I hadn’t noticed this article during session, otherwise I would have pointed it out.
But well worth tagging it for reading, since there will be legislators coming back for another attempt next year to strip insane amounts of money from school budgets to fund school vouchers without much thought how that’s going to break the back of local school budgets:
…Arizona’s voucher experiment has since precipitated a budget meltdown. The state this year faced a $1.4 billion budget shortfall, much of which was a result of the new voucher spending, according to the Grand Canyon Institute, a local nonpartisan fiscal and economic policy think tank. Last fiscal year alone, the price tag of universal vouchers in Arizona skyrocketed from an original official estimate of just under $65 million to roughly $332 million, the Grand Canyon analysis found; another $429 million in costs is expected this year.
and..
Advocates for Arizona’s universal voucher initiative had originally said that it wouldn’t cost the public — and might even save taxpayers money. The Goldwater Institute, a conservative think tank that helped craft the state’s 2022 voucher bill, claimed in its promotional materials at the time that the vouchers would “save taxpayers thousands per student, millions statewide.” Families that received the new cash, the institute said, would be educating their kids “for less than it would cost taxpayers if they were in the public school system.”
But as it turns out, the parents most likely to apply for these vouchers are the ones who were already sending their kids to private school or homeschooling. They use the dollars to subsidize what they were already paying for.
The result is new money coming out of the state budget. After all, the public wasn’t paying for private school kids’ tuition before.
Thune: Senate Committed to Delivering on President Trump’s Agenda
“I’m looking forward to taking up our budget resolution in the very near future, so that we can deliver permanent tax relief for Americans, provide certainty to the economy, and make a transformational investment in border, energy, and national security.”
WASHINGTON — U.S. Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) today delivered the following remarks on the Senate floor:
PIERRE, S.D. – Today, Governor Larry Rhoden announced his Homeowner Tax Relief Proposal during a press conference at the Capitol. Governor Rhoden announced that he will present this proposal to the legislature’s Property Tax Relief Task Force.
“We delivered a great first step to address property taxes with SB 216, and we are not done,” said Governor Larry Rhoden. “The people of South Dakota are looking for us to go a step further. They deserve a real property tax cut, and my proposal will deliver that for them.”
You can find a picture of Governor Rhoden announcing his proposal here.
Governor Rhoden’s Homeowner Tax Relief Proposal would be implemented in the following ways:
Each county commission would have the option to directly reduce owner-occupied (homeowner) property taxes by replacing the revenue with a county sales tax of up to 0.5%;
The funds raised from the optional sales tax would be placed into a Property Tax Reduction Fund at the county level;
The use of the optional sales tax would be 100% dedicated towards directly lowering the county property taxes for all homeowners within the county;
The property tax reduction would be achieved through a Homeowner Tax Credit, which would be paid out from the Property Tax Reduction Fund; and
If owner-occupied property taxes in the county are fully offset by the Homeowner Tax Credit, any remaining funds in the Property Tax Reduction Fund must be used to lower property taxes among the other two classes of property: agriculture and other/commercial.
The Homeowner Tax Relief Proposal would be referrable to a public vote in each county, and it would shift a portion of the county tax burden to out-of-state visitors.
“South Dakota is already recognized as a top-three state for taxpayer return on investment by WalletHub, but there is more we can do,” said Governor Larry Rhoden. “Counties should have the opportunity to provide property tax relief and replace that revenue with another source. This proposal would bring that vision to a reality, and I am excited for the Property Tax Relief Force to drill down on the specifics.”
You can find additional information about the Governor’s Homeowner Property Tax Proposal here.
