Post by libby on Jan 23, 2016 21:51:37 GMT -6
Funding local schools and counties dominated the 90 minutes Saturday morning as about 25 people faced Pierre's lawmaker trio at a “Cracker Barrel” forum in the Chamber of Commerce’s meeting room.
State Reps. Mary Duvall and Tim Rounds and state Sen. Jeff Monroe – who arrived a half-hour late – said they aren't so sure about Gov. Dennis Daugaard’s suggestion to increase the state sales tax by a half-penny to fund an estimated $75 million jack in funding for teacher’s pay.
The governor’s “Blue Ribbon Task Force,” last year decided such an increase in new state revenues, most likely from such a sales tax increase, was needed to raise the average teacher’s salary in the state from about $40,000 - lowest among states - to about $48,000 a year.
The half-penny increase, if approved by lawmakers in the Republican-dominated legislature, would be the first increase in the state’s 4-cents sales tax in four decades.
See more: www.capjournal.com/news/pierre-citizens-grill-lawmakers-on-teacher-pay-county-funding/article_96dac5fa-c242-11e5-908e-67e172a07d15.html
State Reps. Mary Duvall and Tim Rounds and state Sen. Jeff Monroe – who arrived a half-hour late – said they aren't so sure about Gov. Dennis Daugaard’s suggestion to increase the state sales tax by a half-penny to fund an estimated $75 million jack in funding for teacher’s pay.
The governor’s “Blue Ribbon Task Force,” last year decided such an increase in new state revenues, most likely from such a sales tax increase, was needed to raise the average teacher’s salary in the state from about $40,000 - lowest among states - to about $48,000 a year.
The half-penny increase, if approved by lawmakers in the Republican-dominated legislature, would be the first increase in the state’s 4-cents sales tax in four decades.
See more: www.capjournal.com/news/pierre-citizens-grill-lawmakers-on-teacher-pay-county-funding/article_96dac5fa-c242-11e5-908e-67e172a07d15.html