Gov. Rhoden Expands Economic Opportunity in Aberdeen

PIERRE, S.D. –  Today, Governor Larry Rhoden expanded economic opportunity in Aberdeen by supporting Aberdeen’s new public works facility, business park, and “Future Makers Lab by 3M.”

“Economic development is about opening doors of opportunity for our kids and grandkids to pursue their dreams right here in South Dakota,” said Governor Larry Rhoden. “I am proud of the work Aberdeen is doing to open doors for the next generation. I’m confident that these projects will propel Aberdeen and South Dakota towards an even brighter future.”

Last year, Governor Rhoden announced support for two new business parks in Aberdeen with a $1 million award from the Future Fund. Today, Governor Rhoden and local leaders broke ground on the first of the two business parks, Roosevelt Business Park, and a new public works facility that will create the infrastructure needed to support Aberdeen’s continued growth.

Governor Rhoden also cut the ribbon on Aberdeen Public Schools’ new “Future Makers Lab by 3M,” which transforms traditional school spaces into hands-on labs for engineering, robotics, and advanced manufacturing. 3M has worked with approximately a dozen schools across the United States to create these labs, which are designed to support students on their career journeys, fill future hiring gaps, and help the local community.

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From my mailbox, a reader was pointing out that while Democrat/Independent/whatever US Senate candidate Brian Bengs pretends to call himself not a Democrat on the issues.. he’s not very Republican either. At all:

South Dakota Right to Life recently endorsed Mike Rounds.

This should come as no surprise to anyone. Mike has been a staunch pro-life advocate. He’s consistently opposed taxpayer-funded abortions in the Senate and supported the Hyde amendment.

Brian Bengs, on the other hand, is a pro-abortion advocate running in a state that just rejected a pro-abortion Constitutional amendment (Amendment G).

Mike has the voting record to back up his pro-life beliefs. Bengs, meanwhile, has his own public statements putting his out-of-touch positions in full view.

Back in August on Hub City Radio in Aberdeen, Bengs clearly outlined his pro-abortion stance, stating that “Roe had it right”. In other statements, he’s claimed the U.S. Supreme Court “got it wrong” on the Dobbs decision, which overturned Roe v. Wade and restored the constitutional right of states to enact abortion restrictions.

In that same Aberdeen interview, Bengs asserted that women should have the right to choose up to the point of viability—liberal code for abortion on demand.

Just look at who is actively defending Bengs on Facebook: Nancy Turbak Berry, a prominent leader in South Dakota’s pro-abortion movement. She worked alongside Bengs to push Julian out of the race (read her column here) and serves as co-chair for the state’s current pro-abortion initiative (read about that here).

If you’re a South Dakota voter and your top issue is Life, the choice is clear: Mike Rounds for Senate.

So, Bengs bombed on the NRA score. Bengs has now been bounced on Life issue. I can’t wait to see what else he claims to be “Republican” on.

A Stable Future for College Sports
By Sen. John Thune 

College sports has a unique place in South Dakota. It’s deeply rooted in our communities and families. Many college athletes at our state’s schools are South Dakotans themselves, and they have the opportunity in college to compete at a high level with the support of their friends, parents, and neighbors.

Anyone who knows me knows I’m a big sports fan, and I spend a lot of time at games around South Dakota. But in the last several years, whether I’m in a high school gym on a Friday night or at a tailgate on a Saturday morning, the current state of college athletics is bound to come up in conversations with fellow fans. Anyone who follows college sports knows that these last few years have been complex and, at times, chaotic, and that the status quo cannot continue.

At the end of September, the U.S. Senate passed a bill to restore stability to the college sports ecosystem. The Protect College Sports Act would preserve the opportunities that have been available for generations of student athletes while ensuring these opportunities can coexist with the new opportunities available to the current generation of athletes.

Restoring stability to college sports begins with uniform eligibility rules. The Senate-passed bill would limit athletes to one transfer without loss of eligibility, a maximum five years of playing time, and bar professional athletes from competing in college athletics. Additionally, it would bring transparency to athlete compensation and protect student athletes from bad actors. And importantly, the Protect College Sports Act includes safeguards that preserve opportunities in women’s and Olympic sports.

This bill has been a work in progress for a number of years. I’ve sat down with college athletes, coaches, athletic directors, and college presidents in our state. Their input has been invaluable, and I’m proud that this bill has support from South Dakota universities and, most importantly, from hundreds of thousands of student athletes around the country.

