Author: @SoDakCampaigns

4 months after the Attorney General’s ballot explanation was submitted, it looks like Nick Reid, the sponsor of the jungle primary ballot measure has finally moved forward with circulating petitions.

With roughly 110 or so days left.. will they be successful? We’ll see.

South Dakota Closes 2021 Budget Year with a $85.9 Million Surplus

State’s Total Reserves Increase to $301.8 Million

 

PIERRE, S.D. – Today, Governor Kristi Noem announced that South Dakota closed the 2021 budget year on June 30 with a surplus of $85.9 million. Total general fund revenue for fiscal year 2021 finished $62.0 million higher than adopted estimates, and the state general fund budget ended with expenditures approximately $23.9 million lower than budgeted.

 

“Because of our respect for freedom and our continued emphasis on fiscal responsibility, South Dakota’s financial house is in order and positioned to ensure a safer, stronger, and healthier South Dakota for the next generation” said Governor Noem. “Our economy continues to be the strongest in America. Our low unemployment rate, strong labor force recovery, and terrific tourism numbers are generating historic revenues for the state.”

 

 South Dakota’s year over year growth in fiscal year 2021 was $274.2 million or 15.7%, compared to a ten year average of 4.6%. This historic growth is the largest that the state has seen in over 30 years; quite possibly in state history. Sales and use tax, which is the state’s largest revenue source, finished $26.6 million above estimates and grew 14% over the prior fiscal year, compared to a ten year average of 5%. The full fiscal year 2021 revenue metrics can be found at bfm.sd.gov.

 

“We will continue to be responsible stewards of the taxpayers’ money with an eye towards future economic difficulty,” continued Governor Noem “With Washington driving high inflation and the Federal Reserve planning to raise interest rates, our rainy day fund is in strong shape to weather whatever challenges may arise.”

 

By law, the fiscal year 2021 surplus of $85.9 million was transferred to the state’s budget reserves. The state’s reserves now total $301.8 million, or 16.6% of the fiscal year 2022 general fund budget. The state has held a AAA credit rating with all three major credit agencies since 2016.

 

###

Noem Waives Hours of Service Regulations to Deal with Fuel Shortage

PIERRE, S.D. – Governor Kristi Noem has signed Executive Order 2021-10 granting extended hours of service for the commercial delivery of petroleum products in South Dakota.

The order declares a state of emergency and exempts delivery of gasoline, diesel, jet fuel, and ethyl alcohol from federal motor carrier regulations on drivers’ hours of service. Residents and businesses in western South Dakota are faced with an unexpected shortage of supply.

“We are at the height of our tourism season, as well as a busy time for our agriculture industry. Maintaining the supply of fuel is crucial to preventing a disruption of service to two of our state’s major industries,” said Noem. “This 30-day order is meant to ensure a steady supply of fuel is available to our visitors, businesses, farmers, and ranchers in the western part of the state.’’

The governor noted that this is not just an issue within South Dakota, but a regional emergency that is being met with swift action.

Although hours of service have been temporarily suspended for commercial deliveries, companies may not require or allow fatigued drivers to make deliveries.

The executive order was signed July 17 and expires at midnight on August 16, 2021. All other road safety and vehicle compliance regulations still apply.

The executive order can be downloaded here.

Just got this great item from eBay this morning for my collection. Or at least for trading.

From the 1906 State Republican Convention in Jamestown, North Dakota.

I wish it was a South Dakota pin because the color is beautiful on it – this picture does not do it justice.

(Will anyone notice if I scratch out the ND?)

 

Demonizing and Defunding Police Has Consequences
By Sen. John Thune

American communities are less safe today than they were a year ago. Crime rates have surged since “defund the police” became a rallying cry. It’s no coincidence that cities that have slashed their police budgets have seen huge increases in violence. As of the end of May, Portland, Oregon, was on track to exceed 1,000 shootings for this year. In the first 14 weeks of 2021, New York City shootings were up 81 percent. In Oakland, California, carjackings are up almost 88 percent. Unfortunately, these are just a few examples.

