Thune and Noem Lead Bipartisan, Bicameral Effort to Expand Sodsaver Initiative

Sodsaver Legislation Would Close Crop Insurance Yield Substitution Loophole Nationwide 

WASHINGTON — U.S. Sens. John Thune (R-S.D.) and Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), members of the Senate Agriculture Committee, and U.S. Reps. Kristi Noem (R-S.D.) and Tim Walz (D-Minn.), a member of the House Agriculture Committee, today introduced companion versions of the bipartisan American Prairie Conservation Act (S. 1913 and H.R. 3939). This new sodsaver legislation, which, according the Congressional Budget Office, would save more than $50 million over ten years, would disincentivize the conversion of native sod to cropland by closing a crop insurance yield substitution loophole in all 50 states. Thune first authored sodsaver initiatives in the 2008 and 2014 farm bills for nationwide implementation.

Sodsaver, which has only been implemented in South Dakota, North Dakota, Minnesota, Iowa, Montana, and Nebraska, is a cost-saving initiative that disincentivizes, but does not prevent, farmers from converting native sod to cropland.Farmers who choose to break up native sod and convert it to cropland face a reduction in crop insurance premium subsidy assistance and a reduction in guaranteed yields of insured crops.

“By closing loopholes and applying these more effective sodsaver provisions nationwide, we can save taxpayers money, eliminate an unintended crop insurance incentive to break native sod, and protect America’s diminishing prairie grasslands that are so important to our grazing livestock producers,” said Thune. “Not only is this an example of a good-government solution, but the savings achieved by our bill could be used elsewhere in an already cash-strapped farm bill.”

“The sodsaver provision we implemented in six Midwestern states as part of the 2014 Farm Bill has successfully reduced the conversion of native sod, saved taxpayer dollars, and encouraged wildlife habitat,” said Klobuchar. “Our bipartisan legislation would extend this small, commonsense change to the crop insurance program and boost conservation efforts and savings nationwide.”

“As an avid hunter and a lifelong farmer, I truly appreciate that in South Dakota our hunting tradition is just as strong as our commitment to agriculture,” said Noem. “With the Protect Our Prairies language included, the 2014 Farm Bill has helped strike a healthier balance between production and conservation in the Prairie Pothole Region. With proven results and the prospect of additional savings for taxpayers, now is the time to expand the program nationwide.”

“I am proud to re-introduce this legislation that will conserve critical wildlife habitat while allowing farmers to manage their lands as they see fit,” said Walz. “By working together and promoting common sense conservation practices we can protect critical wildlife habitat, support our farmers, and support the hunting and fishing industry that is an integral part of our state’s economy.”

The American Prairie Conservation Act would:

• Apply sodsaver’s prohibition to substitute crop insurance yields on native sod that is converted to cropland nationwide;
• By requiring crop insurance premium subsidies and yield guarantees be reduced for a total of four cumulative years for any crop, close an existing loophole that allows certain noninsured crops to be planted four consecutive years with no reduction in crop insurance assistance for succeeding insured crops;
• Make crop insurance assistance more reflective of production capabilities on all native sod that is converted to cropland nationwide;
• Require producers who convert native sod to cropland to certify to the Farm Service Agency the number and location of acres of native sod that are converted in an existing automated crop certification system so the converted acres would be accurately tracked;
• Apply to both crop insurance and the Noninsured Crop Disaster Assistance Program.

A loophole in existing sodsaver statute allows producers to plant non-insurable crops on newly converted native sod for four successive years. After the four successive-year window, producers could then plant insurable crops, such as corn, wheat, and soybeans, without any reduction in crop insurance assistance. The American Prairie Conservation Act requires four cumulative years of crop insurance assistance reductions before insurable crops planted on native sod that are converted to cropland are no longer subject to sodsaver provisions.

U.S. Sens. Mike Rounds (R-S.D.) and Michael Bennet (D-Colo.) are cosponsors of the American Prairie Conservation Act.

