Driving Opportunity
By Governor Kristi Noem

On December 3, I proposed my budget to the legislature for Fiscal Year 2021. Just like many folks are experiencing, money is tight for the State this year. But just as South Dakotans always do, we’re finding a way to be successful with the resources at our disposal. My proposed budget is structurally balanced, it doesn’t raise taxes, and it saves money for the future. It also invests in key areas that will set us up for long-term growth.

One of my top priorities is keeping South Dakotans safe. One component of that is equipping law enforcement and first responders with the tools they need to protect our communities. In 2003, we created the state radio system – a single, uniform communications system for first responders in every corner of the state. But the current system needs an update. My budget recommends $5.1 million in one-time funds that will ensure a smooth transition to the new system so there are no gaps in protecting South Dakota families.

I also remain committed to expanding internet access across the state. Without access to high-speed internet, folks can’t use the newest technology on their farms. They can’t pursue higher education because of uploading and downloading speeds. They can’t start online businesses.

Last year, I dedicated $5 million that leveraged more than $11.4 million in direct project costs to increase connection across the state. In addition to that, because the state had a broadband plan in place, applicants for the federal Reconnect dollars scored extra points. Those awards are just starting to come in, but those dollars should bring the investment in South Dakota up to nearly $25 million. We must do more to bring our communities into the 21st century, though, so my budget proposes another $5 million to this project.

We must also invest in our universities and training programs. Eleven of the University of South Dakota’s fastest-growing majors are in the School of Health Sciences, representing a significant opportunity for future growth in our state. I’m investing $5 million dollars for the construction of a new School of Health Sciences Building at USD, as well as $396,000 for the Cyber Cync Incubator at Dakota State University. These investments will spur economic development – in turn, providing greater opportunities for South Dakota families and helping keep top talent in our state.

And, of course, we’re working toward storm recovery. My budget includes $9.9 million to partner with local governments to provide disaster relief and resources for mitigating future disasters. Starting with the 2019 disasters, the State will offer loans to cities, counties, townships, and tribes from the Emergency and Disaster Fund. We will continue to pay for 10 percent of the cost of the disasters but will now offer loans for the other 90 percent. In addition to providing loans from the Emergency and Disaster Fund for the local share of the Hazard Mitigation Grant Program and the Pre-Disaster Mitigation Program, the local match requirement will be lowered from 25 percent to 15 percent to allow local governments to take full advantage of these programs. We must rebuild damaged communities, build stronger communities for the future, and ensure long-term resilience so our families can thrive.

There’s much more I could write about… added funding tied to increased K-12 enrollment, $3.7 million for meth treatment and enforcement, a formula adjustment that is projected to result in nearly $14 million for special education, added dollars to meet the increased need of training more foster parents and parents looking to adopt…. All in service of South Dakota families.

It’s been a difficult year, yes, but we have tremendous opportunity before us. The growth of our current industries and the attraction of new ones will drive opportunity. Expanding on some already successful initiatives will drive opportunity. And laying the foundation to enhance our competitiveness with respect to other states will help ensure our top talent stays in South Dakota – creating more opportunity for years to come.

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Jon Ellis at the Argus is out today with an opinion piece trying to claim there’s some big rift in the GOP titled “Ellis: Noem, Rounds, have spent a decade snubbing each other:”

Rounds and Noem are both Republicans. They’ve been together in politics for well over a decade. So why did Rounds undercut her with the picture of Don harvesting hemp in Beadle County?

Rounds had not innocently blundered into the debate. It was intentional. Truth is, they don’t really like each other.

and…

A few weeks earlier, during the annual Governor’s Hunt, Rounds supporters were angered to see state Rep. Scyller Borglum there. Borglum, a Republican from Rapid City, is challenging Rounds in next year’s primary.

Read it here.

So, because Mike Rounds tweeted a picture of his father, and Rep. Borglum was at the hunt, there’s some big rift in the GOP?  I suspect it’s more that the Argus Leader is trying to sell newspapers, because if there isn’t some conflict, who cares?

Ellis might not know that there are regular meetings between all of the statewide office holders and their teams.  They’re talking all the time, amongst themselves, as well as working with the State GOP.

When it comes to the Gov’s Hunt, it’s my understanding that Senator Rounds was in a prominent position at the Hunt this year, and hosting a team was filled with VIPs.   I kind of doubt there was some mysterious snub being engineered with Rep. Borglum’s invite.

Unless when Mike Huether was attending the Gov’s hunt under Governor Daugaard, Ellis thought that was a passive/aggressive attack on some Republican at the time.

Sometimes, an invitation is just an invitation.

