Two bills that call for increasing payments to nursing home facilities are now in the appropriations committee.
Both are sponsored by Democrats. Republicans have a super-majority in both chambers.
House Minority Leader Jamie Smith is a democrat from Sioux Falls. He says when bills are introduced in both chambers, the party is saying it’s an issue that needs to get addressed.
Smith says notice who is bringing those issues forward.
“The Republicans know they’re serious issues and they want to solve them too,” Smith says. “But we’re dropping the bills to try and get that discussion had. Because—like I told you earlier—we’re tired of dealing with spending so much time on some of these issues when there are really big problems that are looming right there. We can do something about those. It’s all about our priorities. It’s all about where we focus our energy and we can do something about them. There’s going to be something done.”
Smith says the state has reached a crisis point, but that democrats have been talking about nursing home funding for years.
Both bills appropriate eight million dollars to increase funding for assisted living facilities.
Republican Governor Kristi Noem is calling for one time, six million dollars, to nursing homes that take innovative approaches to solve the nursing home crisis.