The crime surge is real, and it is frightening. Statistics and percentages can seem abstract, but there are people behind every one of those crimes. People whose lives have been cut short or ravaged by violence. People whose sense of safety has been destroyed.

This won’t be a surprise to most South Dakotans, who overwhelmingly support our law enforcement officers, but defunding the police is a terrible idea. Some of the cities who cut their own police funding are even recognizing the mistake they’ve made and seeking to restore funding they cut. Unfortunately, the problem won’t necessarily be fixed that easily. Because the “defund the police” movement has not just resulted in smaller police budgets, it has also resulted in lower police morale, leading to a wave of police retirements and resignations.

Now, police departments are worried about having enough officers to keep their communities safe. It turns out that when you spend months vilifying police officers and demonizing them for doing their jobs, some of them no longer want to stay. To me, this is perhaps the worst consequence of the defund the police movement. Resources and equipment can be built back up again, but it’s a lot harder to replace good, seasoned officers – particularly right now, when it’s difficult to imagine why anyone would want to become a police officer. Why would men and women sign up for a job where they are regularly characterized as the worst kind of criminals? The sickening scene of protesters shouting “death to police” outside a hospital where two ambushed law enforcement officers were fighting for their lives has to be emblazoned on the minds of police officers nationwide.

The defund the police movement unjustly paints the entire law enforcement community as corrupt and immoral. We all know that simply isn’t true. Police officers are heroes in their communities – brave and committed Americans who put on the badge each day knowing the risk to their own safety. These are the people we call when we have a car accident, see someone in trouble or in need, or fear for our safety. These are the people who run toward danger and violence when the natural reaction is to run away from it. Our law enforcement officers deserve the highest level of respect.

Now, are there bad police officers out there? Of course there are. There are bad teachers out there too. And bad social workers. And bad businessmen. But just as it would be outrageous to demonize all teachers because of the few bad apples in their profession, it is outrageous to demonize the hundreds of thousands of dedicated Americans defending public safety because of a handful of bad officers.

We owe our men and women in law enforcement a great debt – a debt we can’t even fully comprehend. These men and women go out and risk their lives every day of the week, every month of the year, to keep us safe. And they bear a heavy physical and emotional burden. It’s tough to have to see evil on a daily basis – to spend years rescuing children who are in trouble or supporting victims of violence or bringing rapists to justice. They confront violence so that we don’t have to – and they pay a price. We owe them and their families our profound gratitude.

Democrats bear a substantial amount of responsibility for this situation. Far too many of them actively supported the “defund the police” movement and encouraged resentment toward law enforcement. It is disgraceful that anti-police rhetoric has become such an accepted part of our national conversation – and has been winked at or endorsed by so many Democrat leaders. We owe our police officers much better.

If any good can come out of all this violence and heartbreak, I hope it’s an increased recognition of how essential police officers are to keeping our communities safe and a rejection of any idea of defunding the police. It’s time to focus on protecting public safety and honoring the men and women who spend every day working to promote it.

###

Learning from Our Mistakes
By: Governor Kristi Noem
July 16, 2021

One of the main reasons why we study history is to learn from both our triumphs and our mistakes. Sometimes those mistakes are painful to admit, but we study them nonetheless so that we can ensure that they are never repeated. That’s why students learn about the Holocaust. That’s why we study the atrocity of American slavery and the Civil War that great leaders like President Lincoln fought to end it. It’s also important that our state and our nation know about the tragic story of early Indian boarding schools.

Indian boarding schools were created in 1860 in a purported effort to assimilate Indian children into American culture. From 1860, when the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) established its first Indian boarding school, throughout a majority of the 1900’s, many Indian children were forcibly removed from their homes and families and placed into these BIA schools. They were prohibited from (or punished for) speaking their language or practicing their traditions. Countless Indian children never came home, overcome by sickness and harsh conditions, and many of those who survived the boarding school experience struggled to share their traumatic memories.

The history of Indian boarding schools is not well known outside of Indian Country. However, the Tribes sharing borders with South Dakota suffered losses of their children. The accounting of children who died at these schools is inadequate at best. Mass burials, unmarked graves, and poorly kept death records haunt family histories.