And let’s not forget to mention the event the very next day where this photo was taken:

Don’t believe everything you read… @RoundsforSenate and @KristiNoem are #BFFs 😁 pic.twitter.com/ZbdSUMU3UL

— Kristi Noem (@KristiNoem) December 6, 2019

 

The above picture tweeted of Senator Rounds and Governor Noem? That was taken at the SDGOP hunt featuring Senator Rounds and Governor Noem – taken the very next day after the Governor’s Hunt, at the hunting operation owned in part by Rounds Chief of Staff Rob Skjonsberg.

The GOP Hunt event had been in the works for months.   If there was some big disagreement, I kind of doubt that they would have been doing that event together.

If anything – and pardon my french – I find it kind of sh*tty for the Argus to be trying to sling this kind of high school mean girl nonsense to gin up newspaper sales while Senator Rounds’ wife Jean is in the hospital after surgery. I know if I were attending to a family member in the hospital, the last thing I’d want to read about is a newspaper trying to manufacture drama where it doesn’t exist.

Bad show, Argus.

Let me preface this by pointing out that I can’t seem to get organized enough to get my tree up.. and Senator Thune has his Christmas card out.

(Christmas fail on my part, but the tree might get up this weekend).

You know you’re starting the day off right when you can get ex-Republican and ex-Constitution Party chairperson Lora Hubbel to curse you first thing in the morning.

It’s not quite as funny as her cursing a meme, but it still provided amusement this morning.

Thune Reintroduces Bill to Eliminate Government Competition With Private Industry
“Fair competition will allow businesses to thrive and save taxpayers money.”

WASHINGTON — U.S. Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.) today reintroduced legislation that would require federal agencies to rely on the private sector when providing goods and services that are readily available. Thune’s legislation, the Freedom from Government Competition Act (S. 2990), would ensure private enterprises that provide services that are replicated by the federal government have the ability to compete for the opportunity to deliver those federally provided services.

Thune’s legislation would make the federal government smaller and more efficient while providing the best value to the taxpayer. The bill has been likened to codifying a “Yellow Pages” test, meaning that if the federal government is doing something that can be found in the Yellow Pages, or now in a simple online search, the product or service should be subject to market competition.

“This bill is a commonsense approach in allowing small businesses to compete with the federal government if they can provide that same good or service,” said Thune. “These businesses can oftentimes provide services in a cheaper, more efficient manner. Fair competition will allow businesses to thrive and save taxpayers money.”

The Freedom from Government Competition Act does not mandate the privatization of any specific federal service and would protect those activities that are inherently governmental, such as certain national defense and homeland security functions, prosecutions, foreign policy, and activities to bind the United States to take or not to take some action by contract, policy, regulation, authorization, or order.

Rep. Greg Steube (R-Fla.) is the sponsor of the companion bill, which was introduced today in the U.S. House of Representatives.

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The Argus picked up on the discussion over how Sioux Falls City Councilwoman Theresa Stehly excludes constituents from social (anti-social?) media:

But some of those blocked say they weren’t barred from participating in the discussions Stehly prompts on social media because they were disrespectful, used profanity or didn’t contribute to discussion. Rather, those blocked, including a candidate pursuing her seat as well as other city councilors, say they got the cold social media shoulder from Stehly because they don’t see eye-to-eye with her politically.

Thor Bardon, a candidate for the central district City Council seat in 2018, told the Argus Leader Thursday he has been blocked from seeing Stehly’s Facebook posts for months after challenging her on positions she’s taken as a city councilor. Not being able to participate in civic discussions with a public official, he said, is essentially government censorship.

and…

Councilors Christine Erickson and Greg Neitzert say they’ve also been blocked by Stehly. Stehly asserts those two blocked her first, though both Neitzert and Erickson insist they do not block anyone from seeing their Facebook pages.

Read the entire story here.

As Stehly seems to isolate herself, she seems to be creating an ego-driven echo chamber of supporters, beholding only to herself.

Case in point would be her claim that multitudes were demanding that concrete ping pong tables be put up in Sioux Falls Parks.  Does anyone ever recall hearing an outcry for taxpayer dollars to be spent on concrete ping pong tables? Exactly.

But it’s not just blocking people. There’s also the pattern of her openly going after anyone who might express a contrary opinion.

We’ve had open attacks against someone who pointed out her misinformation on Facebook, and robocalls against people who she didn’t want the city to hire.

And more recently, in the past few months as a fundraiser was being announced someone who is running against her, Theresa allegedly saw the list of people who were publicly sponsoring the event, and called darn near all of them as far as I could tell to demand why they were supporting her opponent. At least in one instance it was related to me that she directly demanded to know why they don’t like her.

Stehly’s cult of ego has really hit critical mass, and the latest Argus story certainly makes it look like people are sick of her tantrums and behavior.

Stay tuned. I’m sure we’ll hear more before it’s over.

