I told you the interim of the legislature Workforce Housing Needs Committee would like ignoring the root cause of South Dakota’s lack of affordable housing (that is to say, wages who make houses affordable). As a bonus, Rep. Tim Goodwin (R-30/Rapid City) also ignores his own Republican values and advocating socialist interventions in the housing market:
Speaking of housing, SDHDA’s Lori Polak XO also appeared before our Labor Housing Committee in Pierre a few weeks ago. When asked how many governor’s houses the prison can build each year, she said 150. Well, 150 is good, but we’re 6,500 houses short in the state and probably closer. of a figure of 10,000 missing houses. I asked what it would take to produce 1500 houses. Well, it wasn’t well received. Heck, let the main penitentiary in Sioux Falls start building the governor’s houses. Also, why don’t we do it with prisoners who come to Rapid City on good behavior status? Besides, what about the 800 prisoners housed in the Pennington County Jail? All the right questions [Rep. Tim Goodwin, “Home Dedication in Hot Springs, sD,” blog, 2021.06.30].
the Governor’s House Project is South Dakota’s 25-year-old program that now enlists more than 140 inmates at Springfield Prison to build homes. The state enters into contracts with 30 lucky sellers for materials and sells the 1,008 square foot two-bedroom houses built by the prisoners for $57,700 and the 1,200-square-foot three-bedroom units for $68,900. We keep those prices low by not fairly compensating the men who do the actual building… so wait, I guess the Governor’s Houses really embody Republican values.
