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He supports a legislative study committee's proposal to boost school aid by 3.8 percent to restore funding per student to where it was before budget cuts in 2011.
• "I think that's affordable and probably the best we can do," Hunhoff said.
• States also have the option under the national health care overhaul to expand Medicaid, the state-federal program that pays the medical bills of poor people. An expansion in South Dakota would cover an additional 48,000 people, but Daugaard has recommended against it because he doubts the federal government can meet its pledge to pay most of the cost.
• Hunhoff said many lawmakers will try to expand Medicaid despite the governor's opposition. Legislators who are undecided on the issue need to meet hardworking people who will have no health insurance unless Medicaid is expanded, he said.
• "We need to put faces to those statistics. I think that will make all the difference," Hunhoff said.
• Rep. Steve Hickey, R-Sioux Falls, has said he will seek to repeal the death penalty in South Dakota, a move Hunhoff said will get more support than people originally expected.
• In addition, some lawmakers will seek to scrap or limit the Common Core standards being used in the state's K-12 schools. The math and English standards, adopted by nearly all states, were devised by the National Governors Association and chief education officers from states to raise expectations and make sure students nationwide are learning skills in the same grades. Opponents argue the standards could weaken education.
• Lust said lawmakers likely will discuss whether changes need to be made in the way the Legislature operates. A study by the National Conference of State Legislatures recommended some changes after noting some lawmakers were dissatisfied with staff performance in writing bills.
• One proposal might change the structure of the Legislature's Executive Board, a panel that handles legislative management issues during the months the Legislature is not in session.
• Hunhoff said minority Democrats are open to proposed changes in legislative operations, but the best way to improve the Legislature would be for majority Republicans to vote independently of the governor's wishes.
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• SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (AP) -- The U.S. Department of Agriculture says South Dakota's inventory of all hogs and pigs on Dec. 1 is up 1 percent from the same time

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