Author: @SoDakCampaigns

Gov. Noem Signs Executive Order Expanding Job Opportunities

PIERRE, S.D. – Today, Governor Noem signed Executive Order 2023-05 expanding job opportunities to South Dakotans without a postsecondary degree. The order requires executive branch agencies to consider work and life experiences during the hiring process when a postsecondary degree is not required to perform the duties of the job.

“I took classes for many years, but I did not graduate with my bachelor’s degree until I was already a member of Congress,” said Governor Noem. “Not having a postsecondary degree didn’t hold me back, so I hope that qualified, dedicated South Dakotans can have those same opportunities.”

The Commissioner of the Bureau of Human Resources will review all current and future job postings for executive branch agency positions that require an undergraduate or graduate degree and determine whether such a degree is necessary to perform the job duties. A job posting will then state whether or not a degree is required to fill the position and may further state preferred career experience and education.

This Executive Order requires that state employees responsible for hiring must consider work or life experiences of an applicant during the selection process. This includes:

• Workforce expertise;
• Registered apprenticeship programs;
• Career and technical college certificates or degrees;
• Military service; and,
• Other qualifications showing the applicant’s ability to perform the duties of the job.

This Executive Order will allow us to welcome more bright South Dakotans to work in the executive branch. You can find photos of Governor Noem signing the Executive Order here.

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From the Isburg Funeral Chapel website, South Dakota Democrat Party Chair Randy Seiler’s visitation is tomorrow in Fort Pierre, and his funeral will be Tuesday in Pierre at Sts. Peter & Paul Catholic Church:

Randolph “Randy” Seiler, 76, of Ft. Pierre, SD passed away Monday, April 17th, at the Avera Heart Hospital in Sioux Falls. A visitation will be held on Monday, April 24th from 5-7pm at the Pat Duffy Community Youth and Involved Center in Ft. Pierre with a prayer service starting at 7:00pm. A funeral service will be held at 10:00am on Tuesday, April 25th at Ss. Peter and Paul Catholic Church in Pierre with burial at the Mt. Calvary Cemetery in Pierre.

and..

In 2018, Randy was the Democratic nominee for SD Attorney General, and with broad bipartisan support, ran a strong race against the Republican challenger. As a Democrat in a predominately Republican state, Randy was defeated, but in typical Randy fashion, he seized the opportunity, re-focusing his time and energy on the causes and people important to him. He served on the Fort Pierre City Council, and was a founding member of the Badlands National Park Conservancy. He was honored to serve as legal counsel to the Lower Brule and Crow Creek Sioux Tribes. In 2019, the South Dakota Democratic Party, struggling to remain financially viable, elected Randy as Chair. Randy was determined to right the ship – he and others personally guaranteed loans to make sure the Party could be competitive and relevant. His goal was to create a bridge to a new generation of leaders. Randy served his party with distinction and honor for four years.

You can read Randy’s entire obituary here.

A reader send me a note over today for the 2023 Citizens for Liberty “cherry-picked” scorecard, claiming to rank legislators on how conservative they supposedly are, based on a curated list of legislation that they chose to use to rank legislators. Surprisingly, the CFL, an organization which is ran by Mike Mueller, who also lobbies for the group, has ranked Mueller’s wife Julie Frye-Awf..  Er, Julie Frye-Mueller as the only State Senator receiving a 100% ranking on the scorecard where they chose the bills which were used.

I wonder how that happened?

I do notice they had to leave out attendance from the scorecard to get her to 100% for the 2023 session.  As well as success in passing legislation (She was 0 for 6).  And nothing on the scorecard for censure actions, or success in vaccination advice and lactation counseling. Or for being stripped of her committee duties. Or being kicked out of the Republican Caucus.

I suppose if you ignore all of that, we can allow her husband to say Julie Frye-Mueller had the 100% most successful session over everyone else in the State Senate.

Remember my previous post.. happy wife, happy life. Which might be a bit of a challenge in this case.

(They have the ever-ridiculous cherry-picked rankings posted here, if you feel you must read them.)

