(Continued from page 17)

pleased Daugaard is focusing on enticing former state residents to return. He said the governor's speech was generally upbeat.
• "Things are actually really good in South Dakota, and he pointed that out," Rave said.
• Daugaard two years ago announced a wide-ranging plan to train and attract more workers for hard-to-fill jobs. One element of that plan involved paying a company to help South Dakota businesses recruit 1,000 workers, but it was recently scaled back because it only recruited about 100. The governor said he now wants to put more emphasis on the Dakota Roots program that has succeeded in getting more than 3,000 former South Dakotans to return home for jobs.
• The governor also said he will provide at least $5 million in grants to help school districts offer more career and technical education, which includes welding, machining and health care technology.
• Another $1.5 million will be provided in the next three years to support scholarships for students studying 20 high-need fields at the state's technical institutes. Scholarships of up to $5,000 for two-year programs will be provided to students who agree to stay and work in South Dakota for three years after graduation, Daugaard said.
• The governor said the state's bank franchise tax must be revised to reflect the complexity of modern financial operations. Banks pay the state tax based on the share of their receipts attributable to the state, and large interstate banks located in South Dakota often have some lending and credit-card processing services done in other states, he said.
• The proposed changes in the bank franchise tax will apply to nine large interstate banks, but not to community banks, Daugaard said.
• "We need to modernize our statute, but we also should maintain our tax revenues. I'll say that again -- maintain, not increase, our tax revenues," he said.
• The governor also noted that some cases recently demonstrated that the state Insurance Division lacks the legal authority to properly protect people from being hurt by insurance companies. He said the division now cannot fine insurance companies unless those companies agree to the penalties, and it cannot inform consumers if their insurance company has agreed to a remedial action.
• "I think you all know how much I believe in South Dakota's common sense regulatory environment. I don't like overregulation. There is, however, a vital role for government to play in protecting customers," Daugaard said.
•

(Continued on page 19)