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Rounds: Fairer, Lower, Simpler Tax Code Will Unleash the Full Potential of the American Economy

WASHINGTON—U.S. Senator Mike Rounds (R-S.D.) today delivered remarks on the Senate floor calling for a simpler, lower, fairer tax code that will improve our economy, create new jobs and increase wages for the American people.

“It is our intention to deliver policies that will jolt our economy, allow hard-working families to keep more of their paychecks and provide financial opportunities to lower and middle-class families,” said Rounds on the Senate floor. “I am encouraged by the ongoing discussions and progress being made to alleviate the tax burden on American businesses and hardworking families, and I will continue to work with anyone serious about lowering taxes and reforming the code to provide a much-needed jolt to our sluggish economy.”

I might have to work myself up to walking and chewing gum at the same time  🙂  But Sioux Falls Mayoral Candidate Paul TenHaken is looking for those who can do a bit more:

Mayor Candidate Greg Jamison demands release of Premier Center document

Greg Jamison Mayor candidate called upon the city administration to release all reports and documents related to the Premier Event Center.

“Hiding behind legal formalities to keep details secret on our city’s crown jewel is no way to run a city government,” said Jamison.

“We need to be completely transparent with taxpayers’ money and give the City Counselors all the information so they can better serve the taxpayers that have elected them,” Jamison added “not releasing this information and/or calling it a draft is bad public policy.”

This is not the first time Jamison has called on the current administration to be more open. One of the main issues Jamison has pushed in city government is full disclosure on how taxpayer funds are being spent.

As a State Legislator, he continued the fight for openness and proposed HB1166. The legislation would have curbed confidential agreements involving taxpayer money. At Jamison’s announcement, he once again put openness in government at the forefront of his campaign.

“Secrecy breeds mistrust and can cost taxpayers money and doesn’t reflect what the taxpayers want.  As mayor, I will have an open door, open books and an open mind,” Jamison concluded.

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Gubernatorial Candidate Marty Jackley’s campaign released the following video in conjunction with his official announcement tour:

Thune’s Autonomous Vehicle and TSA Aviation Security Bills Pass Commerce Committee
TSA Modernization Act, AV START Act clear key Senate hurdle with Commerce Committee passage

WASHINGTON — U.S. Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.), chairman of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, today applauded the committee’s passage of his bipartisan TSA Modernization Act and the American Vision for Safer Transportation Through Advancement of Revolutionary Technologies (AV START) Act. They now head to the Senate floor for consideration.

S. 1885, the AV START Act, advances efforts to improve roadway safety through the deployment of self-driving vehicles. Highly Automated Vehicles (AVs) have the potential to significantly reduce traffic fatalities and bring mobility and efficiency benefits to America’s transportation system. U.S. Sen. Gary Peters (D-Mich.) is the lead Democrat cosponsor for S. 1885.

“Today’s vote underscores the bipartisan desire to move ahead with self-driving vehicle technology,” said Thune. “Sen. Peters and the members of the Commerce Committee deserve credit for working together to move this bill forward toward Senate floor consideration and collaboration with our colleagues in the House of Representatives. The safety and economic benefits of self-driving vehicles are too critical to delay.”

S. 1872, the TSA Modernization Act, includes reforms of the Transportation Security Administration’s (TSA’s) organizational structure, provisions to advance development and acquisition of new security technologies, improvements of public area security, and pathways to mitigate frustrating security delays. In addition, S. 1872 would authorize funding at TSA for three years, $7.81 billion in fiscal year (FY) 2018, $7.85 billion in FY 2019, and $7.89 billion in FY 2020, while reauthorizing TSA aviation security policies and programs. The total budget authority for TSA in FY 2017 was $7.77 billion.

“I’m glad the TSA Modernization Act passed a key Senate hurdle today,” said Thune. “This legislation creates more stability in the agency’s leadership and makes critical reforms to advance security measures for the flying public, while also minimizing delays. I look forward to working with my colleagues to advance this bill through the Senate, which would help keep travelers safe and give them additional peace of mind when they travel.”

The committee also approved bipartisan legislation to establish a national suicide prevention hotline and five nominees subject to Senate confirmation.

