Author: @SoDakCampaigns

South Dakota Democrats had a presser this AM that they live-streamed to make a big announcement:

So you don’t have to try to get the time back in your life, I took one for the team, as Democrat activist & former Minnehaha Dem chair Nikki Gronli droned on for far too long (8-10 min?) complaining about Trump and Musk, and Trump again until she got to the damn point: She and Julian Beaudoin are apparently hosting listening meetings across the state.

And once they are done? They are going to write a report and give it to our Congressional delegation.   I’m sure it will be a strongly worded report. And there might be bullet points in it. I would also expect a chart and that they use the best comb binding they can find, unless it’s a long report. Then they will put it in a binder.

This was worth a press conference?  I think they could have covered that in a press release.  And not necessarily a long one.

Certainly, not as long as it took them to get to the point.

After nearly a week of hot criticism over their demands that the National Guard be obligated to “shoot down these poison pushing planes,” I notice today that the South Dakota Chem Trail kooks have backed down slightly, and are now only calling for the National Guard to take “military action.”

So much for “doubling down” as these goofballs were pretending to claim they intended to do.

Either way, just another day in the decaying state of South Dakota politics.

Heard an interesting rumor that I’m working on tracking down.   Do you recall at the end of last year, when State Representative Chris Reder had a moment, and made noise that he was taking off and not going to serve in the legislature:

Read that here. This took place towards the end of November 2024.  Of course, that freaked a few people out (mainly the people who had just taken over the House), because a resignation could have tipped the balance of power.  And so I heard, he was convinced to walk that back:

Read that here.

I bring it up, because there are rumblings anew about Representative Reder, this time about the actual physical residence where he hangs his hat. And that it’s possibly other than South Dakota. I had a note last night indicating:

Heard Chris Reder fully moved to Minnesota – kept drivers license but sold his land. Since his (relative) said it, possibly true. 

What was I able to track down on this? A few interesting anecdotes.

First off, looking at Rep. Reder’s voter registration, the live data as of today indicates that he’s supposedly registered to vote at an address in Warner, SD:

Establishing where he claims to vote and supposedly legislates from is 13958 387th Ave, Warner, SD 57479, What else can we find out about that location?

There are on-line tax records for the county that show the landowner and taxpayer for that location is his DTOM 22/0 Foundation.  Here’s what I pulled off of the Brown County system today:

Okay.. but there’s more available from Brown County through the Register of Deeds office. Here’s where it starts to get more interesting. The current owners and taxpayer for that parcel in the land ownership system seems to be a bit more updated. And it’s not Chris Reder nor his DTOM Foundation:

The location Reder has on his voter registration is now owned by a business called “JH Rentals,” now owned by the neighbor down the road.

Reder’s foundation that had been at that farm address that he also uses as his legislative address? Interestingly, in filings with the Secretary of State, that Foundation seems to have changed Reder’s address in the corporate filings:

DTOM Foundation Paperwork B0345-5410 by Pat Powers on Scribd

Bagley, Minnesota. Not Warner, South Dakota.

On January 19, 2025 when this document was filed, this document shows Christopher D Reder as hanging his hat in Bagley, Minnesota, or at least where his business is located.  Reder would have been seated in the Legislature on about January 14th.   And anecdotally, I’m hearing reports that the land sale in Warner occurred in December.

Which would make sense given this article about the business, published in March of last year:

This was the biggest step for Reder in the process that DTOM would become the DTOM 22/0 Veterans Ranch north of Warner, S.D. Initially, they were able to build an outside arena, then a barn over the arena. The first horse was Max. Growth continued and they were able to assist veterans at no cost. It was at this time he knew he was fully committed and never looked back.

A nearly 10-acre ranch was purchased, where they worked until they ran out of room. After an exhaustive search for land, a 40-acre ranch was found south of Bagley. They moved to Bagley the summer of 2023.

Read that here.

So Reder’s entire Foundation operation appears to have moved out of Warner SD, selling the land last December where he maintains his voter registration and represents voters in Pierre from.  And the operation appears to have moved over to Minnesota where he is taking care of his horses.

Does Representative Chris Reder have any presence in the state besides a South Dakota Driver’s License at this point? Because if he doesn’t, then why isn’t he resigning?

Food for thought.

The infamous State Representative, Phil Jensen, earned the only “F” grade handed out this year on the scorecard issued by the South Dakotans for Criminal Justice group for the 2025 session:

Jensen earned his “F” grade for voting against bills and subjects such as providing victim services, prohibiting contraband from being brought in the prison, and other measures.

Some of Phil‘s fellow Freedom Caucus members didn’t score so well either, receiving D’s on the scorecard, such as Rep’s Aaron Aylward,  Tina Mulally, and Dylan Jordan. Also getting a D from the group were Kayley Nolz, Liz May & Spencer Gosch.