If you’re considering a run for office, don’t forget that the South Dakota Republican party is sponsoring Campaign Schools both this Saturday in Rapid City, and next Saturday in Sioux Falls.  As noted in the link to sign up…

The Candidate school is for Republicans preparing for service as elected officials and community leaders. Ideal attendees are Republican party members who are looking to become more politically active, including candidates and campaign staff. Attendees will learn how to:

• Organize a campaign staff and structure
• Raise funds
• Work with the media
• Communicate with voters
• Plan their advertising
• Target their message

Read more and sign up here.

This Saturday, in Rapid City The Pennington County Republican Party is hosting the Workshop on Saturday, December 7 from 9:00 AM – 5:00 PM at the South Dakota School of Mines and Technology.  Next Saturday in Sioux Falls, the South Dakota Republican Party is hosting the SDGOP Candidate School on Saturday, December 14, 2019 at 8 AM – 4 PM at ‘Sioux Falls First,’ 6300 W 41st Street, in Sioux Falls.

Good candidates working together are what make the SDGOP great, so if you’re a Republican, and you have an interest, it’s worth $35 and a day of your time to learn more about the nuts and bolts.  I’m personally going to be addressing the Sioux Falls group to discuss some how’s and why’s when it comes to name identification and ways candidates can target their message.

If you can’t make the school, but want to talk about running, feel free to drop me a note here. I’m always happy to have a confidential discussion about what it takes to get a campaign off the ground and to conduct a competitive race.

Thune Leads Hearing on MOBILE NOW, Sioux Falls Mayor Paul TenHaken Testifies

“This important legislation made a down payment on both spectrum and infrastructure needs, positioning the United States to lead in the race to 5G—a race that has major implications for our national security and economy.” 

Click here or on the image above to watch Thune’s opening statement. 

WASHINGTON — U.S. Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.), chairman of the Subcommittee on Communications, Technology, Innovation, and the Internet, today led a hearing titled, “The Evolution of Next-Generation Technologies: Implementing MOBILE NOW.” The hearing examined the implementation of several mandates required by the Making Opportunities for Broadband Investment and Limiting Excessive and Needless Obstacles to Wireless (MOBILE NOW) Act. At the invitation of Thune, Sioux Falls Mayor Paul TenHaken testified on MOBILE NOW’s spectrum provisions and the streamlining of broadband infrastructure deployment on federal lands, among other things. Thune is the author of the MOBILE NOW Act, which was signed into law in 2018.

Could the next lawsuit over blocking constituents on social media be directed at Sioux Falls City Councilwoman Theresa Stehly?

After the story broke, in the Sioux Falls related “Sioux Falls Politics” facebook group, Stehly has been taking fire over her alleged actions in blocking constituents that she disagrees with:

Should our local politicians be allowed to block people they don’t like from FB? More specifically, should our city council members who use their FB account as one of their platforms be allowed to block other FB users?

A specific council member that is active on this forum has blocked other FB user(s) from seeing their post, all posts, which then does not allow the blocked FB user to see how the city council member is portraying specific items within the City. Where this gets concerning is when they block people who have very valid and important information who then can’t counterbalance the discussion.

Below are two screenshots. One is from my account and the other is from an unnamed FB user who has been blocked by city council woman Theresa Stehly. 

Read the entire story here.  (And join the Sioux Falls Politics forum, it’s always an interesting read.)

It’s a fairly rollicking discussion with Stehly taking fire for blocking people, as well as for other actions in interacting with constituents which left people with negative impressions.  And it finds at least a couple of Stehly’s fellow council persons making the point on how they specifically don’t block people:

The block/don’t block discussion for public officials has really come out of left field, and may leave a number of public officials at the moment wondering if there’s a way for them to openly talk about issues of public concern, while at the same time keeping their public social media presence free of trolls and ne’er do wells.

Is there a happy medium, or given the public nature of elected officials, is this an absolute?

What are your thoughts?

Update on Jean Rounds

ROCHESTER, MINN. – U.S. Sen. Mike Rounds (R-S.D.) and his wife, Jean, today provided the following update on Jean’s cancer treatment:

This week, Mike and Jean traveled to the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn., after Jean experienced pain in her right leg. Doctors found a hematoma at the site of her surgical incision. It was determined that this was causing pressure on her sciatic nerve. It was likely caused by blood thinners she was taking following November’s successful surgery to remove the remaining portion of the tumor after the chemo treatments were complete. She underwent surgery on Wednesday to remove the hematoma and will remain at the hospital for the next several days.

“While this is an unexpected hurdle, we are grateful that there are no concerns about the cancer at this time,” said Mike and Jean. “We continue to be lifted by the thoughts and prayers of so many and thank those who have supported us throughout this process. Keep the prayers coming!”

Following six successful rounds of chemo, Jean underwent surgery last month to remove the remaining portion of her tumor. She will undergo radiation treatment in the coming months as she finishes her anticipated course of treatment.

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