Governor on Education Proposals
Air Date:02/10/2011
By Jenifer Jones
Governor Dennis Daugaard says he doesn't support using additional income from trust funds to help pay for education. The state legislature is considering a bill that uses money from the education enhancement fund. He says trust funds are designed to retain the principle amount, and keep enough earnings to offset inflation.
"To do otherwise, it's sort of like when you're cold in the winter and you go outside and chop some limbs off the apple tree to burn in the fireplace, and then the next spring you're going to have fewer apples," Daugaard says. "And that's what would happen if we spent more of the earnings and didn't allow some of the earnings to build overtime the principle value of the fund and thus the earnings that the increased principle would generate."
Daugaard says he would veto Senate Bill 126. But he says he would consider a proposal that extends capitol outlay flexibility for schools. He would also consider a bill that lets school districts keep property taxes at their current level.
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