South Dakota Board of Regents lays out budget, legislative priorities for 2024 session
The South Dakota Board of Regents laid out its legislative priorities for the 2024 legislative session on Thursday.
The board announced three bills that it would like to see make it through the House and the Senate, as well as its position on what the Governor prioritized in her budget address earlier in December and how her request would impact the 2025 fiscal year budget.
The bills include allowing easement proceeds at Black Hills State University-Rapid City to benefit the West River Health Sciences Center; designing and constructing a seasonal dome at Dakota State University’s Trojan Field; and more than $6 million in one-time funding to start a Center for Quantum Information Science and Technology at four colleges.
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The dome would be built with an estimated $7 million in donated funds and would allow for increased functionality and extended use by DSU students, athletes and teams.
Gov. Kristi Noem proposed the Center for Quantum Information Science and Technology at DSU, the University of South Dakota, South Dakota State University and South Dakota Mines in her budget address and spoke about how “tech research (is) South Dakota’s next big industry.”
Quantum computing, Noem said, uses the physical properties of subatomic particles to hold a charge and can do exponentially more than regular computers can.
“Imagine a task that would take regular computers 20 years to accomplish – quantum computing could handle that task in a matter of seconds,” Noem said in her budget address. “This Center will combine numerous fields to make tremendous advancements in cybersecurity, agriculture, healthcare, and more. South Dakota will be a leader in emerging technology. This is our fastest growing industry, and South Dakota is making it a reality.”
The SDBOR said the Center will utilize the expertise in physics, mathematics and computer science found at DSU, SDSU, USD and Mines to “advance in the groundbreaking area of quantum computing, which enables the resolution of intricate and massive problems that surpass the capabilities of conventional computers.”
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Despite Noem’s support for a new SDBOR initiative in her budget address, she did not support the SDBOR’s request for a tuition freeze at a cost of more than $4.2 million, to cover a base funding gap at BHSU of $926,406, a new Center for Civic Engagement at $880,096 or more than $10 million in supporting retiring some debt from the Higher Education Facilities Fund.
Noem also proposed a base transfer of more than $2.5 million in general funds from the universities to the Department of the Military so it can streamline the state’s National Guard tuition assistance reimbursement process.
This article originally appeared on Sioux Falls Argus Leader: South Dakota Board of Regents' legislative priorities for 2024 session
