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Medicaid program to cover the additional low-income people.  I am disappointed that we did not expand the coverage as it would have been a great help to the working poor, the elderly, and the disabled.  It also would have been helpful to our rural communities in terms of nursing homes, hospitals, and those who work in such facilities. 
• The issue that created the most media attention was the school sentinel bill.  Starting this fall a school board can vote to allow a staff member or members to go through training to carry a gun in their schools.  Any such decision by a school board can be referred to the voters.  Some questions remain regarding a school district's liability and if sentinels can go onto the property of other school districts.  I would encourage school boards to have discussions with their school lawyer, local law enforcement, teachers, and parents regarding their option to use sentinels.
• The General Funding Bill will provide a 3% increase to the per student allocation (PSA) and House Bill 1137 will appropriate an additional 1% of one-time dollars to education.  There will also be limited grant money, $500,000 each, for innovative technology projects and for school server upgrades.  I am disappointed that we did not do more for education as school funding is considerably less than what the PSA was five years ago and our schools are suffering with many having had to make severe cuts to programs and/or having to ask the local voters for additional funds.   
• Nursing homes and other facilities that rely heavily on Medicaid will receive the standard 3% and 1% one-time money increases.  Community Service Providers will receive the same percentage increases.  Strong arguments were presented for more money, but House Appropriations Chair Fred Romkema said lawmakers had to make tough votes to balance the budget.  A little money, 1.7 million, was left to roll into the state's budget reserve which has grown to 135 million.  The budget reserve safety net is 11.2% of our general fund revenues which reflects a conservative budget for the State of South Dakota.
• For the most part, tax payers were protected in the 2013 Session.  However, Senate Bill 15 will raise the property levy for everyone by $15.20 per $100,000 of valuation to cover cost increases in special education funding.  Special Education funding was pared back two years ago and now property taxes rather than state general revenue will be used for inflationary increases.  I am very concerned about the trend that we have seen the past few years of shifting the tax burden to local taxpayers rather than the state taking care of their share.  This trend is seen across the state as schools have had to opt out and make drastic cuts to survive the difficult cuts we have seen.  As I said earlier we are behind the state funding levels of five years ago.  No other area in the budget has been cut as severely as aid to educa

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