Welcome back to another Weekly Round[s] Up! We’re back in session after a one-week in-state work period. I was able to meet with several South Dakotans to talk about agriculture, education and energy issues. In addition, I met with U.S. Secretary of Education Linda McMahon to discuss my legislation to eliminate the federal Department of Education. Getting rid of the bureaucratic overhead and administrative costs will allow us to put more money into the critical programs to support special education, children with disabilities, tribal education, high-poverty areas, Impact Aid, career and technical education and Pell Grants. Under my legislation, all of these programs will remain operational, just housed under other departments. More on these meetings and the rest of my week in my Weekly Round[s] Up
South Dakota groups I met with: Agtegra Cooperative; José-Marie Griffiths, President of Dakota State University; Miles Beacom, board member of the Dakota State Applied Research Corporation; Dr. Sheila Gestring, President of the University of South Dakota; Jim Dover, President and CEO of Avera Health, and Kim Malsam-Rysdon, Vice President of Public Policy at Avera Health; Joseph Graves, South Dakota’s Secretary of Education; members of the South Dakota Farm Bureau; students from West Central and Lemmon High Schools; members of the South Dakota Cattlemen’s Association; and a group of South Dakota ethanol producers.
South Dakota towns represented: Amherst, Dell Rapids, Harrisburg, Hartford, Houghton, Lemmon, Leola, Madison, Mellette, Midland, Pierre, Sioux Falls, Vermillion and Winner.
Other meetings: Svanhildur Hólm Valsdóttir, Iceland’s Ambassador to the United States; Keith Bass, nominee for Assistant Secretary of Defense for Health Affairs; Lt. Gen. Dan Caine, nominee for Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff; Bradley Hansell, nominee for Under Secretary of Defense for Intelligence and Security; Margie Palmieri, acting Chief of the Chief Digital and Artificial Intelligence Office; Even Rogers, CEO of True Anomaly; Linda McMahon, U.S. Secretary of Education; Brig. Gen. Patrick Karuretwa, head of International Military Cooperation within the Rwanda Defense Force; Gen. Gregory Guillot, Commander of United States Northern Command and North American Aerospace Defense Command; and Jack Hidary, CEO of SandboxAQ. In addition, I spoke at the National Low Income Housing Coalition’s conference about policy to make housing more affordable.
I hosted our Senate Bible Study, where Luke 3:3 was our verse of the week.
Center for Effective Lawmaking: This past week, I was named as one of the top-five most effective Republican lawmakers in the 118th Congress by the Center for Effective Lawmaking, which is run by the University of Virginia and Vanderbilt University. This score is based on metrics such as substance of bills introduced, their progression throughout the legislative process and how many were signed into law. Read more about this here.
As lawmakers, one of the most important parts of our jobs is writing and introducing substantive bills and shepherding them through the legislative process with the ultimate goal of getting them signed into law. We were successful in getting results for the people of South Dakota in the 118th Congress across policy areas ranging from agriculture to national security and defense. There is still plenty of work to be done on all of these issues and more in the current Congress. I look forward to continuing to work with my colleagues in the Senate to get results for our state.
Hearings: I attended five hearings. I had two hearings in the Select Committee on Intelligence, one of which was closed. In the open hearing, we heard from leaders in the Intelligence Community, including CIA Director John Ratcliffe, Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, FBI Director Kash Patel and NSA Director Timothy Haugh. You can watch a clip of that here.
In addition, I had one hearing in the Senate Armed Services Committee (SASC), where we heard from Dr. Troy Meink, nominee to serve as Secretary of the Air Force. Dr. Meink is a native of Lemmon, South Dakota and a graduate of South Dakota State University (Go Jacks!). I was pleased to introduce him at this hearing. You can watch a clip of that here
I also had two SASC Subcommittee hearings: one in the Subcommittee on Cybersecurity and the other in the Subcommittee on Strategic Forces.
Classified briefings: I had one classified briefing as part of my work on the Senate Armed Services Committee.
Votes taken: 19 – As most of President Trump’s cabinet is now confirmed, we continue to work on confirming other executive branch positions, such as Deputy Secretaries and Assistant Secretaries at various federal Departments. One confirmation I’m particularly excited about is Michael Kratsios, the Director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy. I’m looking forward to working with him on issues relating to the Sanford Underground Research Facility near Lead, as well as artificial intelligence.
Legislation introduced: This past week, I reintroduced the MedShield Act of 2025. This legislation would implement a recommendation of the National Security Commission on Artificial Intelligence to create a program titled MedShield to leverage AI for national pandemic preparedness and response. Read more about this here.