As warmer weather approaches and calls us outside, it’s a great time to celebrate National Park Week. South Dakota’s national parks are unlike any other place in the world. They range from prehistoric caves, storied trails and waterways, and mountains uniquely smoothed by the ages and the sculptor’s chisel. It’s no wonder that they attract millions of visitors, adventure seekers, and outdoor enthusiasts each year.

Each season brings its own treasure, and it doesn’t matter which time of year you say it, but there’s no better time to get outside and explore South Dakota’s natural treasures than now (unless I’m shoveling snow). Whether you’re looking for a hike in the Black Hills, a pilgrimage to Mount Rushmore, a scenic drive through the Badlands, or a journey into the caverns of some of the world’s longest caves, South Dakota’s outdoors have it all.

I’m not sure there’s a more beautiful place on earth than the Black Hills. The sights, smells, and shadows of this wilderness conspire to create something truly incredible. In the Southern Hills sits Mount Rushmore, where 60-foot sculptures of four great American presidents crown the height of America’s heartland. Two million visitors come to the Black Hills every year to see Washington, Jefferson, Roosevelt, and Lincoln immortalized in granite. Standing before this national treasure, you can’t help but feel a little prouder to be a citizen of this great land and an heir to our heritage of freedom.

Not far from Mount Rushmore, but lying far underground, are two of the longest caves in the world. Jewel Cave in Custer crawls 215 miles with unique formations all around you. Wind Cave, the first cave designated as a national park, spans 154 miles and boasts 95 percent of the worlds boxwork formations on its cave walls. Bits of Wind Cave’s boxwork sit in museums around the country, but in South Dakota you can see this natural art lining cave walls for miles.

And, of course, there’s the Badlands in all its rugged and out-of-this-world beauty. The Badlands’ smoothed mountains look like they belong on another planet, and its wealth of fossils brings you back eons to the prehistoric age. Once called “The Wonderlands” to attract homesteaders, it’s not hard to see how it got that name. As the sun rises and sets, the landscape’s colors change – to see the Badlands is to experience a true wonder.

America’s great outdoors need to be cared for and preserved for future generations. We’re beginning to see the results from the Great American Outdoors Act, which passed almost three years ago, as maintenance backlogs at national parks are finally being addressed. And I’m continuing to work to improve forest management in the Black Hills National Forest to reduce the risk of wildfire and damaging infestations. In this year’s farm bill, I’ll also be working to support the Conservation Reserve Program, which helps improve soil health and water quality, and it provides habitat for South Dakota’s wildlife too.

I’ve long loved our great outdoors – it’s hard not to fall in love with them. I have great memories of packing into the car for our family’s annual trip to the Black Hills as a kid and taking our daughters to the national parks as a dad. And growing up in Murdo, at the crossroads of Highway 83 and I-90, we saw plenty of families making their own pilgrimage each summer. As we celebrate National Park Week, I hope you’ll make time to enjoy our great outdoors and keep them great for the next generation to enjoy.

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Our kids and our grandkids will be the next generation of leaders, business owners, and entrepreneurs. They will also be the leaders of the future of our great American republic. They deserve an honest and factual classroom teaching that will prepare them to engage in our civil society for the rest of their lives.

In South Dakota, our students will be taught the best social studies standards in the country.

In the last century, the education movement has pushed to remove history and social studies in favor of what they deem “more practical pursuits.” And more recently, the No Child Left Behind initiative and its counterparts have all but eliminated history and civics instruction in elementary schools in favor of focusing the entire day on reading and math.

This has resulted in a severe decline in the teaching of social studies in this nation. A growing majority of Americans lack a fundamental understand of this country’s government structure and our history. In fact, more than half of natural-born American citizens could not pass a citizenship test.

Our kids and grandkids have not been learning the basic founding principles upon which their country was built. They do not know about the ideals and the vision of our Founding Fathers. And without this knowledge, they do not see how lucky they truly are to live in the greatest nation in the history of the world.

That is unacceptable – but we are taking steps to fix it.

