Author: @SoDakCampaigns

Thune Introduces Bill to Bolster Forestry, Seasonal Workforce

Visa set-aside will address tree planting backlog and carbon sinks, while reducing demand on oversubscribed H-2B program

WASHINGTON — U.S. Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.) today introduced a bill to temporarily increase the availability of H-2B visas for the purpose of restoring American forests. The bill would establish an uncapped, but temporary, carve-out of the H-2B program to permit a surge in workers to address a multi-year backlog in forest management, including wildfire restoration, long-term timber supply, and carbon sinks.

“Healthy and resilient forests provide a host of environmental and economic benefits, but we’re losing valuable time to recover from wildfires and other disturbances,” said Thune. “Roughly 10,000 H-2B workers plant 85 percent of the trees planted annually in the United States, and they support over 1 million domestic jobs. We shouldn’t cap this workforce that underpins our forest health and forestry industry.

“The benefits of this bill extend far beyond wildfire and habitat restoration. New trees play a critical role in capturing carbon at a faster rate than older trees, and the responsible and sustainable development of that timber can reduce consumer costs and keep that carbon from being released in wildfires. My bill would also provide additional relief for the annual H-2B cap, which is a vital source of supplemental workers in South Dakota and a well-established, legal pathway for economic migration.”

“The Forest Resources Association applauds Senator Thune’s leadership and efforts in introducing his bill to make additional H-2B visas available for forestry employers,” said Deb Hawkinson, president of the Forest Resources Association. “Additional visas would help forest landowners increase the number of acres planted each year, ensuring healthy forests, improved carbon sequestration, and securing full-time jobs for future generations of Americans. Seasonal workers on H-2B visas have long supplemented the U.S. workforce replanting our forests. Millions of acres of forest and thousands of U.S. workers throughout the forest products supply chain depend on the critical seasonal tree planting performed by H-2B workers each year. Over the past decade, there has been a continual shortage of U.S. workers willing to fill these strenuous seasonal tree planting jobs, and the disruptions caused by the pandemic have made these labor shortages worse. The decreasing availability of H-2B visas is putting the health of our forests at risk.”

The new “H-2C” (conservation) program created by Thune’s bill would be nested within the H-2B program, but exempted from the annual cap of 66,000 visas, for a period of five years. This would simultaneously relieve demand from the oversubscribed H-2B program, which provides a vital, seasonal workforce during South Dakota’s peak tourism months and for construction and landscaping. H-2C activities would be limited to orchard work and seed collection, tree planting, nursery care, forest and vegetation management, wildfire mitigation and brush clearing, timber stand improvement, and other activities with a direct forest health or conservation nexus, such as fish and wildlife habitat or watershed protection.

According to the Forestry Resources Association, there is an approximately three-to-five year backlog in replanting trees to restore forests that have been damaged by wildfire, hurricanes, and delays caused by the pandemic throughout the United States. Nearly 10,000 H-2B forestry workers plant approximately 1.6 billion trees each year, contributing to 85 percent of trees planted annually in the United States (8-9 percent of this acreage is on federal land). These seasonal jobs represent only 1 percent of the total forestry sector, supporting 1.1 million domestic, higher-skilled and higher-paying jobs in the forestry, wood, and paper industries. H-2B workers mostly plant trees following disturbances such as fires, hurricanes, and timber harvests. Tree planting jobs have proven difficult to fill using domestic labor because the jobs are seasonal and change locations frequently, often traveling from state to state.

Under Thune’s bill, H-2C visas could not be used for jobs related to landscaping, recreation, or tourism, although the program would reduce demand for the annual H-2B cap via the exemption. Participating H-2C employers would have to follow the existing requirements for H-2B.

Thune raised the issue of labor shortages affecting the forestry industry in a Senate Agriculture Committee hearing entitled, “Federal, State, and Private Forestlands: Opportunities for Addressing Climate Change.” (Thune question at 1:50:00)

Thune’s H-2C proposal would also directly support the global One Trillion Trees initiative. In October 2020, President Trump signed an executive order establishing the One Trillion Trees Interagency Council to coordinate the United States’ contribution to the effort. Additionally, Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack highlighted the need to increase the rate of tree replanting and leverage American forests as a carbon solution, which will require an increase in the current workforce, in his Climate-Smart Agriculture and Forestry Strategy: 90-Day Progress Report.

