Author: @SoDakCampaigns

There was a column published yesterday in Inforum papers in North Dakota by Scott Hennen, who notes how South Dakota is tarnishing it’s reputation as a place where people want to do business when the state changes the rules after someone has a project in process by the rules that had been set:

South Dakota once gained a reputation as one of the most business-friendly states in the U.S. due to your pro-business policies and low taxes.

and..

But that great reputation is all being threatened by a group of misguided Republicans who have been duped by big-money lawyers and extreme environmental groups. They have taken over your legislature and your state party. They are standing in the way of President Trump’s “America First” energy agenda, which relies on infrastructure.

Gov. Larry Rhoden shared great wisdom when he warned legislators against changing the rules in the middle of the game. His plea to keep South Dakota open for business is being disregarded.

and..

A national energy company, GEVO, has invested $200 million already in a planned $1.63 billion plant in Lake Preston, S.D. Because of your toxic political environment, founder Dr. Patrick Gruber told me he may have to move the plant. “I have to go convince people from Wall Street to invest in South Dakota. How can I do that in a place that changes the rules of the game after we’ve started and spent money?”

Read the entire column here.

Instead of being a land of economic opportunity, South Dakota is quickly becoming the place where value-added agriculture goes to die.

We’ll see how this all plays out, but as usual, I suspect we’re going to be our own worst enemies.

Librarians out in the west are weighing in on how the lockup librarians act, House Bill 1239, will affect their ability to do what they do. And like many things in the library, you should read this:

“My initial reaction to HB 1239 was confusion as to why it is necessary and how it would be implemented,” said Grace Balloch Memorial Library Director Amber Wilde. “We already have procedures in place to handle concerns about specific books in our collection, and in over 20 years of working in libraries, I’ve only handled one ‘request for reconsideration’ form. The library board completed the reconsideration and sent the concerned patron a thoughtful response, and the matter was complete.”

And..

“If a library assistant allows a minor to check out an art book that contains an image of a nude figure — say, a Botticelli painting — that assistant could face criminal charges, a fine of up to $2,000, and/or up to one year in jail. The law would treat this the same as someone deliberately distributing pornography to minors,” Shoop said.

And..

“I kind of feel like this is another way for people who are trying to censor materials to go about it because they are not having success going to school boards and libraries,” Hahn said. “By removing protections that are already in the law, I think they are trying to intimidate librarians and school boards to keep them from picking materials that they think are going to get them in trouble.”

And..

Shoop said, “Ultimately, the responsibility for guiding a child’s reading choices should belong to parents, not librarians. We strongly encourage families to be involved in their children’s reading selections, using the tools and policies we have in place to make informed choices. Our role as librarians is to provide access to a broad range of materials that serve the needs of the entire community, not to act as gatekeepers making decisions for individual families.”

Read the entire story here.

Go read this story, if you read anything this weekend. The lock up librarians act will result in librarians being exposed to criminal charges, and will close many libraries in South Dakota simply because nobody wants to work there.

And for those who will remain open, they will likely refuse to check out books to children, for fear of going to jail.

If there is one piece of legislation this session that will underline to the public how awful the legislature is this year, this is it.

Attorney General Jackley Part of Coalition to Submit Final Proposal to End Google’s Search Monopoly

PIERRE, S.D. – South Dakota Attorney General Marty Jackley joins 37 other State Attorneys General and the U.S. Department of Justice in submitting a final package of remedies to end Google’s illegal monopoly over internet search engines and to restore competition to benefit consumers.

“The Federal Court has ruled that Google has a monopoly in online searches,” said Attorney General Jackley. “We are proposing remedies that ensure consumers will be fairly treated.”

The package of remedies, which was initially submitted last November, proposes a ban on all search-related payments to distribution partners, including Apple and Android partners. Google would also be required to divest Chrome, with the possible divestiture of Android if the initial set of remedies prove less effective than anticipated or if Google fails to comply with the decree.

Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser and Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti, who are leading the states on the litigation, have been in contact with the Justice Department’s Antitrust Division on the key issues related to the remedies package.

A hearing on the proposed remedies is currently scheduled to begin on April 21 and conclude by May 9, 2025.