As an athlete, fan, and member of a sports family, I’ve seen how sports shapes individuals and opens doors for them. My dad was a Big 10 basketball star in the 1940s. He had the chance to play point guard for the University of Minnesota, where he was the team MVP and the high point man at a game in Madison Square Garden – quite a journey for a small-town kid from South Dakota. My daughter ran cross country and track at Belmont University and was inducted in that school’s hall of fame.

The Protect College Sports Act is about ensuring that the same opportunities that were available to my dad and daughter will be available to the next generation of student athletes. We have a responsibility to protect college sports and preserve stability for athletes so they can focus on their sport, their education, and their future.

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Coming Home
By: Gov. Larry Rhoden
October 2, 2026

  A few weeks ago, I did something I never thought I’d do – I joined a cheer routine at a Brandon Valley High School football game! Their marching band had just learned the exciting news that they were selected to play in the 101st Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade in 2027. Waving pom poms in the air was certainly outside of my comfort zone, but it was an honor celebrating our incredible students and their accomplishment. They were playing against O’Gorman High School, and I was met with the same energy on the other side of the field.

There is something special about homecoming. For a few days each fall, an entire community comes together. Students, teachers, and their family and friends all have a reason to show school spirit. It doesn’t matter what grade you are in, what your background is, or what you do outside of school. You are part of the same community, and everyone comes together to celebrate.

Recently, I was in Aberdeen for Northern State’s Gypsy Days. A college town homecoming is one of the best examples of the spirit of community, and there were as many folks in that parade as I’ve seen anywhere! Whether you are walking in a parade, down main street, or into a stadium for the big game, the energy is palpable. Alumni come back to visit their alma mater and reminisce about the faculty who invested in them, the friendships they created, the games they attended, and the memories they made.

Our schools are not just places where students learn. They are places where our kids and grandkids discover their talents, build friendships, and learn how to lead. And South Dakota is blessed to have so many dedicated educators that encourage them along the way.

As Governor, I want every young South Dakotan to know that our state is Open for Opportunity. You don’t need to move away to land your dream job – there are opportunities for you right here at home. Whether your future takes you into agriculture, healthcare, manufacturing, education, technology, entrepreneurship, or public service, South Dakota is a place where you can build a good life.

But if you do choose to leave for college, a career, or another opportunity, South Dakota will always be a place for you to come home to.

I am proud to call South Dakota home. And I am even more proud of the kids and grandkids who will carry that tradition forward and keep South Dakota home for generations to come.

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For the Future
By Rep. Dusty Johnson
October 2, 2026

BIG Update

I spoke with a new generation of business leaders from the Sioux Falls area participating in the Leadership Sioux Metro program. These individuals represent a wide range of industries and communities across the Sioux Falls region, bringing different experiences and perspectives to the table. We had a great conversation about the importance of community, leading authentically, and finding ways to make a meaningful contribution to an organization. I enjoyed hearing about their experiences and discussing how today’s leaders can help shape the future of Sioux Falls and the surrounding communities.

Johnson speaks with Leadership Sioux Metro participants

BIG Idea

Legacy Elementary School in Tea was recently named a South Dakota Blue Ribbon School, recognizing the hard work happening in the classroom every day. I toured the school and had the opportunity to talk with administrators, teachers, and students about what they’re working on and what makes Legacy such a special place. The school’s staff is dedicated to helping students succeed, and it was great to see that commitment firsthand. Strong schools are the foundation of strong communities, and it’s encouraging to see educators, families, and students working together to give kids the tools they need to succeed.

Johnson at Legacy Elementary in Tea

BIG News

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services announced a $13 million investment in behavioral health care for South Dakota through the Rural Health Transformation Program. I’ve been advocating for increased support for behavioral health, and this funding will help expand access to these critical services across our state. Congress established the historic Rural Health Transformation Program to provide long-term solutions to the health care challenges facing rural America. This investment is another step toward strengthening South Dakota’s rural health care system and ensuring patients can access the care they need closer to home. The administration will continue announcing program awards to support South Dakota’s rural and tribal health care needs.

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Rounds Calls for Federal Gas and Diesel Tax Suspension to Lower Prices at Pump, President Trump to Invoke Defense Production Act

PIERRE – Senator Mike Rounds (R-S.D.) called for a suspension of the federal gas and diesel tax for 90 days in a letter today to President Donald Trump. Additionally, Rounds asked states to consider suspending their own gas and diesel taxes. This would temporarily save consumers on average 60 cents per gallon on diesel fuel and 52 cents per gallon on gasoline. To offset the loss of revenue to the Highway Trust Fund, Congress can consider authorizing a one-time transfer from the General Fund. Rounds also urged President Trump to consider using his authority under the Defense Production Act to help domestic refineries expand their capacity, including refining capacity that is already online.