On April 20, 2021, the Department of Homeland Security announced it would make an additional 22,000 H-2B visas available, pursuant to Section 105 of the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2021, which Congress passed to authorize the Secretary of Homeland Security and Secretary of Labor to provide supplemental H-2B visas for fiscal year 2021. In accordance with Executive Order 14010 on “Creating a Comprehensive Regional Framework to Address the Causes of Migration, to Manage Migration Throughout North and Central America, and to Provide Safe and Orderly Processing of Asylum Seekers at the United States Border,” 6,000 of these visas were reserved for nationals of the Northern Triangle countries of Honduras, El Salvador, and Guatemala.

On March 1, 2021, Thune reintroduced the Prioritizing Help to Businesses Act, legislation to allocate additional H-2B visas to states with the lowest unemployment rates, such as South Dakota.

 
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Remember the last GOP Convention, where due to COVID, the event held every two years which was set for Watertown was canceled in lieu of a largely on-line event where people gathered behind screens and in small venues? And even in those venues of reduced size, attendees still managed to pick up the highly transmissible disease according to reports.

After Watertown was cheated by circumstance out of the 2020 event because of the pandemic and a COVID Convention was held instead, the following convention (2022) was previously scheduled to be held in Rapid City in 2022.  However, it appears as if this schedule may come under some debate and a do over will be the topic of further discussion by the Republican State Central Committee – the governing body of the South Dakota Republican Party – on Saturday in Chamberlain.

Word went out from the SDGOP earlier this month that a request had been made for a motion to be debated at the next Central Committee meeting to reset the convention hosting schedule and give Watertown the opportunity to host the 2020 State Party Convention they were cheated out of due to the need to break up the convention into socially distant gatherings for COVID.

As I’m told, a motion will be brought to move the schedule forward, giving the convention back to Watertown for 2022, and then committing to Rapid City following in 2024, in effect, pushing things down the line for 2 years.  Of course, this move is not likely to come without controversy. Considering it involves Rapid City, nothing about politics in the state’s second-largest community is without controversy.

I’m more surprised this was not discussed at the time of the last convention but trying to organize last years’ event as a virtual conference was complex enough without throwing in people quibbling about pushing everything back two years.

I do think that it’s only fair to Watertown to at least explore the option of giving them back what COVID took away.  A convention on the Eastern side of the state will likely have better attendance, which is a plus for the Governor’s re-election year (as well as for the nomination of Constitutional Officers).

Further helping the conversation in Watertown’s favor is the fact that Rapid City Hotels summer rates are among the most expensive in the state. Even with convention rates, I believe last time a GOP Convention was out there several years back, if memory serves, they were $200+ a night for the main hotel. I don’t even want to know what it’s going to be after taxes for 2022.

I’m not a Central Committee member, so my opinion is a bit of a moot point. It’s up to them what they’d like to do, and I’m sure they will be presented with much more information in terms of pros and cons.

In anticipation of a strong attendance for the Central Committee Meeting, I am told that the GOP is hosting a shooting event (Trap & Target) on Friday afternoon, and if you want to get in on that, you can send a note to the chairman and let him know you want to attend.

Otherwise, here is a schedule of events as sent out by the party earlier this month:

Schedule of Events (all times Central)

Friday – June 25th
5 to 7 pm Members Reception
Arrowwood Resort Missouri Winds Room
1500 Shoreline Drive
Oacoma, South Dakota 57365
Members of the South Dakota Republican Party and their guests at Missouri Winds located at the Arrowwood Resort and Conference Center

Saturday – June 26th
10 am Central Committee Business Meeting
Arrowwood Conference Center
1500 Shoreline Drive
Oacoma, South Dakota 57365
SDGOP State Central Committee Members of the South Dakota Republican Party regular business meeting with a vote on 2022 State Convention location

12 pm Lunch served during meeting
please RSVP by emailing [email protected]

Stay tuned – lots more to come!

Rounds Introduces Bipartisan Native American Rural Homeownership Improvement Act
Legislation would improve access to affordable capital for Native communities in South Dakota, nationwide

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senators Mike Rounds (R-S.D.) and Tina Smith (D-Minn.), members of theSenate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee and the Senate Indian Affairs Committee, introduced bipartisan legislation to help Native families living in rural areas achieve homeownership.

The Native American Rural Homeownership Improvement Act would expand an existing U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) pilot program, in which the USDA has partnered with Native Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFIs) to leverage their deep ties in local communities and deploy loans to eligible Native borrowers. Specifically, the relending program would create a $50 million annual set-aside within the Section 502 program, allowing Native CDFIs to re-lend this money to eligible Native homebuyers. Because of CDFIs’ vast experience operating on Tribal land and their ability to provide financial and homebuyer education, their participation will improve utilization of the USDA loans and help more Native families achieve the dream of homeownership.

