New version of bill to aid Ellsworth Air Force Base specifies $15 million loan for school
Rep. Taylor Rehfeldt, R-Sioux Falls, speaks on the South Dakota House floor on March 5, 2025. (Makenzie Huber/South Dakota Searchlight)
The effort to win state financial support for a new elementary school necessitated by growth at Ellsworth Air Force Base won a legislative endorsement Thursday at the South Dakota Capitol in Pierre.
The state House of Representatives' 41-28 vote was the latest twist in a multi-year struggle. Legislation to provide $15 million of state funding for the project failed last year.
Earlier this week, Sen. Helene Duhamel, R-Rapid City, tried a new approach. She convinced the Senate to pass a bill that would transfer $15 million from a state housing infrastructure fund to a new support and development fund for projects 'promoting the development, expansion, and support of the mission' at Ellsworth.
Duhamel's legislation did not mention the need for a new elementary school in the Douglas School District near the base, which neighbors Rapid City and Box Elder.
US senators stress importance of Douglas School expansion ahead of B-21 arrival
When the bill came up Thursday for debate in the House, Rep. Taylor Rehfeldt, R-Sioux Falls, convinced representatives to adopt an amendment. The amended bill, which the House ultimately passed, authorizes the South Dakota Housing Development Authority to make an interest-free, 20-year loan up to $15 million from the housing infrastructure fund 'to a school district adjoining a federal military installation for the purpose of constructing or expanding a school building.'
Speaking on behalf of her amendment, Rehfeldt said it 'provides both transparency and very forthright intention about what this money is going to be used for.'
Growth at the base is driven by an estimated $2 billion worth of construction to accommodate the future arrival of B-21 stealth bomber planes, which are under development. That activity is expected to expand the population of the base and the surrounding area significantly, putting stress on local governments to respond with new roads, housing, schools, and other infrastructure and services.
The formal name of the housing infrastructure fund is the Housing Infrastructure Financing Program. The Legislature created it two years ago with state dollars and federal pandemic relief money. Half of the $200 million fund was made available as grants to support infrastructure for housing projects, and all of that money has been awarded. The other half was made available as loans, but demand has been low, leaving more than $80 million still available as of December.
Debate on the amended bill was long and lively, with some legislators seeming to suggest that the unused housing funds are proof they were duped into putting too much money into the program.
'I guess we can officially declare the workforce housing 'crisis' over now, right?' said Republican House Majority Leader Scott Odenbach with intended sarcasm.
Some said the money is still needed for housing infrastructure — including around the growing base — and should be retained for that purpose. Others said it would set a bad precedent to single out one school for state help, while other schools finance their own construction projects.
Arguments on behalf of Ellsworth's role in national defense and the economy of South Dakota — it's the state's second-largest employer, one lawmaker said — ultimately won out. Several legislators described an ever-escalating competition among communities around the country to keep their military bases from closing.
Ellsworth was temporarily on a closure list 20 years ago, which sparked a successful state and local campaign to protect it. That campaign has included clearing land in accident potential zones, adding a drone mission, creating a new training airspace and other initiatives.
Rep. Jack Kolbeck, R-Sioux Falls, said providing money for a school to educate the children of people stationed at Ellsworth is another way to protect the base.
'I think that is something that we can show, that we want that B-21 here, and we want that air base to stay here,' Kolbeck said.
According to past information presented to legislators, the school is expected to cost more than $60 million, with federal and local funding sources providing the rest of the money.
The bill now goes back to the Senate for its consideration of the amended language.
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