Tribal public safety letter: I sent a letter to Attorney General Pam Bondi and Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum requesting the creation of a “Violent Crime Reduction Commission” to address violent crime on reservations. This proposed body would be made up of officials from the Department of Justice, the Department of the Interior and leaders from tribal areas under federal criminal jurisdiction. Read more here.
My staff in South Dakota visited: Dell Rapids, Madison, Sioux Falls, Sturgis and Watertown.
Steps taken: 53,522 steps or 26.13 miles.
Video of the week: As I mentioned, I introduced South Dakotan Dr. Troy Meink at his nomination hearing in the Senate Armed Services Committee:
Attorney General Jackley Announces Federal Court Rules In Favor Of South Dakota In NCAA Lawsuit
PIERRE, S.D. – South Dakota Attorney General Marty Jackley announces that U.S. District Judge Karen Schreier has ruled that the state’s lawsuit against the NCAA should be heard in South Dakota circuit court and not federal court as requested by the NCAA.
Attorney General Jackley and the South Dakota Board of Regents, on behalf of South Dakota State University and the University of South Dakota, had filed a lawsuit in September against the NCAA and its proposed $2.8 billion settlement between the NCAA and the “Power Four” conferences. The lawsuit argues that the settlement unfairly forces smaller schools like the South Dakota schools to be responsible for a disproportionate share of the settlement cost.
“We intend to stop the NCAA from forcing South Dakota’s Universities and students to be responsible for $8 million in the NCAA’s mistake,” said Attorney General Jackley. “This amount will negatively impact student athletes at South Dakota’s two Division I universities.”
Attorney General Jackley said South Dakota is seeking an injunction in Brookings County Circuit Court to require the NCAA to hold a vote on how it intends to have schools pay for this settlement. This vote would allow South Dakota’s and other states’ universities to have a voice in the settlement that the NCAA has so far denied them.
No date has yet been set for a hearing of the state complaint in Brookings County.
You can read the federal court’s decision and the state court motion for preliminary injunction here:
An article at Dakota Scout today has a few legislators howling about some Republicans were pointing out that they worked across the aisle to kill ridiculous legislation that none of their constituents had asked for:
“Want to know why so many pieces of good legislation died by only a few votes this year? Some Republicans openly worked with Democrats to undermine true conservative causes,” Rep. Logan Manhart, R-Aberdeen, posted on his social media pages Saturday.
and..
Peterson, R-Salem, said during a legislative forum in Vermillion that cooperation with Democrats helped block a push to establish criminal penalties for libraries that distribute harmful or obscene material to minors. The Legislature instead adopted a measure requiring an appeals process for challenging materials in school and public libraries.
“I wasn’t in leadership this year, but we still led within our group,” Peterson said, as reported by South Dakota Searchlight. “Collectively, we could get 36 to 42 votes between the Democrats and Republicans, and we did our job.”
and..
Manhart was not the only GOP member of the Legislature to bemoan Peterson’s remarks. Rep. Dylan Jordan, R-Clear Lake, also voiced disapproval on his social media account.
Despite the criticism from Representatives Logan Manhart and Dylan Jordan for legislators who have the audacity to work collaboratively on legislation, one should take note that Jim Eschenbaum, the Chairman of the SDGOP who spent 32 years as a Democrat who helped to support President Barack Obama twice, has somehow managed to escape the scorn of these two legislators acting as the legislature’s honor guard for ideological purity.
Helping Law Enforcement Combat the Fentanyl Crisis By Sen. John Thune
More Americans die each year from a drug overdose than Americans who died in the entirety of the Vietnam War. Many of these deaths are caused by a single pill containing a lethal dose of fentanyl, which is roughly equal to five grains of salt. We’re losing young people, teenagers, and young parents – people with bright lives ahead of them.
The fentanyl crisis is affecting South Dakota as well. Last year, police in Sioux Falls seized enough fentanyl to kill 2.5 million people. Law enforcement reports that cartels have a presence in our area. And the price of a single pill has dropped from $40 a few years ago to $5 per pill today, largely because of increasing supply.
