The South Dakota Ballot Measure group Citizens Against Assisted Suicide – a South Dakota nonprofit organization with a nine-member bipartisan board – is up and running to oppose the ballot measure currently being circulated to legalize physician assisted suicide in South Dakota.

And in one of their first salvos against the organized effort to kill grandma, they’ve produced an infographic handout to explain the problems with the measure:

You can download the handout yourself here: No Suicide Infographic – SDakota 2  

Anyone wishing to make a contribution to support their efforts can send a donation to:

Citizens Against Assisted Suicide. Inc
c/o Steve Haugaard, Treasurer
1610 East 69^th Street #302
Sioux Falls, SD 57108

Inquiries about the group can be sent to their spokesperson:

Sara Frankenstein
506 Sixth Street
Rapid City, SD 57701

Stay tuned – lots more to come on opposing the measure

This week at the Sturgis Rally, we may have to change the lyrics to a popular motorcycle anthem and sing “Get your Kristi running – Head out on the highway. Born to be Nooooooem!”

Most wouldn’t consider Congresswoman Kristi Noem a “Biker Chick,” but she fulfilled a promise as she learned how to ride a motorcycle, got her motorcycle license, and was Sturgis bound this past weekend where Kristi participated in the Freedom Ride this past weekend to honor veterans and support the SD Veterans Home in Hot Springs.

(And we’ve got the pics here at Dakotawarcollege.com!)

From facebook, here Congresswoman Noem addresses the group who participated in the ride.

Great stuff!  Enjoy the rally!

Noem Talks Tax Reform with South Dakota Manufacturer 

Madison, S.D. – Yesterday, Rep. Kristi Noem visited Manitou Americas in Madison, South Dakota, touring the manufacturing facility and discussing the impact of tax reform. Employing more than 200 employees in Madison, Manitou Americas manufactures Gehl and Mustang brand skid loaders.

“The work ethic of South Dakotans is second to none, and that is clear in the quality of products manufactured in our backyard at places like Madison’s Manitou facility,” said Noem. “Because of a broken tax code, however, American-made products are often at a competitive disadvantage – a reality that has tremendous impacts on the hardworking people who design, innovate and assemble these products as well. My goal with tax reform is to put more money in the pockets of taxpayers by lowering tax rates across the board and creating a competitive economy where job creation and wage growth become the norm.”

“It’s been great to be able to host Congresswoman Kristi Noem and to share some of the challenges that manufacturers are faced with,” said Dustin Williams, Plant Manager at Manitou Americas in Madison. “Manufacturing is a global endeavor now more than ever before, and the competition is fierce.  Over the past 60 years, the percentage of Americans involved directly or indirectly in manufacturing has declined from 1 in 4, to less than 1 in 10 today.  Because our country is faced with some of the highest corporate tax rates of any industrialized country, tax reform would be a very positive step toward leveling the playing field for manufacturing companies like ours.  We appreciate Kristi’s focus on this key issue.”

Noem is the first South Dakotan in history to serve on the powerful House Ways & Means Committee, which has jurisdiction over tax and trade policy. In June 2016, the committee released a comprehensive blueprint of a once-in-a-generation tax reform proposal. Working together with the Senate and the White House, the proposal aims to:

• Grow jobs and paychecks nationwide by lowering tax rates at every income level, separating wage income from small business income, and leveling the playing field for American businesses and workers to compete.
• Make the tax code fairer and simpler by increasing the standard deduction, eliminating the maze of unfair special interest loopholes, and ending the death tax.
• Help middle-class families by consolidating tax brackets, preserving and simplifying family-focused provisions, and encouraging savings and investment.

Independent analysis by the Tax Foundation found the proposal would help create around 5,000 jobs in South Dakota and increase take-home pay for the average household in the state by around $4,700.

For more on the House tax reform proposal, please visit waysandmeans.house.gov/taxreform

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US Senator Mike Rounds is making the… er, rounds.. in South Dakota next week with a pair of stops in Chamberlain and Deadwood as he sits down on a one-to-one basis with South Dakotans for Coffee and Conversation about the issues of the day.