You can read the entire Facebook post with the scorecard here.

While some legislators like House Majority Whip Brandi Schefbauer and State Rep. Dylan Jordan are busy snuggling up to the nuts who want to shoot down airplanes over made up chem trail paranoid fantasies, I wonder if the former Democrats now running the South Dakota Republican party paid any notice to this rally that happened in Sioux Falls:

A crowd estimated in the thousands protested Saturday in downtown Sioux Falls as part of a nationwide movement to resist President Donald Trump’s agenda, with attendees focusing on the protection of things such as abortion rights, Social Security and free trade.

and..

There were also protests in Pierre and Rapid City. The South Dakota chapter of the national 50501 Movement (50 protests, 50 states, one movement) was an organizer, saying that the protests were staged to “resist executive overreach, defend democracy, and oppose the harmful policies of Project 2025.”

Read that here.

Not sure when the last time a crowd of more than 1000 people got together to complain about anything political in Sioux Falls, much less attend a rally against the President/GOP.

If the economy is not able to rehabilitate itself in the next year, or we’re in a drought, or both, it could be a bad mid-term election for the Republican Party.  When fortunes changed from Democrats to Republicans in a couple of statewide offices, it was the Obama midterm election.

Something to pay attention to.

State Representative Dylan Jordan received a sharp rebuke this morning from his predecessor as District Four State Representative.

Former D4 Representative Fred Deutsch had harsh words for his successor over Jordan signing a pledge to pass legislation to take military action against planes that people believe are spreading chem trails in the sky.

“This kooky political pledge has been making is way around conservative circles in South Dakota the last few days. When you see something that’s outrageously wrong, I think it’s important to speak out against it. It’s one thing to express your views about chemtrails, but it’s entirely another to advocate for legislation for the National Guard to “take military action” against aircraft flying over SD. That’s not just kooky, but wrong and dangerous. I wish my friends who signed this would disavow it.”  – Fred Deutsch

You might have a difference of opinion with Fred on a number of issues. But he is 100% correct that his successor has failed his district, and South Dakota in providing quality representation to his constituents.

Quality candidates matter. And I should not have to add “not crazy candidates” matter, but apparently I do.

Quit sending these people to Pierre.

Real Property Tax Relief
By: Gov. Larry Rhoden
April 4, 2025

Now that the legislative session is in the rearview mirror, I’m focused on looking forward and unlocking new opportunities for South Dakota. We had a historic 100^th legislative session, and we accomplished a lot for the people of South Dakota – but there’s more work to do!

I recently announced next steps to deliver a real property tax cut for the people of South Dakota. During legislative session, we passed my bill, Senate Bill 216, which delivered meaningful, impactful changes to slow down future increases in homeowner property taxes. Now, it’s time to go a step further.

I am proposing to the legislature’s Property Tax Relief Task Force that we give counties the option to cut homeowner property taxes by instead implementing a sales tax of up to 0.5%. The proceeds of that tax must go directly to homeowner tax relief – they cannot be used to grow government. And if homeowner taxes are completely offset, then whatever money is left must go towards commercial and agriculture property taxes.

This proposal will be referrable to a vote of the people, and the people could use an initiative process to put it on their local ballot themselves. This means that every county will have every opportunity to decide if this option is right for them.

During legislative session, we had a couple dozen property tax bills proposed. Only my Senate Bill 216 became law. One reason for that is because many of those bills tried to solve a five-county problem with a statewide solution. My new proposal addresses that by giving counties the option to choose what is best for their people.

It just so happens that many of the counties that have the biggest issues with property taxes are also the counties that see the most out-of-state visitors – like Minnehaha and Lincoln Counties in the Sioux Falls metro and several counties in the Black Hills. If those counties implement this proposal, they’ll shift a sizable portion of their local tax burden onto out-of-state residents, which saves money for South Dakotans.

My team will get to work with the legislature’s Property Tax Relief Tax Force to hammer out this proposal and get it into a final form. I promised to address property taxes for our people – and I am delivering on that promise.

I want to thank the people of South Dakota for the opportunity to serve as your Governor. Becoming governor in the middle of session was its own unique challenge and opportunity. I’ve really enjoyed getting around the state in the last couple of weeks on my Open for Opportunity tour, and that will continue in the weeks to come. I hope to see you in your hometown!

###

Fixing Biden’s Broken Broadband Program
By Sen. John Thune

 More than three years ago, Congress created the $42.5 billion BEAD program to bring broadband service to unserved parts of the country. It was the single largest federal investment in broadband expansion ever made. But to date, it has not connected a single household to the internet.

The reason? The Biden administration chose to load up this program with a slew of extraneous conditions that made it unworkable for many providers. The program’s requirements read like a progressive wish-list, and they bear little resemblance to what Congress envisioned for this program.

