South Dakota Democratic leaders want Gov. Larry Rhoden to take a stand on the potential lapse in hunger-relief benefits in the state.
But he, and other South Dakota Republicans, don’t think the state should respond to a federal problem.
State Sen Liz. Larson and State Rep. Erin Healy, both Sioux Falls Democrats and minority leaders of their respective chambers, wrote a joint letter on behalf of the state Joint Democratic Caucus to Rhoden on Oct. 30, in which they urged the governor to convene a special session of the state Legislature.
The purpose, Healy and Larson stated, would be to “authorize the use of state general fund reserves” or other reserve funds to temporarily fund Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits, which are set to run out Nov. 1 due to the ongoing federal government shutdown.
A day before the deadline, however, two federal judges ruled President Donald Trump’s administration must continue to fund the major food-aid program using contingency funds, according to The Associated Press.
According to the news outlet, the administration was given leeway as to whether it would partially pay for the benefits for November or dip into additional funds to fully fund the program, and the ruling is likely to be appealed.
The South Dakota Democrats’ request is unlikely to move forward without the support of top Republicans in the state Legislature.
State Rep. Marty Overweg, R-New Holland, told the Argus Leader on Oct. 30 he would be opposed to a special session because of the costs involved with convening lawmakers from around the state.
Overweg, who is the assistant majority leader in the South Dakota House, also said he wasn’t overly worried about the impact to the state’s residents.
“I doubt people are going to starve,” Overweg said.
Rhoden calls for donations to food banks and churches to hold food drives
The Democratic Caucus wants Rhoden to make an emergency appropriation mechanism to allow the state to directly pay for food stamps until the federal government shutdown ends.
“We don’t want to accidentally cover, you know, federal benefits for perpetuity because we don’t have a plan for that or the revenue plan for that,” Larson said in an Oct. 30 interview with the Argus Leader. “But we at least need to do a stopgap, and we can, as a legislature or the governor, propose some type of limitation on that so that we’re not signing up for, you know, paying SNAP benefits in perpetuity for folks.”
In an Oct. 31 weekly column, Rhoden blamed Senate Democrats in Washington and called for a community response.
“As the government remains shut down, I am strongly encouraging all South Dakotans to assess what support they can provide for their neighbors,” Rhoden wrote. “Please, if you are able, donate to your local food banks. Churches should conduct food drives and take the opportunity to share Christian love in their communities. I will be volunteering at food banks and sharing opportunities for charitable support, as well.”
Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds made a similar call-to-action on Oct. 30, when she asked Iowans to make a donation to their local food banks, according to reporting from the Des Moines Register.
But Reynolds also directed a $1 million state match for private donations to food banks through the Iowa Department of Health and Human Services, and she has ordered the state’s National Guard to prepare to assist with food distribution.
The Argus Leader reached out to the governor’s office to ask if the Rhoden administration would muster an independent response to the funding gap as seen in Iowa and other states. The governor’s office responded by forwarding Rhoden’s weekly column.
What Rhoden has personally responded to has been the threat of the lights illuminating Mount Rushmore National Memorial going dark.
On Oct. 11, Rhoden announced he had donated some of his own funds to pay for a week’s worth of electricity used to light the 60-foot-tall presidential faces on the monument, and received pledges from private donors — mostly state lawmakers — to cover days eight through 19 of the shutdown. On Oct. 30, the governor announced he once again secured another round of donations to cover the lighting bill through at least Nov. 15, should the shutdown run that long.
Dan Ahlers, executive director of the South Dakota Democratic Party, said that while he supported the effort, owing to the sculpture’s local and national significance, the Rhoden administration was prioritizing the wrong issue.
“I think it shows a disconnect between what should be our real priorities,” Ahlers said. “Right now, you’re having people that are going up, that are looking at losing their money they need to buy groceries, just the simple basic needs.”
Josie Harms, Rhoden’s press secretary, said comparing funding the lights at Mount Rushmore to funding SNAP benefits “is like comparing apples to airplanes.”
“Funding the lights at Mount Rushmore is $30.94 a day, whereas SNAP benefits cost $15 million a month,” Harms stated in an Oct. 31 email.
South Dakota Republicans concerned paying for SNAP benefits now could hurt state later
According to DSS’ latest data, nearly 75,000 people — 41,261 adults older than 18, and 33,198 children — in South Dakota use SNAP funds to pay their grocery costs, with the average household receiving about $393.98. The program covered an average monthly cost of $14.9 million in SNAP benefits from January-September 2025.
Overweg said he wouldn’t want to pull from the budget reserve, because it could affect the state’s credit rating.
Sen. Majority Leader Jim Mehlhaff, of Pierre, said the loss of SNAP benefits constitutes a “federal emergency,” but he was worried spending state dollars in the interim would set an unwanted precedent.
“When you consider the fact that, whether we’re going to hit our revenue targets for 2026, I mean, that’s in question,” Mehlhaff said. “We could have some tough times in the next couple of years, and I don’t think it’s responsible for us to spend all our state reserves to cover for Washington Democrats.”
Larson said she could agree with Rhoden on some of his points, like how “no South Dakotan should go hungry because Washington can’t get its act together.”
Funding the lights at Mount Rushmore, she added, is a cheaper goal.
But Larson was unsure if local churches and food banks could adequately fill the gap left by the federal government.
“I don’t look at that as being a very sustainable or robust solution,” Larson said. “I just don’t even know how that works for 75,000 [people]. If it was for 200 people, I’d say great. But I don’t know … how that’s going to work.”
Linda Duba, a former state representative who sits on the advisory board of Midwest Food Bank, an Illinois nonprofit that distributes food to communities in South Dakota, said it would be a “hard ask” for churches and food banks to make up for SNAP.
That’s because some SNAP recipients are already utilizing those local resources to supplement their pantries when the federal government is operating normally.
Asking charitable groups to step up during a federal shutdown only “adds to the strain,” Duba said.
In a stakeholder FAQ, the South Dakota Department of Social Services indicated “benefits for November 2025 may be delayed or disrupted.”
“Unfortunately, as this situation is unprecedented and no guidance has been issued by [the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food and Nutrition Service], we cannot confirm whether South Dakota SNAP benefits would be issued on the 10th if the shutdown ends between the 1st and the 10th,” the DSS document states. “The timing will depend on how quickly federal operations resume once the government reopens.”
DSS also stated in the FAQ that SNAP benefits cannot be covered by individual states, since the program is 100% federally funded and does not include a reimbursement mechanism. Generally, 50% of the administrative costs of the program have been paid for by states, per FNS.
This article originally appeared on Sioux Falls Argus Leader: SD Republicans say state shouldn’t pay for food-aid during shutdown
