and licensees,” Noem said. “We need more plumbers. We need more electricians, more welders, and an unrelated criminal past shouldn’t stop qualified applicants from filling these roles.”
Noem said the state should counteract the spread of illicit fentanyl use and the drug xylazine, which she said is known as the “zombie” drug. She’s working with Attorney General Mary Jackley on legislation to schedule xylazine as a controlled substance, she said.
Referencing the war between Israel and Hamas, Noem said she’s “proud to support legislation this year to define antisemitism to make it easier to prove when conduct is motivated by antisemitism.”
Last year, legislators passed Noem’s proposal to make tuition free for South Dakota National Guard soldiers at state universities. Tuesday, she asked legislators to “extend that opportunity to soldiers and airmen who choose to go to private colleges here in South Dakota.”
On several topics, Noem referenced problems and called for solutions without specifically proposing anything.
She expressed concern over foreign adversaries buying agricultural land and said that after legislators rejected her bill on the issue last year, “we have continued to discuss solutions.”
Noem also stressed the need to adequately compensate teachers, acknowledging that teacher salaries have not kept pace with increased state education funding.
“So let’s do it,” she said about paying teachers more. She did not propose a way to accomplish that. Last month during her budget address, she proposed a 4% increase in general state aid to education.
The speech also included praise for some South Dakotans. Noem presented her Governor’s Award for Heroism to Ed Konechne with Kimball Ambulance Service, and Dr. Katie DeJong and nurse Casie Hunter, who are on the Avel eCare telemedicine team, for saving the life of a rancher who was attacked by a buffalo. That award was also an opportunity for Noem to highlight the state’s investments in emergency medical services, particularly in rural areas.
Noem said that later this week, she will declare 2024 as the “Freedom for Life Year,” emphasizing support for mothers and children, both before and after birth, through various health and support programs.
“We care about the lives of our mothers and children,” Noem said. “We have dedicated resources and time. But we can still do more to prevent the rising death rates of South Dakota moms and babies, particularly among Native Americans living on tribal lands.”
Noem reviewed existing efforts on that topic, including one-on-one nursing services offered through the Bright Start program.
Lastly, Noem celebrated South Dakota’s low unemployment and efforts to attract new residents and professionals to the state, focusing on her Freedom Works Here campaign to boost workforce recruitment, with ads starring Noem in the roles of plumbers, welders and other high-demand jobs. That came one day after the Legislature’s Executive Board scrutinized the Noem administration’s method of selecting a politically connected Ohio company to carry out the campaign.
“This is indisputably the most impactful workforce campaign in South Dakota’s history,” Noem said.
Lawmakers respond
Democrats noted a lack of new initiatives in the speech. Sen. Shawn Bordeaux, D-Mission, said he went into the speech expecting Noem to use platitudes throughout, “but I took note and she said ‘freedom’ 36 times.” (The prepared text of the speech, issued by Noem’s office, actually contained more than 40 instances of “Freedom,” all with a capital “F.”)
“We all love freedom,” Bordeaux said. “She used to talk about her ideas.”
Rep. Kameron Nelson, D-Sioux Falls, criticized Noem’s Freedom Works Here campaign.
“The Freedom Works Here campaign is about the governor, not South Dakotans,” Nelson said. “That campaign could be told through actual South Dakotans. Paying taxes for her to play dress-up is an insult to many of those professionals.”
Rep. Aaron Aylward, R-Harrisburg, chairs the South Dakota Freedom Caucus. He was happy to hear Noem celebrate the Second Amendment and pro-life policies but also criticized the Freedom Works Here campaign.
“The millions that went to that could have been put toward a tax cut,” Aylward said.
The Noem administration has said the campaign has cost at least $6.5 million.
Sen. Jean Hunhoff, R-Yankton, appreciated the speech’s novel approach.
“When we look at freedoms, this is how it works in South Dakota,” she said. “The governor is challenging us to come up with our ideas to strengthen that, and we’re excited to jump in.”
Rep. Tony Venhuizen, R-Sioux Falls, previously served as Noem’s chief of staff. He wants to learn more about some of the ideas the governor didn’t flesh out in her speech.
“Very interested in what she was saying about being pro-life and supporting young mothers,” he said.
Also Tuesday, Noem announced the merging of the Bureau of Human Resources and the Bureau of Administration, which she said would streamline state government.
Noem’s speech marked the beginning of the annual legislative session, which lasts until March.