Grants: About Control and Manipulation?

Pushing the state in directions that are not aligned with the wishes of the citizens?

It is interesting to watch how the federal government is using the grant process to push certain narratives and put pressure on industries that employ large numbers of people in the state.

For example, the South Dakota state universities are getting $310,000,000 from the state (tax revenues — see page 13 of the state budget) and then South Dakota State University (SDSU) turned around and took an $80,000,000 grant from the federal government (Department of Agriculture) that appears to undermine the beef industry. So basically SDSU is taking our tax money and stabbing us in the back at the same time.

The same is true with the South Dakota Department of Health. The state pays almost $1 billion per year for health and social services (tax revenues — see page 13 of the state budget). At the same time the Center for Disease Control (CDC) provides money for vaccines (several million dollars every couple of years). Many of us have noted billboards around Sioux Falls encouraging people to get vaccinated. Vaccines may be the right medical decision for some people, but one has to wonder why the South Dakota Department of Health is allowed to use federal money to market them in the state, especially with data that suggests they may be causing long term health issues for a significant percentage of the population. Imagine the liability the South Dakota Department of Health is placing on the taxpayers of South Dakota if it is determined that vaccines are like cigarettes and cause harm.

Then there are the issues with K-12 education. Each year the state of South Dakota and its counties spend about $1.2 billion on K-12 education. Another $400 million (about 22% of the total) comes from the federal government (Department of Education) in the form of grants. There appears to be problems with the strings associated with this federal money. For example, there are guidelines about how biological males that want to be females must be treated and other non-academic things. One has to wonder whether the focus on bathrooms, etc. might be making it harder for schools to focus on reading and math.

Based on how these grants are impacting our state, one has to wonder if the legislature might need to establish some guidelines for the types of grants that are allowable.