SB6 deals with Ellsworth Air Force Base

Greetings! Today’s article is about Senate Bill 6—to transfer certain monies and create a fund to support capital and infrastructure projects necessitated by expansion of Ellsworth Air Force Base (EAFB). Boy, that’s a mouthful of a bill! What’s it about?
With the huge expansion at Ellsworth Air Force Base, the need for an additional public school in Box Elder is apparent. The proposed elementary school has a price tag of $60 million.
The breakout of funds is as follows: $40 million from the federal government, $5 million from the school district, $15 million from the state of South Dakota. The fear/argument is that if we give the Box Elder school district the $15 million, most of the 100+ school districts in the state will want money for a new school next year.
Here are the differences. Ellsworth AFB, because of the B21 Raider coming to the base, has some $2 billion worth of either ongoing or still planned construction projects. The state receives approximately $84 million in sales and excise taxes from the $2 billion construction in Box Elder. They are the only school district that has that unique situation.
The question is, if the state receives $84 million, should we give the school district a $15 million loan at 0 percent interest? My response is an overwhelming yes! In my opinion, it’s really a small pittance for what the state is receiving. Again, this is a unique situation that no other school district has.
A couple of other unique points. The base pays no property tax on base housing, base commercial building, and no ag taxes on the land Ellsworth occupies. From purely a business standpoint, the bottom line to me is $84 million in sales and excise taxes for us to give a one-time $15 million  loan seems like a great investment to me.
Lastly, let me talk about the importance of Ellsworth AFB. Currently the base has two squadrons of B1 bombers. This is a long- range bomber that has the capability of leaving the base to carry out their bombing mission any place in the world and return. The bombers are refueled in flight and go to their targeted destination and return to Ellsworth AFB.
With the imminent procurement of the B21 Raider, this just increases our strategic capability. The B21 Raider is a bomber. That’s what the B stands for. It’s also stealth capable, meaning it’s virtually undetectable on radar and it’s nuclear capable, meaning as a last resort it would carry nuclear bombs if needed.
Ellsworth AFB is still going to be home to the B1 bomber once the B21 Raider arrives. The base is scheduled to receive two squadrons of 20 airframes each for a total of 40 aircraft. Just released, because of the world situation getting more dangerous, it has a strong chance to pick up a third B21 Raider squadron of another 20 aircraft.
Another noteworthy item is that one of the squadrons is designated as a training squadron in addition to its tactical mission. This means that all personnel who touch the plane in any capacity will be trained at Ellsworth AFB. They would be pilots, copilots, navigators, as well as any other crew members, and ground support such as mechanics, refuelers, electronic personnel, etc. I’m retired Army so go easy on my understanding of personnel support for the B21 Raider.
Now, how impressive is that for right here in little old South Dakota?
So, what happened with the vote on SB6? It passed with a strong margin in the House, 41 yeas, 28 nays, and one excused. The Senate vote was 28 yeas, and six nays. SB6 is now on Gov. Rhoden’s desk for his signature.