PIERRE, S.D. (SDBA) — Should the state of South Dakota provide $8 million to LifeScape, a non-profit organization that helps and houses children and adults with disabilities?

The organization, which started life in 1952 as the Crippled Children’s Hospital in Sioux Falls, requires a new facility. They have asked the state to help fund that project.

Republican Rep. Marty Overweg from New Holland testified in favor of HB1093. His brother moved from the South Dakota Developmental Center in Redfield to the Sioux Falls organization in his early adulthood. Overweg said the care his brother received after the move was life-changing for him and his family.

“I remember him in his 20s running along the side of the car, screaming when we left, trying to get in the door (when he was in Redfield),” Overweg said. “He didn’t want to stay. He didn’t feel human. He didn’t have any dignity.”

Overweg said when his brother went to Achieve, one of the organizations that merged with the Crippled Children’s Hospital and eventually became LifeScape, “He made a 180-degree difference. No more fighting. He had his own room. He had dignity. He had friends.”

However, the Noem administration opposed the bill.

“Our primary objection to HB1093 lies in its preferential treatment it affords to one specific organization,” said Brandy Miesner (Mees-nuhr) from the Bureau of Finance and Management. “While Lifescape undoubtedly provides valuable services across our communities, it’s essential to realize that there are over 6,500 other non-profit organizations across the state that could also benefit from an appropriation such as this.”

Upon questioning, however, Miesner could not identify other non-profits that do precisely what Lifescape does and admitted, “Lifescape is very specific in the services that they offer.”

Republican Rep. Larry Zikmund from Sioux Falls asked Miesner who would care for children and adults with disabilities if LifeScape didn’t exist.

Miesner said it would then be the state’s responsibility at the Redfield facility.

The committee deferred action on the bill.