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It’s interesting watching the event center debacle as the Huether Administration continues down the road in lame duck mode, and his successors line up for next years’ election. What I think the unanimous consensus is going to be regarding his final months in office is that in the zeal of his endless and shameless self-promotion, he screwed up. Badly.

The settlement over what were termed ‘defects’ in the siding for the crown jewel in Huether’s building spree, the events center, had been promoted by Huether vaguely as a million-dollar settlement…. but no one could verify it because it was ‘secret,’ so we all had to take his word for it.

After the Sioux Falls Argus Leader successfully sued the City for the disclosure of the agreement, there was an immediate information dump by the city with little to no comment. And with every new disclosure, the heap of dung that Huether had apparently sold the City of Sioux Falls started to smell worse and worse.

Initially, Sioux Falls residents were outraged over the fact that despite alluding to it, or at least failing to correct people’s misperceptions, Huether had left people with the impression that the settlement for the city was a million dollars in cash, yet the truth was that this was a false impression. Maybe not an outright lie, but a misunderstanding that was intentionally not corrected at the highest level.

The truth? Everyone pitched in a little. Which wouldn’t be unusual in a settlement, yet ever the huckster, Huether spent his time trying to make it appear to be an outright win.

Fast-forward in time, and now in the latest revelation, we now find that of the million dollars Mayor Huether was claiming the city of Sioux Falls received in the settlement, nearly half of that was in a contingency fund that they would have received back anyway… making that million dollar settlement closer to a $500,000 one.

But councilors zeroed in on money from a contingency fund, which the primary contractor M.A. Mortenson used to make a portion of its contribution to the settlement. According to the settlement, Mortenson contributed about $515,000 toward the settlement using money from the construction manager contingency fund.

and…

But for Councilor Greg Neitzert, that answer was a semantical one. The contingency money did belong to the city even though Mortenson would have had a right to it should the city ask for a building feature to be corrected, he said.

“We were going to get the $500,000 back if there were no latent defects anyway,” Neitzert said.

Read that here.

Coming after a secret settlement started all of this, the latest newspaper headline on the topic blares “Premier Center settlement: City Hall won’t release forensic report,” where the City Administration is leaning on a report being “a draft” versus being “a final report” as the excuse for not releasing the document to the public.   Not releasing a report that many seem to think should be public information. On a technicality?

That seems to be the kind of thing that got the Mayor’s administration in trouble in the first place.

in recent years, Mayor Huether seemed bound and determined to be launching a political career of some nature. Unfortunately for Huether, his autocratic self-promotion has been obvious, and his utter unwillingness to express any ‘mea culpas’ over unforced errors is now on public display for the state’s citizens.

And it all comes right at a time when if he intended to make the jump to statewide office, he would need to do so.  But, at this juncture I don’t think Huether would stand a snowball’s chance in hades of being able to run a statewide political campaign.   Politically, I think you can get the tongs out, because this weiner is done.

As for legacy? I think it’s an understatement that currently Huether is going out on a bad note.  I think the media is going to be digging around to quantify “how bad” the tune is being played for months to come.

Ultimately, legacy is up to history to determine.

But you have to admit, in recent days, it sure looks like his administration is doing its best to end badly.

Noem Supports Life, Helps House Pass Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Rep. Kristi Noem today joined the U.S. House of Representatives in passing H.R.36, the Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act. Cosponsored by Noem, the legislation bans abortion after 20 weeks – the point at which studies have shown an unborn baby can feel pain.

“A strong and growing body of medical research provides evidence that at 20 weeks, unborn babies can feel pain – and still, our federal laws allow for these babies to endure the pain of a life-ending abortion,” said Noem. “Every life – including an unborn baby’s life – has dignity and value, so while I believe we have a long way to go to protect the smallest among us, the Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act is a step in the right direction that I’m proud to support.”

Noem believes this legislation is a step in the process of protecting all unborn lives. She is also a cosponsor of H.R.490, the Heartbeat Protection Act, which would protect babies once a heartbeat is detected, and H.R.681, the Life at Conception Act, which she helped introduce and would define life as beginning at conception.

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