S.D. legislators get a formula-determined 21% pay raise this year. Meantime, Gov. Noem offers state workers 1.25%

First off, I’m not particularly miffed about the big jump in pay that South Dakota’s elected legislators will get in 2025. It’s just that by contrast, the 1.25% pay raise that state employees will be getting if Gov. Noem’s budget proposals pass looks just plain awful.  

Legislator salaries are determined by a formula that is written into codified law (SDCL 2-4-2) that says those salaries should be one-fifth of South Dakota median household income as determined by the U.S. Census Bureau. Considering that legislative sessions last 35 or 40 days, depending on whether they’re in an odd- or even-numbered year, and that legislators probably have plenty of homework to tend to when they’re not in session, that kind of money seems reasonable enough.  

What I don’t get is why state employee wages aren’t subject to a similar formula or at least a similar consideration of how they’re doing in the context of overall wages in South Dakota. Payroll and human resources giant ADP (Automated Data Processing) calculates that South Dakota’s workers saw an average wage increase of 6.3% in 2024. 

State employees got a 4% raise in 2024, so in contrast, Noem’ proposed 1.25% increase in next year’s wages is crummy indeed. Not only does it look paltry compared to what’s happening to overall wages in the state, it is significantly below the inflation rate of nearly 3%.This amounts to a pay cut. Last year, though state wage increases fell significantly below 2024’s overall 6.3% wage increase, state workers were at least able to stay ahead of inflation.

This year, per Noem’s offer, inflation be damned, and overall wage increases be double-damned.

Noem can do better. The state of South Dakota can do better.

John Tsitrian is a businessman and writer from the Black Hills. He was a weekly columnist for the Rapid City Journal for 20 years. His articles and commentary have also appeared in The Los Angeles Times, The Denver Post and The Omaha World-Herald. Tsitrian served in the Marines for three years (1966-69), including a 13-month tour of duty as a radioman in Vietnam. Republish with permission.

Photo: public domain, wikimedia commons