In meetings with the tribes, I heard stories of heartbreak, appreciated the need for closure on this part of their history, and respected how important it was to have these children appropriately identified and returned to their homelands. I worked with the Army to help facilitate this long process of repatriating these children.

Our Tribes in South Dakota have been working diligently to retrace the steps of their lost children and will be repatriating their remains to lay them to rest in their homelands.  This week, the first children will be brought home to South Dakota and to Rosebud. As I continue to be made aware of Dakota and Lakota children being repatriated, I’m happy to see those early efforts have yielded results.

It is with great sincerity that my family and I offer our thoughts and prayers to the families and to the Tribes in South Dakota as they conduct their ceremonies for those coming home, and we are with them until all their children are returned.

###

A school board agenda was sent out in the last couple of days from the Brookings School District which might be one of the dumbest things I’ve ever heard of.   As opposed to focusing on something that matters, they’re wasting time on terminology and where policies once talked about “students,” they’re scratching it out and writing “learners.”

For example:

Looking around, it seems to have been taking place for a while. And at least from first blush, it appears this effort might be springing forth from the Associated School Boards of South Dakota:

I’m sure calling them learners as opposed to students will be all warmer and fuzzier, and will make us feel better about ourselves… but what about state law?

While state law might talk about learners permits, or ‘english learner’ as someone who is not a native speaker, it really doesn’t use learner in the context of a child in school. State law calls them “students.” Period.

So why would the Associated School Boards be pushing this, given the language contained in law?  Are they going to bring legislation this next session to change “student” to “learner” wherever it appears?  Or are they advocating the Brookings School District and other school districts across the state use language in their policies and procedures which differs from what’s in state law?

Because it sounds darned .. unnecessary.

The Argus Leader has an article up this AM noting how a political action committee is attacking Governor Noem, comparing her vote total in a non-presidential election to the number of votes that marijuana legalization received in the year of the presidential contest.

But I have to give the reporter who wrote it, Joe Sneve, a bit of a hard time, because he left out a pretty important part in his article that is quickly found:

Citizens for a Better South Dakota Chair Brian Gochal said the organization began running the Noem-cannabis advertisement this week to highlight “the hubris” that it requires for someone to stand up against something that enjoys more support than they do.

And…

Presidential election years have higher voter turnouts than election years when the governor’s office is up.

Gochal said Citizens for a Better South Dakota spent almost $1,400 on a contract to run the advertisement at 16 different billboards across Sioux Falls on a rotating basis over the next 30 days.

Read that here.

So, the person running this organization says they’re doing it because they want to take the Gov down a peg. But where is this Political Action Committee getting their money to take a shot at Governor Noem? They’re a political action committee, so they had to have gotten their money somewhere.

It gets a little curious, and a lot more obvious as to motive when we follow the money.

Citizens for a Better South Dakota disclosure by Pat Powers on Scribd

“Citizens for a Better South Dakota” list only 2 sources of income for their political action committee. The SD GPLDC PAC Fund and the BlueStem Initiative:

What’s the SD GPLDC PAC Fund?

SdgPl Cpac Fund by Pat Powers on Scribd

Plain and simple, it’s a Labor Union PAC. When their e-mail address starts with “Local620,” it’s not just a subtle hint.  That would be where the “Citizens for a Better South Dakota” got the lions’ share of their cash.

How about the rest that came form the Bluestem initiative? Well, that’s even less subtle:

This statewide PAC is ran by Democrat House Minority Leader Jamie Smith, and Democrat House member Ryan Cwach. In fact, the goal of the group on their statement of organization is to “Maintain and increase number of elected democrats in the SD House of Representatives.”

So Cash goes out from State Democrats’ and a Labor Union’s PACs and into a third PAC which uses it to attack the Republican Governor.

I think we know what’s going on here.

South Dakota’s College Republicans are howling after they along with a number of other states have been stripped of their right to vote in the upcoming College Republican National elections in the midst of an internal power struggle.

In fact, the discontent is enough where I’ve heard that a coalition of states led by Texas may be bringing suit.

I’m sure this isn’t the last we’re going to hear about this.