According to a release from Rounds’ office, on Wednesday, Aug. 16, 2017, U.S. Sen. Mike Rounds will host “Coffee and Conversation with Mike” at the Chamberlain Community Center.

On Thursday, Aug. 17, 2017, Mike will host “Coffee and Conversation with Mike” at the Springhill Suites in Deadwood.

The public is invited to attend both events.

Wednesday, Aug. 16, 2017

3:30 p.m. CT
Coffee and Conversation with Mike
Chamberlain Community Center
112 N. Main St., Chamberlain, SD

Thursday, Aug. 17, 2017

3:30 p.m. MT
Coffee and Conversation with Mike
Springhill Suites
260 Lower Main St., Deadwood, SD

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Attorney General Jackley Receives National Leadership Award from Foundation for Advancing Alcohol Responsibility 

PIERRE, S.D.- Today, the Foundation for Advancing Alcohol Responsibility (Responsibility.org) announced the recipients of its 2017 Leadership Awards. Attorney General Marty Jackley was one of eight Attorneys General to be recognized for strong leadership to prevent drunk driving and underage drinking and promote teen driver safety.

Jackley was joined by Colorado Attorney General Cynthia Coffman, District of Columbia Attorney General Karl Racine, Montana Attorney General Tim Fox, North Carolina Attorney General Josh Stein, Oregon Attorney General Ellen Rosenblum, Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro and Wisconsin Attorney General Brad Schimel.

“The national leadership award is a strong recognition for all of South Dakota’s law enforcement community that serves to prevent underage drinking and to make our roads safe from impaired driving. I want to thank the Foundation for Advancing Alcohol Responsibility for its continuous work in the fight against underage drinking and drunk driving,” said  Jackley.

Attorney General Jackley was recognized today for his willingness to champion comprehensive impaired driving legislation and to nationally promote South Dakota’s evidence-based 24-7 Sobriety Program.

The Foundation for Advancing Alcohol Responsibility (Responsibility.org) is an independent, national not-for-profit that leads the fight to eliminate drunk driving and underage drinking and is funded by the following distillers: Bacardi U.S.A., Inc.; Beam Suntory Inc.; Brown-Forman; Constellation Brands, Inc.; DIAGEO; Edrington; Hood River Distillers, Inc.; and Pernod Ricard USA, dedicated to developing and implementing programs that guide a lifetime of conversations around alcohol responsibility and offering proven strategies to stop impaired driving. To learn more, please visit www.responsibility.org.

Noem Highlights Workforce Development Efforts at Lake Area Tech

Watertown, S.D. – On Monday, Rep. Kristi Noem hosted a roundtable in Watertown with local job creators and educators to discuss South Dakota’s workforce development needs. During the event, she heard from area business leaders and administrators at Lake Area Tech about the work already being done, the potential impact of a recent House-passed bill to support career and technical education, and the lessons learned in South Dakota that could be shared nationwide.

“We need to build stronger relationships between those training our workforce and those hiring our workforce,” said Noem. “South Dakota’s tech schools, including Lake Area Tech, have done a tremendous job educating folks for good-paying, in-demand jobs, but we must keep the momentum going. I’m grateful to everyone who participated today and offered insight on building opportunity for South Dakotans in a growing, modernized economy. Academia and business can’t operate independently of each other, which makes discussions like today’s so important.”

In June 2017, Noem helped pass H.R.2353, the Strengthening Career and Technical Education for the 21^st Century Act, through the U.S. House of Representatives. While the legislation awaits Senate action, the bill would:

• Empower state and local community leaders by simplifying the application process for receiving federal funds and providing more flexibility to use federal resources to respond to changing education and economic needs.
• Improve alignment with in-demand jobs by supporting innovative learning opportunities, building better community partnerships, and encouraging stronger engagement with employers.
• Increase transparency and accountability by streamlining performance measures to ensure career and technical education programs deliver results, empowering parents, students, and stakeholders with a voice in setting performance goals and evaluating the effectiveness of local programs.
• Ensure a limited federal role by reining in the secretary of education’s authority, limiting federal intervention, and preventing political favoritism.