The revised remedies proposal can be read here:

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From my mailbox, the Brookings County GOP has announced their Lincoln Day Dinner, April 25. AG Marty Jackley will be the emcee.

We’re Just Getting Started
By Sen. John Thune

 President Trump recently came to Congress to report on his first few weeks in office and lay out his vision for the next four years. In just a few weeks, President Trump has already accomplished an incredible amount, and this is just the start.

Chief among his achievements is restoring order to the southern border. In February, 8,450 illegal immigrants were caught trying to cross the southern border. Not long ago, Border Patrol was sometimes dealing with that many apprehensions in a single day. This turnaround means that Border Patrol can focus on the criminals, cartels, traffickers, and terrorists who once tried to hide behind the chaos.

President Trump has also wasted no time in addressing the national energy emergency our country faces. The United States is heading toward an energy crisis where we don’t have enough energy to meet demand. Instead of taking steps to increase our energy supply, the Biden administration pushed us further toward crisis with measures to restrict conventional energy development. President Trump and Republicans in Congress are already working to increase our nation’s energy supply to promote a secure and affordable energy future.

One of the signature accomplishments of President Trump’s first term was the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. Making that tax relief permanent is a priority for President Trump and congressional Republicans. We are hard at work laying the groundwork to protect American families, small businesses, and farmers and ranchers from a tax hike next year, and we will keep working to put more money in hardworking Americans’ pockets.

President Trump has also taken actions to restore commonsense in government. He’s worked to protect children from a radical gender ideology and keep biological men out of women’s and girls’ sports. He’s committed to eliminating 10 regulations for every new regulation his administration proposes. And the list goes on.

This is just the start. I’m proud that the Senate has already confirmed almost all of the president’s Cabinet. Senate Republicans helped get President Trump’s team in place faster than any of the last three administrations, and they’re on the job delivering on the promises President Trump made to the American people.

President Trump has brought a new direction to Washington and to our country. As always, I’m particularly grateful for President Trump’s faith in America. He reminds us of how blessed we are to live in this great country and that, in America, everything is possible.

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From my mailbox, the American Petroleum Institute released the following statement regarding Gov. Larry Rhoden signing HB 1052 into law yesterday.

“The American Petroleum Institute is disappointed by the signing of HB1052. This law could have negative implications for future infrastructure projects in which eminent domain has always been used as a last resort,” said Mike Karbo, Midwest Regional Director for API.  “Infrastructure is the backbone of commerce with large investments already being made in low-carbon fuel technologies nationwide. Our industry is committed to advancing a lower carbon future while delivering safe, affordable, and reliable energy to meet increasing demand here in the US and worldwide.”

 ###

The American Petroleum Institute represents nearly 600 members that produce, process, and distribute the majority of the nation’s energy. 

Former State Senator and recently retired SDGOP Chair John Wiik has taken to Facebook to offer his own opinion on the Fox News story taking the Dakota Scout to task for their reporting on former Governor Kristi Noem’s travel, where they claim the former Governor spent over $600,000, but are refusing the Governor’s position that her spending was just over $2000 during her time on office.

The post on facebook is as follows:

Wiik stated “I’ve spent a lot of time on our state budget. 600 thousand dollars is pretty much impossible to hide in the state budget. I never believed the reporting on Governor Noem’s credit card use, and I want you to hear from her side before you cast judgement.”

The Dakota Scout responded to the allegations brought up in the Fox News story with their re-publishing of a story from Sioux Falls Live, by Patrick Lalley whom Dakota Scout owners Jon Ellis and Joe Sneve used to work under at the Sioux Falls Argus Leader:

The Scout’s co-founders, Jonathan Ellis and Joe Sneve, declined to comment on the letter, other than to characterize it as a “frivolous attempt to throw a brush off pitch” meant to stifle further reporting on the amount of spending on state-issued credit cards that took place during Noem’s tenure as governor.

“We stand by our reporting and consider it an honor to bring the truth about government spending to South Dakotans,” the longtime South Dakota journalists said in a joint statement, adding that more stories are likely. “And we’re always willing to defend it in a court of law, too.”

Read that story here.

We have identified criminal leakers within @DHSGov and are preparing to refer these perpetrators to the @DOJ for felony prosecutions.