“The prices at the pump are being driven by a global shortage of refining capacity,” wrote Rounds. “Americans feel the impact of this refining bottleneck every time they fill up at the pump, but farmers can’t stop their tractors and combines in the middle of harvest, and truckers can’t quit running their routes. We need to act now to bring down the price of diesel. The solution is one that you have promoted since your first Administration: unleash American energy dominance.”

“Broader regulatory changes will of course take time. What we can and should do right now is explore suspending the federal gas tax through the end of the year to give Americans immediate relief,” continued Rounds. “The federal gas tax is 24.4 cents per gallon on diesel fuel and 18.4 cents per gallon on gasoline…Those savings would make a huge difference for the American people.”

Read the full text of the letter HERE or below.

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Dear President Trump:

I write to urge you to use your authority under the Defense Production Act to help domestic refineries expand their capacity. Democrats are telling the American people that the conflict with Iran is the sole cause of high fuel costs and that, if the conflict ended today, fuel prices would magically plummet tomorrow. As you know, that is false. Oil is flowing through the Strait of Hormuz. The prices at the pump are being driven by a global shortage of refining capacity—a weakness in the global fuel supply chain that we should start addressing here at home.

Severe refining deficits across Russia and the Middle East have left the United States and China as the last major refining powers standing. Americans feel the impact of this refining bottleneck every time they fill up at the pump, but farmers can’t stop their tractors and combines in the middle of harvest, and truckers can’t quit running their routes. We need to act now to bring down the price of diesel. The solution is one that you have promoted since your first Administration: unleash American energy dominance. In this case, that means invoking the Defense Production Act to expand domestic refining capacity.

Your authority under the Defense Production Act is tied to national defense, which Congress defined to include “programs” for “energy production or construction.” The Act authorizes you to prioritize contracts relating to “materials, equipment, and services” in order to “expand . . . refining” and to “provide for the modification or expansion of privately owned facilities.” You also have the authority to incentivize domestic refinery expansion through loans and loan guarantees, subsidy payments, and purchase commitments. Together, these authorities can be wielded as powerful tools to expand refining capacity, including refining capacity that is already online. We won’t see the results overnight, but the sooner we start, the better.

More broadly, we need to ease permitting requirements and cut through the other bureaucratic red tape obstructing American fuel production. As we clear these regulatory logjams, we also need to confront the bigger question of why no new major refinery has opened in the United States since the 1970s. Oil and gas companies are understandably hesitant to invest billions in new refineries when a change in the political winds could spell disaster. After all, onerous regulations and high compliance costs in California, a notoriously oil-and-gas-unfriendly state, recently forced two refineries to close. We need laws and policies that give oil and gas companies confidence to invest in large-scale refineries here at home, not regulations that stifle the industry.

These broader regulatory changes will of course take time. What we can and should do right now is explore suspending the federal gas tax through the end of the year to give Americans immediate relief. The federal gas tax is 24.4 cents per gallon on diesel fuel and 18.4 cents per gallon on gasoline. To offset the loss of revenue to the Highway Trust Fund, Congress can consider authorizing a one-time transfer from the General Fund. I also strongly encourage States to consider suspending, or at the very least reducing, their own gas taxes. The average State gas tax is 35.5 cents per gallon on diesel fuel and 33.3 cents per gallon on gasoline. Suspending both federal and State gas taxes would amount to an average savings of 60 cents per gallon on diesel fuel and 52 cents per gallon on gasoline. Those savings would make a huge difference for the American people.

Please let me know how I can be of assistance. I greatly appreciate your consideration.

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Attorney General Jackley Announces South Dakota Circuit Court Rules Murder Defendant Received Effective Defense Counsel

PIERRE, S.D. – South Dakota Attorney General Marty Jackley announces a South Dakota Circuit Court has ruled a woman who was sentenced to prison for murder received effective defense counsel.

Maricela Diaz and Alexander Salgado were accused of killing Jasmine Guevarra in 2009 in a rural area of Hanson County. Diaz was convicted of her charges, and Salgado pled guilty to his charges.

“Diaz was not convicted due to any error of her trial counsel.  She was convicted because the evidence of her role in this murder was conclusive,” said Attorney General Jackley. “This ruling brings this case a step closer to final justice for Jasmine and her family.”

At the time of the crime, Diaz was a juvenile but was tried in adult court. She wasconvicted by a Minnehaha County Jury of First Degree Murder, Felony Murder Arson, First Degree Arson, Felony Murder Aggravated Kidnapping, and Second Degree Aggravated Kidnapping. She received an 80-year prison sentence for First Degree Murder and a concurrent 50-year sentence for Second-Degree Aggravated Kidnapping.

