Lawmakers cap session with $5.1 billion budget approval STEPHEN GROVES, Associated Press FacebookTwitterEmail PIERRE, S.D. (AP) — South Dakota lawmakers put a cap on the state budget Thursday by boosting pay for teachers, state employees and community support providers, as well as sending millions of dollars to infrastructure projects and a college scholarship fund. In one of their final acts of this year's legislative session, lawmakers passed a $5.1 billion budget that will take effect beginning in July. It included a 2.4% increase in salary funding for “the big three" — the nickname lawmakers have for teachers, state employees and employees of health care programs that depend on government funding.