“For many Americans, home ownership is part of the American dream and a key step toward creating wealth,” Rounds said. “The USDA Rural Development’s Section 502 Direct Loan program provides home loan assistance to rural families with low or modest income, but this program was failing to reach tribal members in a meaningful way. In order to better serve Native American communities, the USDA launched a 502 lending pilot program in 2018 which partners with Native Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFIs) to help Native American families realize that dream of home ownership. In South Dakota, nearly all the funds from this pilot program have been obligated and are in this process of being repaid. I am introducing legislation with Sen. Smith to permanently reauthorize this pilot program, so even more tribal families in South Dakota can access affordable home loans.”

“I’ve had the great privilege of visiting and meeting with Tribal leaders from Minnesota to hear firsthand about how the affordable housing crisis impacts their communities. I’ve heard over and over again about how high mortgage costs and barriers to capital contribute to disparities in homeownership,” said Smith. “I’ve worked with Sen. Rounds on Native housing issues for several years, and I’m glad to have him as a partner on this effort to expand the role Native CDFIs can play in helping families find a safe, stable place to call home. Helping families achieve the dream of homeownership should always be bipartisan.”

“NAIHC is excited to see efforts to expand the successful USDA relending pilot program that utilizes Native CDFIs to expand homeownership in tribal communities. NAIHC would like to thank Senator Smith, Senator Rounds and all of the cosponsors for their work on tribal housing issues and NAIHC stands ready to help support passage of the Native American Rural Homeownership Improvement Act,” said Adrian Stevens, Acting Chairman of the National American Indian Housing Council.

“The 502 Relending Pilot in South Dakota has allowed Four Bands to unlock federal capital to help our clients buy and build the homes of their dreams.  This opportunity has created an unprecedented homeownership demand which is starting to stabilize wealth for generations to come,” said Lakota Vogel, Executive Director of Four Bands Community Fund.

You can learn more about the legislation—which is also supported by Sens. John Thune (R-S.D.), Jon Tester (D-Mont.), Kevin Cramer (R-N.D.) and Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii)—here and access text of the bill here.

The senators’ bill is endorsed by the United Native American Housing Association, National American Indian Housing Council, Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC), Native CDFI Network, National Rural Housing Coalition, National Low Income Housing Coalition, South Dakota Native Homeownership Coalition, Rural Community Assistance Corporation (RCAC), Housing Assistance Council, Opportunity Finance Network, Four Bands Community Fund, Mazaska Owecaso Otipi Financial, Great Plains Tribal Chairmen’s Association, National Congress of American Indians, Enterprise Community Partners and Oweesta Corporation.

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Had a couple people from Sioux Falls point out to me recently that while former Sioux Falls City Councilwoman Theresa Stehly has been living/working in Mobridge, she appears to have missed a notice sitting in her mailbox for some property she has back in Sioux Falls.

According to the Minnehaha County Treasurer (as screenshot today), Stehly is running almost 60 days past the due date for the first installment on her property taxes:

About 15 years ago, I had an empty lot where the notice went to an old address, so I do know it’s tough to keep track of those things when you’re living and working in another town, and not paying attention to a secondary property.

For the sake of the City of Sioux Falls City, the School District, and Minnehaha County, hopefully she’ll get that in sooner than later.

The board of regents put a crimp in the lifestyle of those who want to treat what ails them with pot at their meeting yesterday:

“CRT” in Our Schools
by State Rep. Trish Ladner

As a legislator, I’ve been concerned for quite a while about what our children are being taught and that they are not being taught “history” as it actually occurred, but a rewritten fabrication of our history that reflects a political/social economic agenda that is not factually true nor accurate. Because of the pandemic lockdowns, parents have taken the opportunity to look at what their children are being taught. As a result, parents of all social economic backgrounds and races are standing up against Critical Race Theory. I decided to take a look for myself and got a hold of a “new” revised history book and read the account of the Battle of the Bulge during WWII. My Uncle Paul was one of the only surviving servicemen from that battle. We spent many hours at family gatherings recalling war stories from uncles, relatives and family friends who fought in WWII in both the European and Pacific Theatres. Their stories transported us to the battle. We were like sponges soaking up the challenges, hardships and the victories. Unfortunately, after reading the “new” version of our history, my greatest fears were realized. The recount of the Battle of the Bulge was nothing like I learned from my uncle.