In South Dakota, we have just passed new social studies standards that raise the bar for high-quality civic education in America. They are clearly written, rich in context, address the full story of our nation’s past, and incorporate South Dakota topics throughout all grade levels. These standards have the largest emphasis on Native American history of any proposed standards to date, as well.

America’s kids are struggling with civic literacy and uncivil discourse. A change in the approach to how we prepare our future citizens is far overdue. Our new social studies standards implement crucial changes to help our kids and grandkids. They are clear, concise, and transparent. Parents deserve to know what their children are being taught in the classroom.

The standards also integrate civics into all American history classes at every grade level and creates “spiraled sequencing.” This means that students will study world history four times and American history and civics five times over the course of their years of education. With each class, students will build upon what they have already learned, deepen their understanding, and acquire knowledge that will endure long after their high school graduation.

In South Dakota, we are finally giving our students the kind of education they deserve. We are equipping them with the necessary knowledge and experiences to become active members of our society. And we are preparing them to grow up and continue the legacy of this great nation.

It is my sincere hope that other states will follow in our footsteps and raise our kids to know and understand the importance and the significance of the history of the United States of America. Because the history of our nation is a history worth learning.

This originally printed as an op-ed on FoxNews.com.

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The Brookings/Moody County Lincoln Day Dinner was this past weekend. It has been a few years sine I’ve gone, so I actually attended. I had a nice invitation to join a friends’ table, and I didn’t have COVID, or any out of town trips.. I think I missed two of those because of Florida one year, and driving my son to go to the navy last year..  So, everything old was new again as I listened to the speakers, and said “Hi” to many people I don’t get to see because I never leave my basement office.

I also took in some of the things that struck me as odd, because it’s a Lincoln Day Dinner, and there’s always those unscripted things and interactions.

I think the winner of the night were the College Republicans, who had a great raffle. I wanted the SDSU planter, and I completely missed the meat bundles. Agh. I should have bought more tickets.

Otherwise a nice program. The highlights for the speakers were Senator and Chairman of the SDGOP John Wiik as the Master of Ceremonies and main speaker was Congressman Dusty Johnson.

Dusty largely hit on the budget deficit, and upcoming battle over funding the budget in light of deficit spending..

Dusty had to head out, so he actually spoke before legislators..

From where I was sitting, most of my photos ended up with people getting a microphone in their face..  This one of State Rep. Roger DeGroot was ok…

And this one of Senator Tim Reed was borderline sort-of ok, but it went downhill from here as none of the rest of the pictures were worth a darn, and everyone ended up with “microphone face.”  Sorry. I was just at a bad angle.

Lots of nice speeches from the Legislators from District 7 and 8 representing Brookings County, explaining what they did during session, and how new legislation and projects would benefit the area.  Shout out to newly minted Truman Scholar Caleb Weiland who substituted for Senator Casey Crabtree who had a conflict for an event he had to attend to his wife. (“Happy wife, happy life,” or so as my wife claims.)

For Moody County, the legislators for District 25 spoke. Randy Gross offered his comments, and encouraged everyone to partake in the ice cream he arranged to be donated, which was much appreciated.

District 25 State Rep. Jon Hansen used his time not to tell constituents about what he did during session, but to shill for his ballot committee.  And surprisingly, Senator Tom Pischke tried to address what he did during session, but kind of skipped over his voting to keep convicted rapists in classrooms, or about trying to have his fellow Republican Senators arrested for their Frye-Mueller vote. He also chose to omit his dis-invitation to the Senate Republican Caucus.

Speaking of deplorables, one of the things that got a little chatter during the evening was that outgoing Brookings School Superintendent Klint Willert attended the dinner. This comes after his “resign or be fired” ultimatum from the Brookings School Board, which the District’s attorney detailed point by point. Interestingly, the soon-to-be ex-superintendent shared a table with the aforementioned Senator Pischke, Representative Hansen, and unsuccessful legislative candidate Cole Heisey of Sioux Falls.

I’ll just stop there.

I did notice an ad in the program for a new group that drew my attention..

It was an ad for the “Save Brookings” political action committee, with the ad letting everyone know that they are going to be endorsing candidates that support the Republican platform. At least the platform according to them.

