Washington, D.C. – Club for Growth Foundation released its 2025 South Dakota State Economic Scorecard, ranking how every lawmaker in Pierre voted on limited government policies.
The Scorecard analyzes policies and votes to assign an Economic Growth Score from 0 to 100, with 100 representing the highest support for pro-growth policies. In 2025, the Foundation’s study examined over 675 floor votes and, in the end, included 18 South Dakota House votes and 17 South Dakota Senate votes.
“South Dakota lawmakers squandered their fiscal wins in 2025,” said Club for Growth Foundation President David McIntosh. “After legislators cut $74.6 million in supplemental spending, blocked Medicaid expansions, capped property tax increases, and added work requirements to Medicaid, they reversed course. Mandating reserve fund schemes will raise spending baselines; expanding childcare welfare will cost taxpayers $40 million annually; and protecting taxpayer-funded public broadcasting will hike General Fund spending by 2.2%. These moves will damage South Dakota’s future economic outlook.”
Click here to view the full 2025 South Dakota State Economic Scorecard from the Club for Growth Foundation.
Key Highlights from the 2025 South Dakota Scorecard
South Dakota House:
- Average Republican Score: 52%
- Average Democratic Score: 10%
- Highest Rated Republican(s): Rep. Aaron Aylward (HD-6): 100%
- Highest Rated Democrat(s): Rep. Peri Pourier (HD-27): 57%
- Lowest Rated Republican(s): Rep. Roger DeGroot (HD-7): 21%
- Lowest Rated Democrat(s): Rep. Erin Healy (HD-10): 0%, Rep. Erik Muckey (HD-15): 0%, Rep. Nicole Uhre-Balk (HD-32): 0%, Rep. Kadyn Wittman (HD-15): 0%
South Dakota Senate:
- Average Republican Score: 47%
- Average Democrat Score: 12%
- Highest Rated Republican(s): Sen. John Carley (SD-29): 81%, Sen. Taffy Howard (SD-34): 81%
- Highest Rated Democrat(s): Sen. Red Dawn Foster (SD-27): 21%
- Lowest Rated Republican(s): Sen. Sydney Davis (SD-17): 24%, Sen. Helene Duhamel (SD-32): 24%, Sen. Stephanie Sauder (SD-4): 24%
- Lowest Rated Democrat(s): Sen. Elizabeth Larson (SD-10): 4%
Notable Pro-Limited Government Legislation:
HB 1046 – SUPPLEMENTAL SPENDING REVISIONS
- Reduces total FY2025 spending by $74.6 million
- $34 million reduction in the Department of Social Services and the Department of Human Services
- $25.1 million reduction in both Medicaid and Children’s Health Insurance Program spending
- Eliminates $31.6 million in Medicaid expansion set-asides due to diminished enrollment in the fraud-prone program
HB 1235 – NEW PROPERTY TAX INCREASE LIMIT
- Limits local taxing districts to the lesser of 2.5 percent or the change in the Consumer Price Index as determined by the Bureau of Labor Statistics
- The 2.5 percent cap does not apply to school districts, bond payments subject to referenda, scheduled payment increases on bonds, or court-ordered judgments against a taxing district
- Imposition of an annual cap provides much-needed certainty for homeowners and property managers
HJR 5001 – CURBING MEDICAID EXPANSION
- Prohibits the state from imposing stricter eligibility limits for Medicaid than what is provided under federal statute
- Provides for a work requirement for anyone enrolled in Medicaid who has not been determined as mentally or physically disabled
Notable Anti-Limited Government Legislation:
HB 1036 – NEW RESERVE FUND MANDATE
- Requires that the combined balance of the state’s two budget reserve funds must equal 10 percent of General Fund appropriations for the succeeding year
- The Legislature is mandated to transfer one-third of the reserve fund gap below 10 percent from the General Fund to the reserve funds over the next three fiscal years until the 10 percent mandate is achieved
- This requirement effectively operates as a mandate to increase annual spending baselines and pour increased taxpayer resources into slush funds designed to perpetuate programmatic spending
HB 1132 – EXPANDED GOVERNMENT CHILD CARE
- Expands the child care assistance program from an income-based threshold to prioritize children of child care workers
- Includes no appropriation and threatens to expand a relatively tightly-focused welfare program into a permanent workforce subsidy program that supercharges annual spending
- Estimates report taxpayers will be on the hook for an additional $40 million on an annual basis if even half of the state’s childcare workers enroll in the expansion
SB 220 – MISSED OPPORTUNITY BUDGET AGREEMENT
- Spends $7.3 billion in total federal and state funds for the FY2026 fiscal year, a $5 million decrease from total FY2025 spending levels
- Increases state General Fund spending by $53 million, equal to a 2.2 percent increase year-over-year
- Increases state spending from outside the General Fund by 3 percent year-over-year
- Includes a 1.25 percent across-the-board pay increase for state employees, a 2.8 percent increase in state Medicaid spending, a 2.5 percent increase in state education spending, and rejects a previously-proposed $3.6 million cut for taxpayer-funded South Dakota Public Broadcasting
Note: This Scorecard is based on selected votes and does not reflect a legislator’s entire voting record. The Club for Growth Foundation does not endorse or oppose any legislator for public office.