South Dakota’s Supreme Court upheld the murder conviction.

Diaz filed a Habeas Corpus petition in Hanson County Circuit Court stating that she did not receive effective defensive counsel. An evidentiary hearing on her request was held in that court this past February.

The court ruled that Diaz failed to show that her counsel’s performance was deficient or deprived her of a fair trial.

Salgado was sentenced to life in prison after pleading guilty to second-degree murder.

The Attorney General’s Office represented the State at the Circuit Court hearing for Diaz.

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Gov. Rhoden and Colleagues Urge Passage of Permitting Reform

PIERRE, S.D. – Today, Governor Larry Rhoden and 21 fellow Republican governors urged Congress to pass permitting reform to cut red tape, lower energy costs, and strengthen our nation’s infrastructure. You can find a copy of the statement here.

“Republican governors are working every day to cut red tape, increase investment, and make our states the best places in the world to build, innovate, and do business,” wrote Governor Larry Rhoden and his colleagues. “Unfortunately, outdated federal bureaucracy continues to delay critical energy and infrastructure projects and drive up costs for hardworking families at a time when speed and efficiency matter most.”

The Bipartisan American Affordability and Jobs Act would deliver cheaper energy, good-paying jobs, and responsible growth – all while ensuring AI data centers pay for their increased electricity use. Earlier this year, Governor Rhoden signed the “Data Center Bill of Rights,” which similarly protects South Dakotans from increased utility costs and utility shortages caused by data centers.

“Republican governors urge Congress to act swiftly, pass meaningful permitting reform, and send this legislation to President Trump’s desk,” continued Governor Rhoden and his colleagues. “By bringing greater certainty and accountability to the permitting process, we can unleash American energy dominance, strengthen our grid, bring manufacturing and investment back home, and ensure the United States leads the next generation of economic growth.”

Governor Rhoden was joined in signing this statement by Alabama Governor Kay Ivey, Alaska Governor Mike Dunleavy, Arkansas Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders, Georgia Governor Brian Kemp, Idaho Governor Brad Little, Indiana Governor Mike Braun, Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds, Louisiana Governor Jeff Landry, Mississippi Governor Tate Reeves, Missouri Governor Mike Kehoe, Montana Governor Greg Gianforte, Nebraska Governor Jim Pillen, Nevada Governor Joe Lombardo, North Dakota Governor Kelly Armstrong, Oklahoma Governor Kevin Stitt, Puerto Rico Governor Jennifer González-Colón, South Carolina Governor Henry Dargan McMaster, Tennessee Governor Bill Lee, Utah Governor Spencer Cox, West Virginia Governor Patrick Morrisey, and Wyoming Governor Mark Gordon.

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From South Dakota Democrats on Facebook, they are oddly showing their candidate for Congress on a box in the photo.

I’m guessing that’s a soapbox that “gun-grabber Gronli” is standing on.

Gov. Rhoden and Colleagues Protect Missouri River

PIERRE, S.D. – Earlier this week, Governor Larry Rhoden and five Governors urged congressional leaders to protect resource management of the Missouri River. They sent a letter to leadership on the U.S. Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works and the U.S. House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure. You can find a copy of the letter here.

“We look forward to working with you to ensure that any final legislation respects established principles of federal and state law while supporting the long-term needs of communities throughout the Missouri River Basin and beyond,” wrote Governor Larry Rhoden and his colleagues.

The letter urged congressional leadership to protect resource management of the Missouri River by removing Section 120 from the 2026 Water Resources Development Act.

According to Section 120, water cannot be diverted or exported from the Missouri River or any of its tributaries without unanimous approval from Colorado, Minnesota, Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, and Wyoming governors. Furthermore, unanimous approval by the Missouri River state governors is required for the Corp of Engineers to simply study the possibility of such projects.

“Section 120 would grant the 10 governors of the Missouri River states absolute veto power over an entire sector of interstate resource distribution without any standards or guiding principles…This subordinates the Corps of Engineers’ statutory duties based solely on the whim of a single governor,” continued Governor Rhoden and his colleagues. “Such a provision is certain to invite protracted litigation, as well as delay necessary infrastructure projects.”

Governor Rhoden was joined in signing this letter by North Dakota Governor Kelly Armstrong, Colorado Governor Jared Polis, Montana Governor Greg Gianforte, Utah Governor Spencer Cox, and Wyoming Governor Mark Gordon.

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