Most of the fentanyl in our communities – including in South Dakota – is not manufactured in the United States. Securing the border is a critical step to stopping the flow of drugs. In just a few short weeks, President Trump has made significant progress on this front, dramatically slowing the flow of illegal crossings at the southern border. And with less chaos, Border Patrol can focus on the criminals, cartels, terrorists, and traffickers that used to try to hide behind the surges of illegal immigrants.
But there’s more work to do. That’s why the U.S. Senate recently passed the HALT Fentanyl Act, which would provide law enforcement with critical tools to combat fentanyl. This bill would permanently classify fentanyl and fentanyl-related substances as Schedule I drugs, empowering law enforcement to keep pace with the evolving threat of fentanyl that is driving drug overdoses in our country.
Until a few years ago, these fentanyl-related substances were generally classified as Schedule II substances, meaning they were less tightly regulated and violations carried lighter penalties. If a particular substance was moved up to Schedule I, cartels would just alter the chemical composition slightly to avoid a crackdown. But those drugs were no less deadly.
That ended in 2018 when President Trump temporarily classified all fentanyl-related substances as Schedule I drugs. Congress has extended that temporary listing multiple times because it works. It’s time to permanently classify fentanyl-related substances as what they are: the deadliest kind of drugs.
I’m grateful to the men and women in law enforcement and first responders who work every day to go after drug dealers and save lives. The HALT Fentanyl Act would provide law enforcement with critical tools to go after the people bringing into our country the fentanyl that is killing our fellow Americans, and I’m proud it’s one of the first bills passed under the new Republican majority.
Preventing Foreign Interference By Rep. Dusty Johnson March 28, 2025
BIG Update
It’s important to honor the sacrifices our service members have made to protect our freedoms. Last week, I recognized 15 Vietnam-era veterans in Sturgis and thanked them for their service to our country.
Through the Vietnam Veteran Commemoration Program, I’ve recognized more than 1,100 veterans since 2019. This program is being phased out by the Department of Defense (DOD) this November. When Congress created the program, the funding provided to honor veterans was to be used until expended. So today, I asked the DOD for a status update. If sufficient funds remain, I would like the Secretary to consider extending the program until all resources are expended, so as many veterans as possible are honored.
If you know a Vietnam-era veteran, please submit a nomination soon to ensure they receive their much-deserved recognition. Veterans can be nominated by filling out the form at dustyjohnson.house.gov/services/vietnam-veteran-commemoration or by calling my Sioux Falls Office at 605-275-2868.
Johnson and Vietnam-era veterans in Sturgis
BIG Idea
America’s foreign adversaries, like the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), are targeting our universities with lucrative funding. While universities are required to report these funds under the Higher Education Act, many go unreported or are incompletely reported. In 2019, up to 70% of institutions failed to comply with the reporting requirements.
Our adversaries do not share American values and through these funds, they are able to push propaganda, interfere with research, and censor free speech at universities. A congressional investigation into two research universities found nearly $40 million in unreported contracts with the CCP and billions of foreign funding provided anonymously. This cannot be tolerated.
To remedy this, I voted to pass the DETERRENT Act to ensure our colleges disclose these funds, including any financial support from countries of concern, such as China and Russia. This will increase transparency and accountability in higher education and protecting national security. The DETERRENT Act will strengthen the ability to track foreign influence and protect our young adults from the malign influence of our adversaries.
BIG News
This week, the world found out that a journalist was inadvertently added to a Signal group chat where high-ranking government officials discussed military operations to attack the Houthi terrorists. This is a big mistake and can never happen again. While the mission was successful, if this information got into the wrong hands, U.S. military men and women could have been in big trouble and the operation could have failed.
As our national security leaders continue to protect the United States and target terrorists, I hope they will discuss these plans in appropriate settings.
Bridging Our State By: Gov. Larry Rhoden March 28, 2025
We recently cut the ribbon on the new Lt. Commander John C. Waldron Bridge over the Missouri River between Pierre and Ft. Pierre. For the next 100 years, this bridge will connect two communities. But more than that, it will connect two sides of our state.
The Pierre-Ft. Pierre community is perhaps the best example of East River and West River coming together. Pierre is a quintessential East River town – Ft. Pierre is very much a West River town. This community is strongest because it has elements of both sides of the river. In the same way, South Dakota is strongest because two sides of the river come together to form one great state.
