Noem’s push for scholarship endowment gets early support

Governor Kristi Noem’s proposal to put 50-million dollars toward a need-based scholarship endowment has cleared its first test in the Legislature. South Dakota is the only state without a significant scholarship endowment for low-income students. Noem wants to create a $200 million fund by combining the state money with $150 million from private donors. Lawmakers have an extraordinary amount of one-time funds after the state used federal coronavirus relief funding to cover the state’s pandemic-related expenses. A state Senate committee on Monday unanimously recommended the bill’s passage. Republican Sen. Casey Crabtree of Madison called the vote “the easiest decision we’ll make all year.”