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An interesting note went out form Neal Tapio recently to members of the media across South Dakota, including myself:

Response Requested.

Members of the Press:

In preparation for upcoming announcements, I am updating my press contact list.

Please provide additional contact information, including phone and email addresses, for your personnel interested in receiving press releases.

Thank you.
Neal Tapio
District 5 State Senator
Watertown, SD

South Dakota’s initiated measure provision in the constitution has a special place in our political history of populist empowerment. But, its being abused both by groups with national agendas, and by groups that having figured out how to hide their agendas in pages of political goulash – making it hard for the voters to find out what the ballot issue really entails. These ballot games of “gotcha” need to stop. With the trend towards more and longer ballot issues, backlash from the voters and the legislature could likely restrain or eliminate this important citizen right. Let’s fix it now and save a powerful force of the people.

In 1887, during the Populist Era of South Dakota politics, the initiative was added to our state’s constitution. To appreciate its birthing, read Principles Over Party: The Farmers’ Alliance and Populism in South Dakota by R Alton Lee, which was published by the South Dakota Historical Society in 2011. Another quick read on the history would be Chief Justice Gilbertson’s majority opinion in Brendtro v Nelson, 720 NW2d 670 (SD 2006).

THE CONSTITUTION

The text of the initiated measure provision can be found in Section 1 of Article III of the South Dakota Constitution:

The legislative power of the state shall be vested in a Legislature which shall consist of a Senate and House of Representatives. However, the people expressly reserve to themselves the right to propose measures, which shall be submitted to a vote of the electors of the state, and also the right to require that any laws which the Legislature may have enacted shall be submitted to a vote of the electors of the state before going into effect, except such laws as may be necessary for the immediate preservation of the public peace, health or safety, support of the state government and its existing public institutions. Not more than five percent of the qualified electors of the state shall be required to invoke either the initiative or the referendum.

THE LEGISLATURE’S ROLE

Dating back to at least 1921, our Supreme Court has recognized that the initiative and referral processes are not self-effectuating. The legislature is called to make “reasonable” laws to make these rights function properly.  The Legislature’s work can be found in SDCL Chapter 2-1

Recent history would indicate the legislature has new challenges to confront in carrying out its role in this area. The legislative committee tasked with this project might consider the challenges and solutions suggested below

THE CHALLENGES

We are long past the days of the public all gathering on a grassy knoll outside of Athens to debate and adopt governing laws with complete public input and involvement. There is no ability to have hearings for 830,000 South Dakotans to listen to the debate and propose amendments to a ballot proposal. The process has to be managed to account for this reality. The initiative has best served the public when the issue was concise and clear.

The Secretary of State’s archives no longer include the 1970’s ballot issue banning mourning dove hunting, but one can imagine that it was likely very short. The 1986 Memorial Day ballot issue was about one topic, when to celebrate Memorial Day, and occupied less than a half page. The 1992 Video Lottery repeal took two pages.

Conversely, the public financing of campaign and other topics bill, known as IM 22 on the 2016 ballot, ran for 34 pages! The 34 pages covered an ethics board and its powers, public financing of campaigns, limitations on lobbying and legislators, and a host of other topics. A citizen might well favor one or two paragraphs or pages, and not know about language buried somewhere within the other thirty-plus pages.

The current system works against meaningful citizen involvement. The language people are voting on is not on the ballot for them to read! The actual text of the proposals are also not readily available – only summaries by proponents, opponents, and the Attorney General. The current system is more like the Speaker Pelosi Obamacare approach of “we’ll read it after it passes”

THE SOLUTIONS

Here are at least two fixes to consider.

First, the “One Subject” provision in Article III, Section 21 of the South Dakota Constitution should be required for initiated measures:

No law shall embrace more than one subject, which shall be expressed in its title.”

