(Continued from page 8)

ally a net importer of college freshmen. 2,288 freshmen from other states came to SD compared to 1,458 of our students going out-of-state.  That's a net gain to SD of 830 students!  73% of SD resident students remain in state after college to work or pursue additional education. 32% of out-of-state students also stay in the state following graduation. Quality schools make for a quality workforce and chances are, if you get them to start in SD, they will stay in SD!
• While the default rate of our students paying back their debt is lower than the national average, the amount of debt they carry is too high. Our students' average indebtedness is $23,000. That average debt has remained constant over recent years and 76% of our students carry debt. This is second highest percentage carrying debt among all states. Every other state already has a needs-based scholarship for post-secondary, and it's time for SD to follow suit.  Let's hope that this session we'll finally see it happen.
• SD Agriculture
• Most South Dakotans know the importance of agriculture to our SD economy, but it doesn't hurt to review the facts.
• Ag is SD's #1 industry with a $20.9 billion dollar economic impact. In 2012, no state in the country derived a larger percentage of its Gross Domestic Product from agriculture than SD. We actually get 10.9% of our GDP from Agriculture. The SD Department of Agriculture works to promote and develop agriculture as well as manage divisions within the department such as conservation and forestry, wildland fires, and the State Fair.
• The SD Department of Ag receives a total of $16.6 million for operations ($5.7 million of its funding from the federal government; $3.8 million from the State General Fund; and $6.7 million from Other Sources). These other sources are primarily check off dollars for commodity education and promotion programs. Each and every producer in South Dakota who pays a check off fee contributes to the work of promoting our agriculture commodities which in turn continues to fuel economic growth in our state.
• Economic Development
• I am encouraged by the numerous discussions on economic development that are happening in the 2013 session, especially because accountability and transparency are part of the agenda.
• There are parallels between economic development reforms and the corrections reforms that have been proposed by Governor Dennis Daugaard. Evidence-based best practices laid the foundation for the criminal justice initiative, and they should provide the foundation for our economic development policies, too.
• The Pew Foundation has assisted South Dakota in the corrections reforms. Pew

(Continued on page 10)