I hadn’t heard of this group before, so who is behind it?

According to the Secretary of State, apparently this group was set up by Rick Weible of Elkton earlier this month to “support conservative issues and candidates in Brookings South Dakota.”  We’ll see how long this lasts. Maybe someone can explain why we need a recent Minnesota transplant to Elkton to save Brookings?  Or, why would I send money to Elkton to save Brookings?

Have you been to Elkton? I’ve been to Elkton. I think Elkton could use a little saving before the home of the State’s largest university does.  But that’s just me.

As my daughter Sydney would say, “Peace out” until the next Lincoln Day Dinner comes around.

The Argus Leader is reporting today that after spending most of the last two months on probation for it’s accreditation status, the Brookings School District has finally gotten their act together.

But not until after they put their Superintendent on notice that he needed to go find work elsewhere:

Brookings’ accreditation status was still listed as “on probation” on the DOE’s website as of last week, despite having taken steps to reinstate it through a plan of action approved by its school board last month. However, as of Friday, their accreditation is back.

and..

“Despite some delays due to circumstances outside of our control, including the technological challenges with the state certification website, every effort was made to complete these items as quickly as possible,” Willert stated.

Read it all here.

I’m not sure “circumstances outside of our control” is completely accurate.  There were a couple of computer issues with the state’s system reported, but that was not all of it.

If you recall, this problem comes after the Brookings School Board had already identified serious problems with the performance of Brookings School Superintendent Klint Willert. But when it came to their attention, they did not let it pass without making note of it, as was related in detail in the letter from the Brookings School Board’s attorney:

Willert Ultimatum by Pat Powers on Scribd

Thankfully, we’re approaching the end of the School Year, and maybe the Board can start to get things back on track.

Remember when the backers of the “open primary” measure were in the news claiming only the most extreme reaches of the political party would oppose their measure?

State Senator and South Dakota Republican Party Chairman John Wiik is in SouthDakotaSearchlight.com today declaring the state GOP’s opposition to the Jungle Primary measure:

Wiik hopes the measure doesn’t make it onto the ballot at all, and would like to see it defeated handily if it does.

“We are 110% opposed to the idea,” Wiik said. “It is our job in the Republican Party to put out the best candidates and decide who’s going to represent us on the general election ballot.”

and..

“I don’t think downtown Sioux Falls should be deciding who we should have on our general election ballot,” Wiik said. “It’s an old adage of mine: Pick a side and stick with it. If you run in the middle of the road, you’re bound to get run over.”

Read the entire story here.

With Wiik representing the entire Republican party, I think the backers of the radical measure to shut out a lot of people from the November election should get the message that they represent the radical fringe, and not the rest of the SDGOP.

That’s why you don’t want to even think of it.

Now, this man is a convicted felon for voting twice.

South Dakota loves it’s governor and US Senators, according to the Morning Consult website, based on polling done between January 1 and March 31 of this year.

NEW: America’s Most Popular Governors:

Scott (R-VT): 78%
Gordon (R-WY): 67%
Sununu (R-NH): 66%
Justice (R-WV): 66%
Beshear (D-KY): 63%
Green (D-HI): 62%
Sanders (R-AR): 61%
Ivey (R-AL): 61%
Lamont (D-CT): 61%
Noem (R-SD): 61%
*Jan. 1-Mar. 31, 2023https://t.co/q8klQ5ilPc pic.twitter.com/OVrgAFEDHx

— Morning Consult (@MorningConsult) April 20, 2023

NEW: America’s Most Popular Senators:

Schatz (D-HI): 65%
Sanders (I-VT): 64%
Barrasso (R-WY): 63%
Thune (R-SD): 63%
Welch (D-VT): 62%
Lummis (R-WY): 61%
Rounds (R-SD): 61%
Hirono (D-HI): 60%
Tester (D-MT): 58%
King (I-ME): 57%
*Jan. 1-Mar. 31, 2023https://t.co/q8klQ5ilPc pic.twitter.com/leK3YGS2wV

— Morning Consult (@MorningConsult) April 20, 2023

That’s Republican Leadership showing the way!