These individuals face up to 10 years in federal prison.

We will find and root out all leakers. They will face prison time & we will get justice… pic.twitter.com/KEtpJDtUNs

— Kristi Noem (@KristiNoem) March 7, 2025

Doing another drive-by for an update on the car accident that’s the South Dakota Republican Party, since the new group took over on February 22nd.

What has the new leadership of the South Dakota Republican Party accomplished in the two weeks they’ve been in charge?

• Announced they’re doing an audit for less than $2k. (Experts tell me that’s not what a real audit costs).
• They’ve lobbied against the Gov’s office to fix the Lt. Gov election situation.
• They spent the bulk of their time on HB 1052, lobbying for it, promoting a resolution for it, and making it the bulk of almost all their social media.
• They got facebook running after about a week and a half.  (No twitter yet.)

What else have they accomplished? Well…..

** It appears the SDGOP has managed to violate SDCL 12-5-15 which states pretty directly “The name and mailing address of the state party chairperson shall be certified to the secretary of state immediately following the election or appointment of the state party chairperson.”

What do we see on the Secretary of State’s website in this screen grab from 1pm this afternoon?

Why, this says John Wiik is the current South Dakota Republican Party chair, and Brett Koenecke is the current Treasurer.  Wouldn’t you agree, that would not appear to have been updated with the Secretary of State “immediately” after Feb 22 that Jim Eschenbaum is Chair and Tina Mulally is Treasurer?  There’s no filing with the SOS at all. Because, why would there be?

Was new chair Eschenbaum out of the area? Well, no. In fact:

Despite the new chair Jim Eschenbaum himself physically being in the State Capitol Building on March 3rd – this past Monday – and posting about being in the Capitol, and testifying in committee just 2 floors above the Secretary of State’s office, he couldn’t be bothered to take care of the Party business he was elected to do when he was in the building?

Last I checked, immediately does not mean 2 weeks after the fact.  New Treasurer Tina Mulally is also State Representative Mulally – and has been in the Capitol constantly for the last 2 weeks, one floor up from the Secretary of State.

Yet, neither got the job done.

** It also appears that the South Dakota Republican Party has managed to run afoul of the Federal Elections Commission’s guidelines at this point, because they also haven’t reported the party leadership changes to the FEC.

If information disclosed on the Statement of Organization ever changes, the committee must report that change within 10 days. Do this by filing an amended Statement of Organization. If the party committee isn’t an electronic filer, update the Statement of Organization by letter.

Read that here.

Here’s what the FEC’s information currently notes for the Republican party:

Yes, the SDGOP is an electronic filer. And no, there’s no records of them filing within 10 days, given that we’re now 13-14 days after the fact. Failure #2.

Under new chair Jim Eschenbaum, the leadership of the Republican party has only been all about pipeline posturing since his taking office. But he’s failing miserably in his first test of competency to actually run the South Dakota Republican Party.

Which is reporting to State and Federal Election authorities that he’s (supposed to be) the one in charge.

It’s going to be a long election season.

(But on the bright side, it will give us a lot to write about.)

From Facebook, former State Senator Brent Hoffman announces that he’s praying about running for office.

And in this case it might be appropriate to say a ‘Hail Mary,’ which would mirror the kind of campaign he’d be running if he intends to take on one of South Dakota’s longest serving political figures, former State Senator/Senate Majority Leader, former Governor, and current US Senator Mike Rounds:

Brent has been successful in prior runs for office for City Council in Iowa and now one term in the South Dakota Senate.  But I’m not sure he appreciates what he’d be taking on.  Especially from a Senator Mike Rounds who seems to have found a new fire to serve over the last couple of years, as the Senator has navigated his life in the time since his beloved wife Jean’s passing from cancer in May of 2021.

And Mike comes to the race with $1.8 Million plus in the bank to start his effort, along with the likely support of fellow South Dakotan and Majority Leader John Thune, who Rounds backed for the position and enjoys a good relationship with.

Brent’s reality is that he may be finding himself in a much different kind of race than he’s ever had to run before against an incumbent who is the embodiment of South Dakota nice.   So if Brent finds himself waking in the night, seeing lights and receiving a vision to run for US Senate, he might want to turn Netflix off and go back to sleep.