Sen. Thune Agrees With SD Lawmakers

Air Date:01/20/2011

By Kealey Bultena

United States Senator John Thune says he wants South Dakota to have more control over federal dollars. Thune says he sees eye to eye with South Dakota Governor Dennis Daugaard and state lawmakers who are tired of federal funding that comes with strings attached. The Republican Senator says those dollars from Washington come to states with too many requirements.

"Any time you are a partner with the federal government on anything, you end up being the junior partner, because the federal government normally calls the shots. I think that the more preferable solution and alternate for a lot of our states, and this would apply to Medicaid as well, is to give the states more flexibility. Allow them to tailor and customize and write their own programs and to be able to meet the needs of their populations, rather than having this one-size-fits-all solution coming out of Washington," Thune says.

Thune says federal government mandates can make it difficult for states to deliver services to the people who need them.

Member stations download audio file here.

Get the Flash Player to see this video.