Noem: 'Houses would be built' if Legislature didn't meddle with $200M housing initiative

State officials pointing fingers following more delays in workforce housing grant program

(Joe Sneve/The Dakota Scout)

South Dakota lawmakers learned last week that $200 million in workforce housing grants won’t be available for another construction season. But that wouldn’t be the case if they had allowed the governor’s office to administer the grant program.

That’s according to Gov. Kristi Noem, who Tuesday told The Dakota Scout that continued delays in launching the workforce housing infrastructure program are a product of bureaucratic red tape that could have been avoided.

“It would have been out the door, and we’d have houses standing if we’d done it the original way I wanted it,” the Republican governor said during a stop in Sioux Falls to announce a $7.9 million apprenticeship grant program being offered by the state labor office. “Those houses would be built and families would be living in them because it would have been out the door a year and half ago.”

Noem’s remarks come after the South Dakota Housing Development Authority announced last week that it could be September before its board begins formally considering applications from builders, developers and communities.

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