It is time for the Legislature to implement this provision with respect to initiated measures. Since there are no meaningful hearings and there is no process to amend, citizens should be asked to vote on only one clearly identified topic in each initiated measure.  Increasing voter awareness of what they are voting on – and stopping the trick of hiding several topics somewhere back on pages 15 through 27 –  is an improvement to the initiated process, and shows respect for the voters. It’s hard to imagine, other than by those who abuse the initiative process, opposition to shining daylight into the ballot.

The second fix is about full disclosure and lots of sunshine. The entire issue the voter is being asked to vote on, should be printed out for them on the ballot they are asked to cast, or made available to them at the time they are asked to vote on the issue.

The Legislature could determine a number of words that would be printed at no charge and appear on the ballot – for example, a half a page. If the proposal is longer than that, the cost of printing ballots so that sufficient copies can be made available at polling places and to early voters would fall on the party proposing the lengthy initiated measure (beyond some reasonable length, this shouldn’t be a taxpayer burden).

If the first proposal was adopted – enforcing the Constitutional provision on One Subject – the second proposal would rarely be an issue. More importantly, the initiative would be restored to a meaningful decision-making experience by the electorate.  It would be the end of the menu of ballot goulash that leaves voters wondering what’s mixed into the mess they are served.

The 2018 Legislative session will mark the final legislative session for a handful of legislators who have managed to hold on until the bitter end of their last term, precluding them from running for the same legislative seat again.

And in at least one case, a couple of retirements sets up one of the most hotly contested legislative districts in the state for 2018 right in my backyard.

Here’s the list of who is no longer eligible for their office after 2018, according to the Legislative Research Council:

In the Senate, 2 Republicans and 2 Democrats are done. Jason Frerichs of District 1 is done. Deb Peters of District 10 is termed. Billie Sutton is done, which is likely why he’s rolling the dice for Governor, and Larry Tidemann in my home district (D7) in Brookings has reached the finish line.

In the House, Kris Conzet of District 32 is termed out, Minority Leader Spencer Hawley of Brookings is done in District 7, Tona Rozum of Mitchell (D20), Republican James Schaefer in 26B, as is Burt Tulson in District 2.

How are these vacancies going to affect the landscape?  My predictions and thoughts:

Frerichs being termed in District 1 Senate results in no net gain or loss for Republicans, so it’s not worth wasting much breath. Frerichs is still young, so likely he will perform a seat swap with distroct mates McCleery or Susan Wismer. Likely McCleerey, since Wismer is a House whip at this point, and recently returned to her house seat after losing to Daugaard in the last Gubernatorial race.

Deb Peters in D10 Senate is more interesting. At one time, that legislative District was a bit more competitive, bringing us Paula Hawks, and this last election brought us Michael Saba who seemed to be a better quality of candidate than Democrats usually provide. However, Saba handily fell to Steinhauer and Mike Clark.

Senator Deb Peters, who was just elected president of the National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL), is one of the state’s best on-the ground campaigners in addition to being one of the legislature’s point people on the budget. If she decides she wants a house seat, it very well may be hers. I’d put the odds at 50-50% that she’ll switch with Steinhauer or Clark, and run for the House.

Billie Sutton is in for Governor already from District 21, meaning the likely scenario will be the legislature’s resident somewhat conservative Democrat, Julie Bartling, will be running for Senate again. Qualm is House Majority Leader, so he’s not going to swap and challenge the seat.

However, I have heard of an interesting prospect that may run for the open seat (stay tuned for more on that later down the line).

And then we’re down to Brookings, which is going to be a wild ride next election. This has always been a faithful seat for the GOP, but this double term limit sets it up for a serious contest.

Senator Larry Tidemann  – who is well liked in this more moderate college town – has held the seat definitively. But, all good things must come to an end, as he has been termed out. After having retired from SDSU, and having served in both the House and the Senate, Tidemann is probably going to call his service to the citizens of South Dakota complete in the Legislature.

