Rhoden to pay for Mount Rushmore lighting out of own pocket

South Dakota Gov. Larry Rhoden has pledged to pay $217 of his own money to keep Mount Rushmore lit for the next week.

Rhodens Saturday morning announcement came in tandem with pledges from West River lawmakers to personally pay the national memorials nightly lighting ceremony bills. Rhoden pledged to cover seven nights. Various lawmakers and one private citizen have made pledges to pay the daily bill after Rhoden if the shutdown continues.

The nightly light bill is $30.94, Rhoden spokeswoman Josie Harms told South Dakota Searchlight.

The memorial has remained open during the shutdown, but South Dakotas Travel SD website notes that the lighting ceremony is temporarily unavailable. The visitor center is also closed and ranger talks are temporarily unavailable.

The promise to pay Rushmores light bills is the latest in a series of statements from the Republican governor aimed at pressuring Congressional Democrats to fold and pass the funding bill supported by the bodys GOP majority.

Since the shutdown began on Oct. 1, Democrats have pushed their Republican counterparts to negotiate on extensions for expiring health care subsidies before supporting a funding bill. Rhoden is among the Republican governors that signed on to a letter Thursday urging Democrats to give in and pass a funding bill.

On Sept. 30, Rhoden signed a statement from a group called the Governors Council of the America First Policy Institute urging both sides to find a way to avoid the shutdown that came hours later.

This week on social media, Rhoden used the term Schumer Shutdown, a reference to the Senates Democratic Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, of New York. Daily news releases from Republican Senate Majority Leader John Thune, of South Dakota, use the term in their subject lines.

Rhodens news release on the lights at Mount Rushmore says the payments were facilitated by the nonprofit Mount Rushmore Society through its partnership with the National Park Service.

It also says Rhoden has received many other pledges to support shining the lights if the shutdown continues longer.