Dear South Dakota,
It’s your old friend North Dakota writing. We’re kindred spirits who share deep bonds that date back to the Dakota Territory, established in 1861. On Nov. 2, 1889, we were both admitted to the Union. President Benjamin Harrison did us a favor that day. He signed the statehood papers in an order that was intentionally mixed up, so no one knows which state was admitted first.
But it seems you have lost your way.
South Dakota once gained a reputation as one of the most business-friendly states in the U.S. due to your pro-business policies and low taxes. You’ve never had a state income tax. And in the 1940s, when most other states were adopting personal and corporate income taxes, you stood strong!
In 1980, you eliminated usury laws that led major financial institutions like Citibank to move credit card operations, turning South Dakota into a major hub for the financial industry.
You have been a giant in agriculture, fueling innovation of value-added ag that brought corn farmers into the energy business by producing the fuel of ethanol.
And you made us all proud when you refused to succumb to the fear-mongering and overreach of government that gripped America during the pandemic. You were open for business when most other states shuttered their doors, masked their citizenry, and sent students home alone with laptops.
But that great reputation is all being threatened by a group of misguided Republicans who have been duped by big-money lawyers and extreme environmental groups. They have taken over your legislature and your state party. They are standing in the way of President Trump’s “America First” energy agenda, which relies on infrastructure.
Gov. Larry Rhoden shared great wisdom when he warned legislators against changing the rules in the middle of the game. His plea to keep South Dakota open for business is being disregarded.
An $8.9 billion pipeline project, approved in Iowa, Minnesota and here in North Dakota, is being derailed in South Dakota. Tax incentives enhanced in 2018 during the first Trump term brought a massive private sector investment to get it built. But South Dakota is on the verge of stopping it. Removing industrial carbon off the stacks of your ethanol plants to send for sequestration and ultimately for enhanced oil recovery would unlock $1 trillion worth of oil trapped in the Bakken fields to spark American energy dominance.
A national energy company, GEVO, has invested $200 million already in a planned $1.63 billion plant in Lake Preston, S.D. Because of your toxic political environment, founder Dr. Patrick Gruber told me he may have to move the plant. “I have to go convince people from Wall Street to invest in South Dakota. How can I do that in a place that changes the rules of the game after we’ve started and spent money?”
You are playing with fire, my dear friends. Hopefully, you’ll push reset and give South Dakota a bright future in ag and energy.