The Biden administration added irrelevant climate mandates. They required union labor and DEI hiring practices. The program prioritizes government-owned networks over private investment. And despite a clear prohibition on rate regulation in the law, the Biden administration tried to add that in, too.

So many extraneous requirements were added to this program that it couldn’t fulfill its core function, and we’re now in a situation where a $42 billion taxpayer-funded program hasn’t connected even a single household to the internet after three-plus years.

But now there’s a new administration in the White House. President Trump has expressed interest in finally getting this program off the ground, and the Commerce Department has begun to review these requirements. I recently led my colleagues in urging Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick to remove the Biden-era mandates that stopped the BEAD program from actually connecting unserved communities to the internet. By reviewing and ultimately eliminating these unnecessary requirements, we can ensure that this funding is finally deployed to expand broadband access to unserved areas quickly and efficiently.

The BEAD program is one particularly egregious example of the consequences of overregulation. The Trump administration and Republicans in Congress are working to eliminate some of the Biden administration’s burdensome regulations. Democrats don’t seem to see the downside of government mandates, but the American people feel them. Those mandates have costs: financial costs and opportunity costs. In the case of the BEAD program, it’s meant unserved areas have been kept waiting years for a reliable internet connection.

Regulatory relief continues to be a priority for the Trump administration and Republicans in Congress. The American people can be confident that we will continue working to eliminate the red tape that stifles progress.

###

Johnson: “We Must do Better for Tribes”

 Washington, D.C. – Today, U.S. Representative Dusty Johnson (R-S.D.) urged Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum and Department of Government Efficiency Chair Elon Musk to examine the waste, fraud, and abuse of funds for Indian country. Many healthcare, education, and law enforcement facilities in Indian country are not receiving the necessary funds for upkeep and operations.

“We believe in our duty to provide critical resources to tribes and tribal citizens. But as Members of Congress, we have a duty to ensure that federal taxpayer dollars are being used wisely,” wrote the members. “Funding must reach in-need tribal communities, rather than sit in an empty federal government building while Native Americans continue to face records levels of poverty, inadequate healthcare, and lack of proper law enforcement.”

Background:

In February, the House Natural Resources Oversight & Investigations Subcommittee held a hearing that highlighted the severe lack of oversight and mismanagement of the Bureau of Indian Education (BIE). Johnson advocated for this hearing earlier this year.

Examples of mismanaged funds:

• A Department of Interior (DOI) Office of the Inspector General (OIG) report showed one BIE-operated school had transferred $1.2 million in federal funds to an offshore account.
• A DOI OIG report demonstrated BIE’s systemic mismanagement and noted a more than $1 billion backlog in deferred maintenance.
• BIE was responsible for over $900 million in COVID-19 funds. Half of the COVID-19 funds used on purchase cards were flagged for being “elevated-risk transactions.”

The letter was signed by U.S. Representatives Troy Downing (R-MT), Jake Ellzey (R-TX), and Harriet Hageman (R-WY).

Read the full letter here.

###

Trucks and Trade
By Rep. Dusty Johnson
April 4, 2025

 BIG Update

Common food and drink names like parmesan, chateau, and bologna are used around the world to describe products to consumers. However, due to geographic indication to European locations, the European Union has begun using economic and political influence to implement unfair trade practices under the guise of protecting geographic indicators. These unfair trade practices have the potential to block United States agricultural products from being sold in international markets.

I, along with Senator Thune, reintroduced the Safeguarding American Food and Export Trade Yields Act to protect American food products. Our bill amends the Agriculture Trade Act of 1978 to include and define a list of common names for commodities, food products, and terms used in marketing and packaging of products. I’ll keep working to ensure American ag producers don’t face unnecessary barriers in foreign markets.

BIG Idea

As a recognized leader in Congress on transportation and infrastructure issues, Portland Cement Association asked me to give an update at their annual meeting about legislation I lead that they are supportive of.

We discussed my bill, the Fair SHARE Act, ensuring electric vehicles (EVs) contribute to the Highway Trust Fund (HTF) that supports repairs and upkeep for our roads and bridges. The HTF is on the road to insolvency and this bill is a step in the right direction towards funding our roads.

We also talked about my bill to increase shipping capacity for truckers, the SHIP IT Act. It increases safety, provides recruitment and retention incentives for drivers, and includes flexibility during times of emergencies – ensuring our supply chain is operating at its fullest potential. I look forward to advocating for these initiatives during highway reauthorization this Congress.

Johnson speaking at the Portland Cement Association meeting

BIG News

I’m sure you saw President Trump announce sweeping tariffs this week. Under President Biden’s trade policies, our country saw the largest ever trade deficit – more than $1.2 trillion in 2024 alone. While tariffs can be a powerful negotiating tool, I don’t support high tariffs as a long-lasting or permanent trade policy. We need to work quickly to secure better trade deals, reduce trade barriers, and deliver for American producers and consumers.

###