In the House in D7, Democrat Minority Leader Spence Hawley is termed out. Again, for Dem’s, he’s been a fairly safe seat in this moderate college town.  Unless Hawley is sick of being in the legislature, there’s a 95% chance he’s going to run for Senate. And frankly, he could be a challenge for Republicans if he decides to do so.

Who might run? Former Mayor Tim Reed who was just elected to the House seems more inclined to remain in the House for the time being, as opposed to hopping chambers right away. It remains to be seen if Republican Doug Post, who challenged Tidemann for the Republican Nomination for State Senate in 2016 and lost, can compete in what will be a difficult marquee race in a swing district.

The best chance for Republicans would be if the popular former State Rep. Scott Munsterman considers the race. He could handily beat Hawley out for the seat, in a contest which both parties would probably shift resources towards to swing the open seat their way.

Looking at the House seats, in D32, Conzet probably won’t challenge Alan Solano, who has proven to be a reliable conservative voice, and good campaigner in the State Senate, and may sit out a term or so should she decide to continue her political career, leaving an open seat.

Mitchell will have an open seat with Rozum’s departure.. and there’s always rumors about Carson possibly deciding to pass… maybe setting up a pair of open seats.

With Schaefer termed out in 26B, I’m hearing rumors of a person or two looking at it already. Although, I also hear rumors of Heinert (in D26 Senate) taking a new job, so that district could end up being a free for all.

And in District 2, with reliable Republican Burt Tulson calling it a day, that leaves an open seat in the House, with no prospects for the Senate opening up with Senator Brock Greenfield in Leadership.

Looking at that legislative makeup for District 2 – If you weren’t aware, Brock’s mom Lana Greenfield is in the House in that District – I might have to start a new committee – Draft Don Greenfield for House!   (Don’s a great guy, I’d love to see him there too!)

Stay Tuned!

It’s About Time
By Sen. John Thune

It was way back in August 1986 when President Reagan signed the last meaningful and comprehensive tax reform legislation into law. Randy Travis’s “On The Other Hand” was at the top of the country music charts, Bo Jackson was the first overall pick in the NFL draft, and Kimberley and I were in our second year of marriage. Just think for a moment about everything that’s changed in your own life over the last three decades: marriage, children, jobs, homes. Needless to say, reviewing, modernizing, and reforming our tax code is long overdue.

If you’ve ever flipped through the Internal Revenue Code – it’s not a light read – you’d know just how big and overly complex it has become. Most folks wouldn’t have to go to those lengths, though. For a lot of families, just filing their annual taxes can be a large enough burden. Even with online tax preparation programs and professional tax preparers, which nine out of 10 Americans now use, many people are still uncertain about their return’s accuracy when they file it.

There’s been a lot on the Senate’s agenda this year, but I’ve been working hard to get a head-start on tax reform so we can hit the ground running when the Senate returns to Washington from its summer state work period. While I’m back in South Dakota, I plan on visiting different parts of the state to take my message about pro-growth tax reform directly to the people who would be affected. With a code as massive as the one we have in the United States, it’s hard to find a single American whom tax reform wouldn’t touch.

My goals for tax reform are actually pretty simple. For starters, I believe we must provide middle-class tax relief, simplify the code, and pursue reforms that increase wages, jobs, and economic growth in South Dakota. While creating an environment for new job growth is important, I also think tax reform must encourage employers to keep good-paying jobs here at home. Finally, whatever we do, we must improve and strengthen America’s competitive edge in an ever-growing global economy. It’s not just the nation’s largest corporations, but also our hometown businesses that make up the supply chain that are at risk if America continues to fall behind in the global marketplace.

Setting these goals is the easy part. The hard, but necessary work of getting a bill on the president’s desk comes next. I’ve already introduced several individual tax reform bills this year to help lay the groundwork for that effort. If you’re interested in learning more about them, go to www.thune.senate.gov and click on the tax reform icon on my homepage.

Over the next few weeks and months, I look forward to hearing from you and continuing to work with my colleagues on the Finance Committee as we work toward creating a tax system that works for South Dakotans, not against them.

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