Senate appropriations panel gives do-pass to two-year extension for GOED air-service funds

A Senate appropriations committee voted 5-4 to give House Bill 11 89 a do-pass recommendation, sending to the full Senate a proposal to extend by two years the deadline for spending funds the Governor's Office of Economic Development (GOED) received in 2021 for air-service marketing and route restoration.

The bill would move the existing use-by date — currently June 30, 2025 — out an additional two years so airports can apply remaining grant dollars to recruit or restore commercial air service. Representative Steve Duffy, R‑Rapid City, who sponsored the bill, told the committee that aviation recovery after the COVID‑19 pandemic and related supply‑chain and pilot shortages delayed airports' ability to spend the money.

"It's a bill that's designed to extend the use by date of some GOED dollars that were allocated in 2021 from 06/30/2025 for 2 additional years," Representative Steve Duffy said.

Nut graf: Supporters — including airport officials, business groups and a tourism coalition — said the extension would give smaller South Dakota airports more time to use the remaining grant money to attract carriers, emphasizing that…