I was born and raised a West River rancher. I’ve always had a lot of love for Ft. Pierre, and West River is still home to this day. In the same breath, I’ve worked for 20 years on the East side of the river in Pierre – in the legislature, as Lt. Governor, and now as Governor.
Seven years ago, an East River farmer and rancher asked me to be her running mate. We worked very well together because we brought perspectives from both sides of this state to our leadership. When I succeeded Secretary Noem as Governor, I took a page out of her book. I asked an East River lawyer, Tony Venhuizen, to serve alongside me.
We need perspectives from all parts of this state. We need people from all walks of life working together to make this state great. And we need bridges like this one connecting us and bringing us together.
That brings us to the new bridge. This bridge is the latest in a long history of structures connecting these two communities. Since the late 1800s, there has been some kind of bridge or another connecting Pierre and Ft. Pierre. The most recent bridge was opened in 1962. In 2002, that bridge was dedicated in honor of Lt. Commander John C. Waldron of Fort Pierre.
Lt. Commander Waldron led a squadron of torpedo bombers in the Battle of Midway during WWII. They were the first to locate and attack the Japanese fleet. They went up against impossible odds – he and all 15 aircraft with him were lost. But their sacrifice paved the way for American dive bombers to devastate the Japanese fleet.
The new bridge remains dedicated to Lt. Commander Waldron. In a lot of ways, the old bridge paved the way for the new one – just as Lt. Commander Waldron paved the way for the dive bombers behind him.
We blew up the old bridge a couple weeks ago. I’m not sure if you saw the video – it was pretty awesome. You can find it on my Facebook page if you haven’t seen it. Truth be told, I had hoped to push the button to blow up the bridge myself!
As the new bridge officially opens, we look forward to the next 100 years of South Dakotans from both sides of the state crossing the river and working together. We celebrate the continued growth and development that will be possible because of this modern bridge.
I am in the middle of my Open for Opportunity tour across the state of South Dakota. On the day of the bridge ribbon cutting, I prioritized being in Pierre because of how important this bridge is. It will expand the opportunity for both the Pierre and the Ft. Pierre communities.
Strong infrastructure supports a strong economy. Our economy is strong – the strongest of any state in the nation. But we still have opportunities to grow and improve. This bridge represents just such an opportunity for growth. And it also represents an opportunity for us to continue working together to connect as South Dakotans.
South Dakota Searchlight has an article posted on their website today how some legislators reached across the aisle to stop some of the worst legislation to ever hit the legislative hopper, with others noting that the legislature was deeply affected by legislators who don’t understand the process:
As evidence of bipartisan efforts between Democrats and some Republicans, the lawmakers highlighted the amending of legislation dubbed the “locking up librarians” bill, by removing a proposed criminal penalty for distributing harmful or obscene material to minors and instead requiring an appeals process for challenging materials in school and public libraries. The amendment passed the Senate 18-16 before the bill passed the chamber 32-2. The House accepted the amendments in a 36-34 vote, and Gov. Larry Rhoden signed the bill this month.
and..
Rep. Chris Kassin, R-Vermillion, said the push for property tax relief included a determination by some freshmen lawmakers to pass property tax cuts without considering costs. That’s primarily because some lawmakers, he said, were quick to “slam something through” and slow to research and understand a bill’s consequences.
and..
Other notable efforts that some Republicans and Democrats worked together on failed, such as funding the replacement of the state penitentiary.
The Legislature lost leadership with deep institutional knowledge because of the primary defeats, said Sen. Sydney Davis, R-Burbank, leading to less understanding among lawmakers of the process and why bills failed in past sessions.
…Arizona’s voucher experiment has since precipitated a budget meltdown. The state this year faced a $1.4 billion budget shortfall, much of which was a result of the new voucher spending, according to the Grand Canyon Institute, a local nonpartisan fiscal and economic policy think tank. Last fiscal year alone, the price tag of universal vouchers in Arizona skyrocketed from an original official estimate of just under $65 million to roughly $332 million, the Grand Canyon analysis found; another $429 million in costs is expected this year.
