Sales tax hike for teacher pay narrowly fails in the House

PIERRE, S.D. (AP) — The proposed half-cent sales tax increase that would help fund Gov. Dennis Daugaard's plan to improve South Dakota teacher pay narrowly failed Tuesday in the state House of Representatives.

[...] a lawmaker gave notice he intends to attempt to revive the tax increase for teacher pay, which a state task force studying education funding found is the lowest of the 50 states and District of Columbia.

The Republican governor's proposed sales tax increase would raise more than $100 million in the upcoming budget year, most of which would be put toward helping raise the state's target average teacher salary to $48,500 per year.

About $62.4 million from the sales tax hike would go toward teacher salaries and about $40 million would go to property tax relief, according to the governor's office.