Rounds Issues Statement Following Senate’s Passage of Appropriations Package

WASHINGTON - U.S. Senator Mike Rounds (R-S.D.), a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, issued a statement following the Senate's passage of a package of three appropriations bills for Fiscal Year (FY) 2026. The legislation, which included Interior, Environment and Related Agencies (Interior), Energy and Water Development (EWD) and Commerce, Justice, Science and Related Agencies (CJS), passed the Senate on Thursday afternoon.

"I'm pleased that the Senate has passed our second appropriations package for FY2026," said Rounds. "This appropriations package reduces the cost of running these agencies by $2 billion compared to what a continuing resolution with current funding levels would have been. Our 'minibus' appropriations package includes several wins for programs in South Dakota. I'm particularly glad to have secured funding for projects across the state, from rural water development to tribal construction projects to law enforcement security upgrades. It also funds programming at the Sanford Underground Research Facility, a world-class underground laboratory outside of Lead.

"We've now passed half of our required appropriations measures for FY2026. The work we do within the Senate Appropriations Committee is an example of what we can accomplish when we work together. The Senate continues to work our way through the regular order appropriations process, which we've returned to under the leadership of Majority Leader John Thune and Appropriations Committee Chair Susan Collins. I look forward to continuing to work with my colleagues to fund the rest of government ahead of January 30."

Rounds has served on the Senate Committee on Appropriations since January 2025. He serves on six subcommittees, including Interior and EWD. Read a list of Rounds' wins in the appropriations bills below:

Interior:

• Includes two of Rounds' Congressionally Designated Spending (CDS) requests totaling $15.507 million:
  • $8.92 million for the Oglala Sioux Tribe Sanitation Facilities Construction Project
  • $6.587 million for the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe Sanitation Facilities Construction Project

• Includes robust funding requested by Rounds for several tribal programs:
• • $570 million for the Bureau of Indian Affairs Public Safety and Justice
  • $996 million for Indian Health Service's Purchased and Referred Care Program
  • $87 million for Bureau of Indian Education's Tribal Colleges and Universities

• Includes a provision to require a briefing on current timber harvest levels in the Black Hills National Forest
• Includes a provision to require a report on law enforcement staffing levels at Mount Rushmore National Memorial

EWD:

• Includes six of Rounds' CDS requests, totaling $21 million:
  • $20.3 million for Water Investment in Northern South Dakota (WINS)
  • $50,000 for the United States Army Corps of Engineers (USACE)'s BIA Route 6 at Cherry Creek project
  • $50,000 for USACE's Big Sioux Ecosystem Restoration and Cultural Resources project
  • $50,000 for USACE's Little Bend and Counselor Creek Restoration and Resiliency project
  • $50,000 for USACE's West Bend and Vicinity Restoration and Resiliency project
  • $500,000 for USACE's Lower Big Sioux Watershed Comprehensive Study
• Includes robust funding requested by Rounds through the Department of Energy for projects and infrastructure at the Sanford Underground Research Facility (SURF) outside of Lead:
  • $260 million for the Long-Baseline Neutrino Facility/Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment (LBNF/DUNE)
  • $114 million for the Proton Improvement Project-II
  • $44 million for SURF operations and infrastructure upgrades
• Includes $17.53 million for the Mni Wiconi water project

CJS:

• Includes three of Rounds' CDS requests, totaling $4.938 million:
  • $3.92 million for upgrades to security equipment and technology at the existing jail and jail expansion for the Pennington County Sheriff's Office
  • $675,000 for critical technology upgrades and training for an Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force Program within the South Dakota Attorney General's Office.
  • $343,000 for a project to monitor and forecast South Dakota air quality impacts from wildland fires at South Dakota State University
• Includes $250 million for the Established Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (EPSCoR)

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