Gov.Rounds Introduces Bills to Spur Business Development

Gov. Rounds introduces bills to spur business development

Gov. Mike Rounds announced today he will introduce three bills that will support the development of business in South Dakota.

"I am extremely pleased to be able to introduce the following bills which will help bring new businesses to South Dakota and potentially create thousands of new high quality, high paying jobs," said Gov. Rounds on the announcement.

The first two yet to be numbered bills: An Act to provide a partial exemption to the assessment of certain power generation facilities; and An act to revise the sales and contractor's excise tax refund provided for the construction of large facilities.

These initiatives provide incentives to encourage the construction of a new $1 billion electricity generation plant in Grant County. The plant will annually pay approximately $4.7 million in new local property taxes after construction is completed. Its annual payroll for 36 permanent and 29 part-time jobs will start at $3.6 million. During the expected 10 year construction, the plant will pay approximately $11 million in taxes to the state and will cause the creation of more than 5,800 full and part-time jobs.

The third bill is an Act to create the South Dakota Electric Transmission Assistance Authority. The authority will communicate regularly with all transmission line owners and electricity generators and distributors. Their purpose will be to annually evaluate all state and federal transmission laws, and make recommendations to our Legislature and the U.S. Congress for improvements. The Act will also propose joint projects, develop business plans, and identify financing options to enhance existing transmission lines and construct new ones.

The bills will be introduced to the S.D. Legislature today, January 28; and should be heard in the first committee no later than the middle of next week.

http://www.state.sd.us/governor/