Appropriate money for the ordinary expenses of the legislative, judicial, and executive departments of the state, the current expenses of state institutions, interest on the public debt, and common schools.
SB 220 is South Dakota’s annual general appropriations bill for fiscal year 2026. It funds the ordinary operating expenses of the legislative, judicial, and executive branches, state institutions, common schools, and interest on the public debt. The bill sets agency-level appropriations and expenditure authority across state government, including major funding for education, health and human services, transportation, corrections, public safety, higher education, and a wide range of boards, commissions, and special funds.
The bill also includes several transfers to the general fund from dedicated accounts, including the state highway fund, game, fish and parks funds, the motor vehicle fund, the veterans home operating fund, the health care trust fund, and the education enhancement trust fund. These transfers help finance general operations and specific priorities such as state aid to education, medical services, radio communications operations, and governor’s office operations. In addition to direct appropriations, the bill contains informational line items for programs and entities whose spending is shown for transparency but not necessarily appropriated in the same way as standard operating budgets.
SB 220 establishes the state’s spending authority for FY2026 and is the primary vehicle through which South Dakota funds core government operations and public services. It affects a broad range of statutes and budgetary structures by authorizing expenditures from the general fund, federal funds, and other funds, and by directing transfers from special revenue and trust funds into the general fund. The bill also maintains funding for education aid, Medicaid-related medical services, public safety, corrections, transportation infrastructure, higher education, and numerous licensing and regulatory boards.
The available voting history suggests broad support for the bill. It advanced out of committee and passed the Senate and House with comfortable margins, though not unanimously in the House. No committee transcript is provided, so there is no recorded debate to indicate major public controversy in the materials supplied. Overall, the bill appears to have been treated as a routine but important must-pass appropriations measure.
The main points of potential contention are the size and distribution of appropriations, especially the large shares devoted to education, social services, transportation, and higher education, as well as the use of transfers from dedicated funds to support general fund obligations. Such transfers can draw scrutiny because they redirect money from earmarked accounts to broader state needs. The House vote of 59-11 indicates some opposition, but the record provided does not identify specific objections or sponsors of dissent.