One year into the GOP House majority, Republicans keep failing South Dakotans. It’s Biden who delivers
Over the past year, the only thing the House GOP majority has managed to deliver for South Dakotans is more resounding evidence that they’re not capable of governing.
Despite the House GOP’s failures, President Biden, Vice President Harris, and South Dakota Democrats are lowering costs, boosting the economy, and investing in America.
The Biden-Harris Administration is also investing billions of dollars into our rural communities and agricultural industries. That includes funding for sustainable farming, upgrading infrastructure, lowering energy costs and expanding access to high-speed internet across South Dakota. The administration has also expanded access to markets and increased competition for farmers and producers.
Here’s a look at how President Biden, Vice President Harris, and Democrats continue to deliver for South Dakotans:
● Creating jobs and raising wages: 14.1 million jobs have been created under President Biden (seen above signing the 2023 Economic Report in a public domain image posted on wikimedia commons), including 35,200 jobs in South Dakota alone. Nationally, unemployment has been under 4% for 22 months in a row. South Dakota has one of the lowest unemployment rates at 2%.
● Lowering prescription drug and health-care costs: The Biden-Harris administration has taken action to make health care more affordable by capping the cost of insulin at $35 a month and taking on Big Pharma to lower prescription drug costs while saving 15 million Americans $800 per year on health insurance.
● Tackling inflation and cracking down on junk fees: Under President Biden, annual inflation fell to its lowest level in more than two and a half years, and the Biden-Harris administration has cracked down on hidden junk fees in airline tickets, banking, investment advice, health insurance, and apartment rentals, saving Americans billions of dollars per year.
● Tackling the climate crisis, lowering energy costs and protecting the environment: President Biden signed the largest investment in climate action ever with the Inflation Reduction Act — which has created 210,000 new clean energy jobs since August 2022 and spurred hundreds of billions of dollars in private sector investment that will create jobs and help families save an average of $500 per year on energy costs. Every single Republican in Congress voted against this bill.
● Investing in America: President Biden signed the largest infrastructure bill since the Eisenhower administration, and already announced $400 billion for 40,000 infrastructure projects across 4,500 communities, including $1.3 billion in South Dakota alone.
● Making America Safer From Gun Violence: The Biden-Harris administration took on the gun lobby and passed the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act, the first significant gun violence legislation in nearly 30 years, and created the first-ever White House Office of Gun Violence Prevention in American history.
● Protecting Access to Reproductive Health Care: President Biden signed executive orders to protect access to abortion, contraception, and the right to travel across state lines to access care.
Shane Merrill of Parker is the South Dakota Democratic Party chair.
