January 30, 2024


Quantum Computers Are Next. DSU Will Lead the Way. 

What Are They?

SB 45: make an appropriation for the establishment of a Center for Quantum Information Science and Technology and to declare an emergency.

Sponsor: The Chair of the Senate Committee on Appropriations at the request of the Board of Regents

Dakota State University has become a national leader in cyber security. The graduates from this University, located in the middle of nowhere, are in high demand from leading technology companies and our federal government. The time has come for South Dakota to look into the future and ask “what’s next.”

The answer is Quantum Computers. SB 45 is a request for funds to keep DSU at the cutting edge of future cyber security issues and understanding the complex world of high-end research. SB 45 says in section one:

Section 1. There is hereby appropriated from the general fund the sum of $6,034,444 to the Board of Regents, for the purpose of establishing a Center for Quantum Information Science and Technology.

This is an important and exciting opportunity for South Dakota and the South Dakota Chamber of Commerce and Industry supported SB 45 when it had its hearing before the Senate Education Committee Thursday, January 25^th. The Senate Education Committee voted unanimously to recommend SB 45 “Do Pass” and be referred to the Senate Appropriations Committee.

This leaves Capitol-ism feeling very proud and completely befuddled. After all the fanfare of supporting the funding simmered down, there remains the question, what are quantum computers? To find the answer, Capitol-ism turned to the center of all modern knowledge . . . Wikipedia and found this:

A quantum computer is a computer that takes advantage of quantum mechanical phenomena.

At small scales, physical matter exhibits properties of both particles and waves, and quantum computing leverages this behavior, specifically quantum superposition and entanglement, using specialized hardware that supports the preparation and manipulation of quantum states.

Got it? We didn’t either. Here is what IBM says about quantum computing which is helpful because they are building the actual hardware for these things:

Quantum computing is a rapidly-emerging technology that harnesses the laws of quantum mechanics to solve problems too complex for classical computers. 

Today, IBM Quantum makes real quantum hardware — a tool scientists only began to imagine three decades ago — available to hundreds of thousands of developers. Our engineers deliver ever-more-powerful superconducting quantum processors at regular intervals, alongside crucial advances in software and quantum-classical orchestration. This work drives toward the quantum computing speed and capacity necessary to change the world. 

Want to learn more? Here is the link to the IBM site (in the meantime Capitol-ism is looking for aspirin): What is Quantum Computing? | IBM

Trouble: Price of Childcare - Doesn’t Cover Costs.

SB 125: require the Department of Social Services to conduct a state-wide study on childcare, to provide an appropriation therefore, and to declare an emergency.

Sponsor: Senator Reed (R-Brookings); Rep. Rehfeldt (R-Sioux Falls)

Daycare centers are closing at an alarming rate. Centers are shutting down because they simply cannot hire staff at the wages they can offer. Centers cannot offer higher wages because parents will not pay, or cannot pay, the fees that would be needed to pay those increased wages.   

Post covid wage increases have been hard on restaurants and small businesses that must increase prices in small increments. These wage levels cannot be met without a significant boost in fees.

SB 125 would require an extensive look at the cost of providing childcare. It also provides an appropriation of $125,000 dollars to cover the costs of the study. Here is a look at some of the costs to be studied:

(1) An analysis of the difference in cost of child care among:

(a) Geographic locations in this state;

(b) The age ranges of children in care;

(c) The times of year;

(d) Care delivery locations;

(e) Care delivery at different quality measures; and

(f) Licensing types;

(2) An analysis of the impact of inflation, population growth, and business growth on child care providers;

(3) An analysis of the cost of compensation and benefits for child care workers; and

(4) The development of a cost estimation model of payment for the child care assistance program.

Knowing these costs will also impact how funds that assist low-income families are available in the future.

The South Dakota Chamber of Commerce and Industry supports SB 125 because the availability of childcare affects the workforce as much or even more than affordable housing.

Please take our one-minute survey to tell us how daycare issues affect your business.

https:/www.surveymonkey.com/r/TWRM8FG

For information on other bills being tracked by the South Dakota Chamber of Commerce & Industry, go to sdchamber.biz/legislative and click on the Bill Tracker link.

Register today for Business Day at the Legislature – Thursday, February 22^nd in Pierre! The agenda and registration details can be found at https:/bit.ly/3teZ4PL

Business Day is brought to you by the following:

• First PREMIER Bank/PREMIER Bankcard
• BNSF Railway Company
• POET
• Wellmark Blue Cross and Blue Shield of South Dakota
• Black Hills Energy
• Daktronics
• McGough Construction
• MIDCO
  
• NorthWestern Energy