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• SD Legislature OKs funding shift for veterans home
• PIERRE, S.D. (AP) -- The Senate has granted final legislative approval for a funding shift to cover the $41.3 million construction on the state veteran's home in Hot Springs.
• Gov. Dennis Daugaard proposed the change in funding. The bill goes next to him for final approval.
• A $23.6 million federal grant and $1.3 million state appropriation from last year will fund much of the project.
• The state had planned to issue bonds to pay the remaining share. But the bill lays out extra one-time revenue to allow the state to pay $16.4 million in cash.
• Senators voted 33-1 to pass the measure.
• The funding covers design, construction and equipping of a new facility. The campus dates back to 1889.
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Lawmaker: South Dakota needs more gambling info
NORA HERTEL, Associated Press
• PIERRE, S.D. (AP) -- South Dakota lottery officials are proposing the state's first comprehensive study on gambling addiction in more than 15 years, but a legislator expressed suspicion that the review would be coming from an agency that stands to benefit by downplaying the harmful effects.
• Rep. Scott Craig, R-Rapid City, has been one of the more vocal opponents of a push to expand where and how South Dakota residents can gamble. Although he opposes those proposals, he told The Associated Press Tuesday that lawmakers should first learn more about the social and financial costs of addiction.
• The last study on gambling in the state was done in 1998, said Norman Lingle, executive director of the South Dakota Lottery.
• But with 9 cents of every lotto dollar going back into operations costs, letting the agency conduct the study would be like "the fox guarding the henhouse," Craig said. The Lottery and its governing Commission operate under the State Department of Revenue.
• During a floor debate Monday over whether to expand the number of video lottery machines allowed in licensed establishments, Craig urged colleagues to consider an independent study instead.
• "I don't see it as a study with any predetermined outcome." Craig said. "If it arrives at truthful outcomes then those can be used for future legislation."
• That bill failed Monday, as did another in February to increase bet limits on the machines. Another proposal to increase the hotel tax in Deadwood to support mar (Continued on page 24)
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