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• House Democratic Leader Bernie Hunhoff of Yankton asked the committee to change Medicaid to provide prenatal care to pregnant women who are in the country illegally. The governor supported the proposal, but the committee rejected it on mostly party lines.
• The committee approved spending another $2 million to shore up a pension fund for workers at the former State Cement Plant, which the state sold more than a decade ago. Another $4 million from the treasury will be transferred to an economic development fund to replace incentive payments given to two businesses last year when the state had no incentive program to lure businesses to South Dakota.
• Other changes endorsed by the committee include $500,000 for grants to help schools upgrade their computer technology, $500,000 for equipment upgrades at technical institutes, and $159,000 to help Northern State University continue providing some courses online to school districts that lack science or math teachers.
• The Appropriations Committee also added $500,000 to the Legislature's own budget to pay for an increase in lawmakers' daily expense allowances and their travel to meetings outside the state. The extra money also might be used to hire additional legislative staff.
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Democrats face challenging Senate landscape
KEN THOMAS,Associated Press
THOMAS BEAUMONT,Associated Press
• WASHINGTON (AP) -- After a surprising string of victories last fall, Democrats now face a challenging terrain as they look to hold onto their Senate majority in 2014 and prevent Republicans from gaining full control of Congress during President Barack Obama's final two years. His party must defend a hefty 21 seats, including seven in largely rural states that the president lost last fall.
• The task of maintaining control of the Senate has grown more daunting in recent weeks, with four Senate Democrats announcing plans to retire. Sen. Carl Levin of Michigan disclosed his decision on Thursday, following Iowa Sen. Tom Harkin and West Virginia Sen. Jay Rockefeller. New Jersey Sen. Frank Lautenberg has also said he will retire, but Democrats will be heavily favored to hold the seat. A fifth Democratic retirement could come soon from South Dakota Sen. Tim Johnson, who has not yet announced his intentions.
• Democrats control 55 seats in the Senate, after November elections in which they did better than expected and gained two seats to pad their majority. That means Republicans would need to pick up six seats next year to take control for the first time since 2006.
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