Author: @SoDakCampaigns

From my mailbox – the Christmas card from Attorney General Marty Jackley.

(Somehow I’m not thinking Annette Bosworth got one.)

Secretary of State Shantel Krebs Certifies Second Ballot Measure

Today, Secretary of State Shantel Krebs announced that an Initiated Amendment to the South Dakota Constitution to Provide for State Legislative Redistricting by a Commission was validated and certified to be on the November 2016 general election ballot as a ballot measure that the citizens will vote on. The sponsor turned in 43,198 signatures to the Secretary of state’s office. An Initiated Amendment to the Constitution required a minimum of 27,741 signatures from South Dakota registered voters. Once the signatures were delivered to the Secretary of State’s office, a 5% random sampling was conducted. It was determined that 70.2% or 30,335 of 43,198 signatures were in good standing.

This is the second initiated measure to be approved by Secretary of State. A total of 8 measures were submitted for review. This office will continue the signature validation process of the remaining 6 measures in the order they were submitted to the Secretary of State. A total of 275,000 signatures were submitted among all petitions.

Those looking to challenge the Secretary of State’s certification of a ballot measure have 30 days from the date they are certified. To challenge the validation of to Provide for State Legislative Redistricting by a Commission that date would be January 25, 2016.

Challenges to all statewide initiatives and referendums must be brought within 30 days after the petition has been validated and filed by the Secretary of State (SDCL 12-1-13)

House and Senate bills have begun being pre-filed with the state’s legislative research council, and have now appeared on the LRC’s web site for review and dissection.

A few interesting ones are among the group, most notably House Bill 1006 – authorizing counties to impose sales and use taxes. Such an action would represent a sea change in how counties raise revenue, as they had been restricted from using sales tax proceeds in the past.

Fred Deutsch’s bill – House Bill 1008 – An act to restrict access to certain restrooms and locker rooms in public schools is sure to be one of the early and controversial measures, given the level of discussion the topic usually brings. The act is sponsored by Representatives Deutsch, Craig, Al Novstrup, Partridge, Russell, Schoenbeck, Verchio, and Zikmund and Senators Brock Greenfield, Haverly, Holien, Olson, and Ernie Otten.

If you think about the names on the list, this represents a fairly broad base among the ideological viewpoints of legislators. So it may carry far more weight than you might think.

The list of what’s been filed as of this writing is provided below. Click around, and let us know what you think.

House Bills

Bill	Title
HB 1001	repeal the Midwestern Regional Higher Education Compact.
HB 1002	eliminate certain reporting requirements for the county general fund.
HB 1003	revise certain administrative functions regarding county government.
HB 1004	make form and style revisions to certain statutes regarding counties.
HB 1005	revise and repeal certain fees that are established to compensate counties for services provided by county officials.
HB 1006	authorize counties to impose sales and use taxes.
HB 1007	make an appropriation to revise and update the values and methods used to determine the agricultural land production capacity and to declare an emergency.
HB 1008	restrict access to certain restrooms and locker rooms in public schools.

Senate Bills

Bill	Title
SB 1	revise certain provisions regarding the Executive Board of the Legislative Research Council.
SB 2	revise the distribution of the revenue from the alcoholic beverage fund.
SB 3	revise the income criteria for determining if property is classified as agricultural land for property tax purposes.
SB 4	provide for the assessment of certain agricultural land as noncropland.
SB 5	revise the procedure to initiate a school district boundary change.

Butte County States Atty Heather Plunkett was kind enough to offer the following statement to dakotawarcollege.com this evening regarding her arrest, and today’s court proceedings:

Today I took responsibility for my actions in court but feel that I also owe the people of Butte County a formal apology as well as an expression of gratitude for the patience they have shown me in the last couple of weeks.  At a later date, I will issue a more in depth statement detailing my intentions concerning my position as State’s Attorney.  Additionally, I will be sentenced on February 5, 2015 at 1:30 pm and encourage the public to attend.

As noted in the immediately preceding post, Heather entered a plea of guilty today to possession of marijuana, less than 2 ounces, possession of drug paraphernalia, and ingesting substance other than alcohol. All were misdemeanor charges.

Learning Something from Yesterday
By Rep. Kristi Noem
December 23, 2015

It has been an honor to serve you again this year. As we prepare to start 2016, I couldn’t help but reflect on what a year it has been.

I started 2015 with an appointment to the historic House Ways and Means Committee, which handles all tax, trade and economic growth policies. As the first South Dakotan to serve on this committee, it’s been a tremendous opportunity to make sure our priorities and values are reflected in the nation’s largest debates.

Just days into the new year, the House passed the Keystone XL Pipeline Act with bipartisan support. This bill would have allowed work to begin. While Republicans and Democrats in the Senate also agreed to the legislation, the President vetoed it. In doing so, he deprived South Dakota of good jobs, millions of dollars in revenue for cash-strapped counties, and congestion relief for the roads and rails.

This was one of the first of more than 300 bills the House would pass throughout 2015. We also voted on a permanent repeal of the death tax, a bill to hold sanctuary cities accountable, and measures to rein in federal regulators. Although none of these items on our conservative agenda received the President’s signature, there were a handful of areas where we found common ground with members from both parties.

Over the last few years, I’ve advocated for legislation to combat human trafficking. On May 29, we earned a major victory when the President signed our bipartisan Justice for Victims of Trafficking Act, which included provisions I wrote with the needs of South Dakota and our children in mind.

We also passed a bipartisan Trade Promotion Authority bill, which put tools in place to hold the Obama administration accountable for meeting the trade objectives set by Congress. This legislation is already making an impact. Because of it, the public has full access to the pending Trans Pacific Partnership before Congress can act on it. That gives everyone time to review it and make sure it’s a good deal for America.

