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Lake Area Tech official outlines three state bills including $4 million equipment appropriation and campus-carry changes
Summary
Cam Corey, vice president of Lake Area Tech, told the Watertown School District board that three bills before the South Dakota Legislature would provide equipment funding, raise dual‑credit costs and change campus firearms rules.
Cam Corey, vice president of Lake Area Tech, told the Watertown School District board that three bills moving through the South Dakota Legislature could affect technical-college operations and students.
Corey said House Bill 1114 is a one-time appropriation to the technical college system for equipment, and that the bill has passed both chambers and was headed to the governor’s desk at an appropriation level of $4,000,000. "We project that'll approximately be $1,300,000 with a $500,000 match for us," Corey said, crediting Lake Area Tech President Sanderson for work on the measure.
Corey said House Bill 1050 would raise the per-credit cost for high-school students taking dual credit through the system, from $50 to $72 per credit for the upcoming year. He described that as a systemwide change that will affect high-school students seeking dual-credit courses.
He also described Senate Bill 100, which would allow individuals with an enhanced, restricted enhanced or reciprocal permit to carry concealed firearms on technical college and university campuses. "It allows them to be concealed," Corey said. He added that negotiators succeeded in inserting exclusions for specific, higher-risk areas on campus: spaces near hazardous materials, flammable liquids and x-ray equipment. Corey said the bill requires permit holders to have proficiency training and that institutions are examining how the state-level change interacts with federal law and proximity to K–12 facilities.
Corey summarized: the appropriation to the technical college system would provide capital for equipment purchases; the dual-credit fee increase would raise per-credit costs for high-school students; and the firearm bill would change institutions’ ability to restrict concealed carry for qualified permit holders while carving out safety exclusions.
No formal action by the Watertown School District board was recorded on these bills during the meeting.
