PIERRE, S.D. (KELO) — The South Dakota Pharmacists Association is searching for new sources of revenue, after Governor Kristi Noem decided the group should no longer receive state funds from the South Dakota Board of Pharmacy .
A long-standing state law says the state board “may, upon receipt, pay to the South Dakota Pharmacists Association eighty percent of all fees the board receives for renewals of certificates of registration as a pharmacist.”
The not-for-profit association had received $203,500 through that route in 2022 and $204,900 in 2023, according to a spokesperson for the state Department of Health. For 2024, however, the amount will be zero, after the state board’s five members voted unanimously at their meeting last month to stop the funding.
The governor appoints the four professionals and one lay person who comprise the board. State law says the governor “may remove any member of the board for just cause.” The vote on September 12 came on the eve of the association’s annual convention September 13-14 in Brookings.