Prison funding advances for make-or-break vote

Appropriations committee sends bill to full House without recommendation

Department of Corrections Secretary Kelly Wasko testifies on prison funding at the Joint Appropriations Committee on Feb. 20, 2025. (Jonathan Ellis/The Dakota Scout)

PIERRE – The South Dakota House of Representatives will get a prison funding bill Friday in what will likely be one of the most watched votes of the year.

The House gets the funding bill after the Joint Appropriations Committee voted to send it to the floor with no recommendation Thursday. Rep. Mike Derby, the chairman of the House Appropriations Committee, noted the gravity of the upcoming vote, saying it would likely be one of the largest expenditures in state history. Derby made the motion to send it to the floor without a recommendation.

“This deserves to be heard by the entire body with an up or down vote,” he said.

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