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make an appropriation to increase the rate of payment for federally qualified health centers.

This bill provides $8 million in funding ($4 million state money and $4 million in federal matching funds) to increase what the state pays federally qualified health centers for medical services they provide. The higher payment rates will take effect on June 30, 2026, and any unused money will be returned to the state fund.

make an appropriation for costs related to emergencies and disasters impacting the state and to declare an emergency.

This bill sets aside $4.2 million from the state's general fund to pay for emergency and disaster response costs in South Dakota. The money goes into a special fund that the Department of Public Safety can use to cover expenses related to any declared emergency or disaster affecting the state.

revise the daily meal allowance for wildland fire employees and fire suppression forces in certain circumstances.

The Department of Public Safety will now set a daily meal allowance for wildland firefighters and fire suppression crews working on uncontrolled fires in the Black Hills or during gubernatorial emergencies, capped at the federal General Services Administration per diem rate for South Dakota. This new allowance applies only to meals that the department approves for ordering and distribution, and will be updated each October. The change overrides previous meal allowance rules for these specific fire-fighting situations.

authorize the Department of Agriculture and Natural Resources to dismantle and demolish buildings on the South Dakota State Fairgrounds, to make an appropriation therefor, and to declare an emergency.

The Department of Agriculture and Natural Resources can now tear down and remove the barns at Livestock Avenue and Market Street and the Quonset huts on Lincoln Avenue South at the South Dakota State Fairgrounds in Huron. The state is providing $337,000 to pay for demolition, debris removal, and ground repairs at these locations.

provide for indigent legal services by the Commission on Indigent Legal Services, and to provide an appropriation therefor.

This bill shifts responsibility for providing and paying for legal representation of poor people from individual counties and cities to a new state-level Commission on Indigent Legal Services. Instead of each county deciding how to handle indigent defense, the commission will now establish the system for providing lawyers to people who can't afford them and will pay the costs directly rather than leaving it to county budgets.

require the provision of interpreter or translator services for parties to an administrative contested case.

HB 1219 requires state agencies to provide and pay for interpreters or translators when a party or witness in an administrative case needs one to understand proceedings. The bill amends the rules for contested cases to explicitly allow parties to obtain these language services at no cost to them, with the agency covering the interpreter's compensation following the procedures outlined in the bill.

establish a manufactured housing downpayment assistance program.

South Dakota will create a new manufactured housing down payment assistance program that provides loans up to $10,000 to help eligible buyers purchase manufactured homes in the state. The program will use up to $5 million from the state housing infrastructure fund as a revolving loan fund, and applicants must have household income at or below 120% of the state area median income. The bill also updates state rules to include this new loan program alongside existing housing assistance programs.