After more than 13 years under No Child Left Behind, Congress also overhauled our federal education policy, finally getting us away from the federal government micromanaging local classrooms. In the bill, we gave states more flexibility, empowered parents, modernized the Impact Aid program, and stopped the federal government from pressuring schools into adopting specific academic standards, like Common Core.

Additionally, I helped drive forward the first long-term highway bill in a decade to make sure South Dakota farmers, businesses and families would continue to have access to a safe and reliable infrastructure. With 80,000 miles of roadway, 6,000 bridges, and thousands of miles of railways in South Dakota, it was critical that we give state and local governments more certainty, control and flexibility when addressing infrastructure problems. The Fixing America’s Surface Transportation Act accomplished that.

Finally, we passed legislation to protect hardworking South Dakotans from pending tax hikes. In the package, we made improvements to 529 college savings plans, offered a permanent deduction for certain classroom expenses teachers take on, and permanently extended Section 179, which is important to many farmers and ranchers. The package also included an extension of the biodiesel tax credit through 2016 and stopped Obamacare’s medical device tax from taking effect until at least 2017.

Beyond legislative initiatives, I’m proud of the personal impact our office has made in the lives of many South Dakotans. We’ve assisted more than 600 constituents who faced problems when trying to adopt a child, pay their taxes, receive veterans or Medicare benefits, and more. We’ve also been able to show more than 130 South Dakota groups around the U.S. Capitol and made more than 170,000 calls to constituents to make sure you knew what I was doing.

There is much more to be done, but as John Wayne said, “Tomorrow hopes we have learned something from yesterday.”

Thank you for the opportunity to serve South Dakota. Have a happy New Year!

United State Senator Mike Rounds’ Christmas Card hit mailboxes yesterday, in case you wanted to see….

The word out of Pierre recently is that Jason Glodt, whose Marsy’s Law Ballot Measure just made the ballot, is a busy man. However, as of January 1, it’s my understanding that he’s taking a step back from one of his current duties, as interim Director of the SDGOP, to concentrate on that same Marsy’s Law campaign.

And while that may seem to leave the state GOP running a little skinny as we go into 2016, unlike the Dems, it’s not cause to fret.

Much of the groundwork for next year is already laid, with overwhelming numbers of Republican legislators ready to roll. It’s not as if we’re still scrambling to to find people to run for US Senate or anything. (Ann did promise there would be one, so Dems can consider that done, I’m sure. Really, I’m sure.)

The biggest challenge in making the choice for a new GOP ED, the important thing will be to find the right fit for the party.

As I think I’ve mentioned from time to time, and as noted in Governing magazine recently,  state political parties are trying to find their way post Citizens-united. They’re not exactly the sugar daddies that they used to be, with PAC’s and outside groups able to step in and dole out cash.

In my first run with the GOP as a young pup back in 1988, I was in a meeting with Rep. Don Ham representing the House Caucus, and the GOP ED, and we determined who received  $250 donations, $500 donations, and the big one – $1000 donations. (There were two Republicans who trafficked and voted mainly with Democrats who received a token $50.)  And this was a big deal – these were some of the biggest donations these candidates received.

Nowadays, not so much. There’s our advertiser the Rushmore PAC, there’s Mike Rounds’ Peter Norbeck PAC, and many others that are based strictly on ideology who make those party donations back in 1988 seem paltry.

But the GOP Party apparatus still has roles that others can’t fulfill. There’s the organizational structure they provide, as well as a cadre of activists. There’s the historic data the party wields in terms of decades’ worth of voter data. There’s the bully pulpit of speaking for a tremendous number of Republicans in South Dakota, as well as interfacing with the national GOP.

The right person can do all of those things, and far more as they do their best in trying to herd the cats, and keep the peace among various factions of the party.

Right now, there’s such an abundance of Republican officeholders that shaking loose someone with the experience, as well as the administration, communication, and fundraising skills to do the job might take a while.  In other words, many of the good ones are taken. But there are still good ones out there.

And whoever that is, and however long it takes, the important thing is that we have the right person for the job.

From my e-mail box, it appears that Paula Hawks’ campaign is sending out an e-mail to people tonight about a health scare her family is going through, noting that it’s drawing her attention away from the campaign:

———- Forwarded message ———-
From: Paula Hawks <[email protected]>
Date: Monday, December 21, 2015
Subject: keeping you informed
To: (REDACTED)

(REDACTED) —

Today, I am writing all of my supporters to share a sensitive topic for my family and I. In early November, my eldest daughter, Ruby, had a serious health scare that drew my attention away from the campaign. I’m happy to announce that after multiple doctor visits and tests, Ruby will be having surgery tomorrow to remove a mass in her neck and thyroid and is expected to have a positive outcome and a full recovery. Following Ruby’s surgery and recovery I am looking forward to devoting 100% of my time and energy to my campaign for U.S. House.

Your support has been overwhelming since I announced my campaign for U.S. House. It is clear you want a change in congressional representation, and I promise to not only work hard to win, but to also make you proud once I earn your vote. I appreciate you all standing with my family during this difficult time. While I am committed to the people of South Dakota and committed to this race, the needs of my children and family are always foremost in my mind.

Best,

Paula

We certainly take her at her word, as any parent would be acutely attuned to and concerned about the health of their child.

But, after such a heartfelt commentary on the health of a loved one, the next paragraph claiming “It is clear you want a change in congressional representation,” just seems to frost over the previous layer of sincerity with partisanship.

What are your thoughts on all of this?