Critical Race Theory seeks to teach American history in a way that elevates the role of racism in the nation’s history, and the impact they claim racism still has on the nation today. CRT is referred to as “project-based civics,” or “action civics.” We can draw a comparison between CRT and Hilter’s indoctrination of the German youth. According to ushmm.org, “Education in the Third Reich served to indoctrinate students with the National Socialist world view.” Hitler’s plan was aimed to indoctrinate the younger population through reforming the education system.  His plan went undetected and succeeded. Children were turning against parents and families in order to support the goals they were taught in school.

Xi Van Fleet, a Virginia mom who immigrated to the US after enduring Mao Zedong’s Cultural Revolution recently came against CRT stating, “We are teaching our children to be social justice warriors and to loathe our country and our history.” She added: “Growing up in China, all of this sounds very familiar. The Communist regime uses the same critical theory to divide people. The only difference is that they used class instead of race. This is indeed the American version of the Chinese cultural revolution.”

A number of state officials, including Governor Noem, have indicated that they would like to ban “Critical Race Theory” (CRT) at the next possible opportunity and I support that. The debate over the curriculum is not just happening in South Dakota, but in several states across the country. A number of Republican controlled states have already committed to banning Critical Race Theory and it is likely that South Dakota will be addressing this during the upcoming 2022 state legislative session. I’m proud to note that during the 2021 legislative session, Governor Noem signed a bill into law that allotted $900,000 to additional civics instruction in the state.

At this point, we can’t afford to be complacent. We need to be proactive which isn’t always easy in this “Woke” culture of correctness; a culture that makes it unacceptable to discuss our country’s freedom or the amazing opportunities America offers to every citizen (if they choose). Heaven forbid we teach our children about them or stand up against radical movements that put our children, our freedoms, and our safety in jeopardy. I am unapologetically proud to be an America, proud of the men and women who have fought for our freedom and who continue that fight and I am committed to fight alongside you to the best of my ability.

Representative Trish Ladner
District 30

The Washington Post interviewed South Dakota US Senator Mike Rounds on a variety of issues today, including voting rights, infrastructure, and the cattle market.  You can watch it all here, courtesy of the Washington Post:

South Dakotan Joins Thune at Hearing to Highlight Need to Build Strong and Resilient Broadband

“This Committee, which has jurisdiction over telecommunications policy, has a real opportunity to support efforts to close the digital divide and if we work together in a bipartisan manner, we can ensure Americans have access to these important services.”

Click here or on the picture above to watch the video.

WASHINGTON — U.S. Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.), ranking member of the Subcommittee on Communications, Media, and Broadband, today helped lead a subcommittee hearing on building resilient broadband networks. Denny Law, CEO of Golden West Telecommunications, testified at the hearing and discussed the challenges of deploying strong and resilient broadband in rural areas.

In his opening statement, Thune highlighted multiple bills he has introduced, including the Rural Connectivity Advancement Program Act, Telecommunications Skilled Workforce Act, and STREAMLINE Small Cell Deployment Act, to help improve internet connectivity in communities across South Dakota by strengthening broadband and investing in 5G deployment. Reliable, fast internet is an essential element of our nation’s infrastructure. Like roads and bridges, strong internet networks keep our economy going.

From Twitter:

Can you tell I’m a little excited I got to wave the green flag to start the races tonight? Thank you to everyone at @HusetsSD for inviting me! Great crowd for the @WorldofOutlaws pic.twitter.com/W8wsRoV550

— Governor Kristi Noem (@govkristinoem) June 22, 2021

Had someone send me a screen shot this AM.

Apparently, 3-time.. 4-time… (I’ve lost track) multi-party candidate for Governor Lora Hubbel is playing true confessions over in the comment section of Democrat website Dakota Free Press, as she tells people who she supported for Governor in the last election after she broke the spine of her political party at the time, the Constitution Party:

So, in case you’re trying to keep track, Lora first ran in the Republican primary against Gov Daugaard. Then she was running for Lieutenant Governor against Republicans as an Independent. In the following election, she was running again as a Republican until she couldn’t/didn’t go out and get enough signatures, and then switched again to run for Governor under the Constitution Party – a group so radically conservative they call Republicans liberal.  And after breaking the back of THAT party with intra-party fighting, Hubbel supported the candidate who once declared he “liked the policies of Bernie, but I’m going to be voting for HIllary.”

Of course Lora – who claims to be conservative, despite her now known voting bias – is declaring she’s going to be running for Governor again.

We’ll have to wait to see what she decides to believe in for the 2022 election.