The cost of living has become the defining challenge facing South Dakota families today.

Affordability is about more than prices. It is about whether hard work is enough to build a stable life. 

Across South Dakota, families are working harder than ever but also finding it more difficult to get ahead financially. The costs of groceries, housing, childcare, healthcare, utilities and medicine continue to rise while wages are not keeping pace with the changes. While many young families are unable to buy homes, other families are struggling to stay in the homes they already own. Seniors on fixed incomes find themselves making choices between food and gas. Far too many families are having to choose which bill to pay and which bill to let go. 

In the 1st quarter of 2026, South Dakota’s GDP came in as the weakest in the country. As I travel across South Dakota, not only do I hear about the struggles, I can feel the struggles in each community. 

South Dakotans are not asking for handouts, we are asking for an economy that rewards our hard work. We are asking for a fair opportunity to succeed. 

We cannot solve this affordability crisis with one policy alone. We must lower costs while creating an economy that works for working people instead of protecting the ultra rich. That means expanding affordable housing opportunities, lowering healthcare and prescription costs, making childcare more affordable and accessible, protecting Social Security and Medicare, supporting family farms and small businesses, and making sure wages reflect the real cost of living. 

Our economy should work for the people who keep it running and when working families thrive, South Dakota thrives. 

Key Points:

• Expanding Affordable Housing.

• Reducing Healthcare cost through Universal Healthcare.

• Protecting Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid.

• Investing in energy independence and renewable energy. 

• Attacking Tariffs

• Enforcing antitrust laws against corporate monopolies

• Ensuring wages keep pace with the real cost of living

• Investing in Affordable Childcare.