Author: @SoDakCampaigns

Gov. Noem Recognizes Move Over Awareness Month 

PIERRE, S.D. – June is Move Over Awareness Month in South Dakota, and today Governor Kristi Noem reminded all South Dakotans to drive safely and move over when passing stopped vehicles, especially emergency vehicles.

The South Dakota Legislature designated June as Move Over Awareness Month in memory of Dale Jones, a South Dakota tow operator who was killed by a passing vehicle this past January.

“Dale Jones’ birthday would have been today,” said Governor Kristi Noem. “We recognize June as Move Over Awareness Month in the hope that what happened to Dale will never happen again in our state. I want to thank Senator John Wiik and all the other legislators that brought this important issue to the forefront.”

The South Dakota Legislature also passed and Governor Noem signed two laws designed to protect stopped emergency vehicles. Senate Bill 164 revised the penalties and provisions regarding approaching stopped vehicles. House Bill 1170 revised provisions regarding the use of certain lights by tow truck vehicles and Department of Transportation authorized vehicles.

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Thune: COVID-19 Proves Value of Telehealth Across America

“During the pandemic, we’ve seen health care providers of all types turn to telehealth to continue serving their patients without running the risk of spreading the virus.”

Click here or on the picture above to watch Thune’s speech.

WASHINGTON — U.S. Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.) today highlighted the heightened value of telehealth during the COVID-19 pandemic across the United States, especially in rural areas like those in his home state of South Dakota, where access to specialty care is more difficult to find. Thune has long been a proponent of telehealth, most recently helping champion provisions in the CARES Act, cosponsoring the CONNECT for Health Act, and authoring the RUSH Act.

The Argus Leader is reporting today that despite the cost to do so, Theresa Stehly is sparing no expense and will be demanding the first ever recount for a Sioux Falls City Council race:

As Stehly had already made clear, she’ll be asking for the first-ever recount in a City Council race, which she reaffirmed on Tuesday night.

and…

Greco said he did not have an exact cost for the recount, but said that a “reasonable estimate” would be $1,500 per day.

Read the entire story here.

Frankly, this seems to be an exercise in vanity more than anything, in the day and age where ballots are counted by machine. Years ago, when ballots were marked and counted by hand, you might be able to effectively argue votes.  Now in the days of machine ballot tabulation – good luck with that one.  There would have to be a massive screw-up to change the kind of numbers that Theresa Stehly needs to win.

Fox example, look at the last general election, where Sen. Blake Curd’s race went to recount in a close vote:

Curd ended the night with a slim margin of 27 votes after the canvass and a recount was requested.

How far did the recount move the margin?  In Minnehaha County, the recount dropped 2 votes for Curd, and added none for his opponent.  Two votes. 

In the Lincoln County portion of the district, he lost another vote, again, picking up none for the opponent.  That’s ONE.

Between the official canvass, and the recount, Curd lost a total of three votes, and his opponent picked up none.  Zilch.

Outside of a massive error that would have to had been missed by the official canvass board, in the day and age of machine tabulation, I sincerely believe there’s no way that they’re going to mysteriously discover a collective error of as many votes as Stehly needs.

Stehly lost by 109 votes in a close race. No matter how much she wants to spend in taxpayer funds, or whines about people picking on her, the result is not going to change.

Interestingly, Theresa’s supporters are out throwing sewage on the process already, claiming that the person who Alex Jensen may choose to represent himself in the recount is a “rat from the SD GOP.” Nice. That might be the largest ‘tell’ in all of this as to why she was only the third incumbent ever ousted from the City Council.

Considering the closeness of the vote, and the historic and overwhelming resistance of Sioux Falls residents to change – especially in the middle of a crisis such as COVID-19 – if Theresa and her supporters had channeled all that nastiness and negativity into running anything resembling an actual campaign, she wouldn’t be in the losing position.

But enough voters had decided they’d long seen too much of what Theresa brought to the table. And they sent her on her way.

 

ALEX JENSEN THANKS VOTERS FOR ELECTING HIM TO SERVE

Sioux Falls –  Alex Jensen, declared winner of last Tuesday’s Sioux Falls At-Large City Council election, announced today his sincere appreciation to the voters of Sioux Falls for electing him to serve. With nearly 30,000 votes cast in the city election, participation in this year’s election was double the expected turnout.

“When I started this campaign almost a year ago, I made it a point to meet with as many citizens, businesses and organizations as possible.” Councilor-Elect Alex Jensen said. “My family and I were humbled by the positive response and support we received during this campaign and we couldn’t feel more honored to be entrusted to serve after the final votes were tallied last week.”

Alex Jensen defeated incumbent, At-Large Councilor Theresa Stehly in a close race by a margin of just over 100 votes. The official results mark just the third time a challenger has unseated the incumbent Councilor in almost thirty years and is also one of the closest city elections in decades.

“In addition to expressing my sincere appreciation to the citizens of Sioux Falls for their support, I want to thank Theresa Stehly,” said Councilor-Elect Jensen. “Theresa worked to do what she thought was best for Sioux Falls. Her dedication and passion is something I admire, along with her civility and professionalism throughout the campaign.”

Any results that finish within two percent when the final votes are tallied can be subject to a recount, should the defeated candidate make the request formally. With almost 30,000 votes cast, city officials would need to dedicate significant time and money to any recount efforts.

“We’ve worked hard to get to this point,” Jensen stated. “We’ll do whatever we need to do in order to carry out the will of the Sioux Falls voters and get to the finish line.”

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Rounds, Smith Lead Bipartisan Group of Senators to Introduce Legislation Expanding Mental Health Services in Rural America 

WASHINGTON—U.S. Sens. Mike Rounds (R-S.D.) and Tina Smith (D-Minn.) today led a bipartisan group of senators to introduce legislation to expand telemental health services in rural areas. The Home-Based Telemental Health Care Act of 2020 would establish a grant program for health providers to expand telemental health services for those specifically in rural populations working in farming, forestry and fishing industries. Additional cosponsors include U.S. Sens. Kevin Cramer (R-N.D.), John Boozman (R-Ark.), Susan Collins (R-Maine) Ed Markey (D-Mass.), Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-Miss.) and Michael Bennet (D-Colo.).

“Those living in rural areas may live far away from a mental health facility, making in-person visits difficult for those seeking care,” said Rounds. “Utilizing telemental health capabilities will allow South Dakotans in rural areas to receive quality care from the comfort of their homes. Not only does this save time and resources, it provides an important mental health service during a difficult period for our farmers and ranchers, who for years have suffered economically due to low commodity prices, trade disputes and price disparities.”

“Now—especially as our nation continues dealing with a pandemic—we need to help rural America overcome the unique obstacles that small towns and rural communities face in providing mental health,” said Smith. “Our bipartisan bill will help health providers in rural areas expand tele-mental health care services for farmers, ranchers and foresters, and many others in local communities who are experiencing stress and burnout caused by the pandemic, difficult weather, low commodity prices and more. It’s important that they get the services they need during this uncertain time.”

This legislation would direct the Secretary of Health and Human Services, acting through the Director of the Office for the Advancement of Telehealth of the Health Resources and Services Administration, in coordination with the Rural Health Liaison of the Department of Agriculture, to award grants to entities to establish demonstration projects for the provision of tele-mental health services for rural populations, specifically those working in the farming, fishing and forestry occupations. It would authorize up to $10 million for each fiscal year through 2025, using current funds.

The Home-Based Telemental Health Care Act of 2020 is supported by the American Farm Bureau Federation.

“The recent pandemic, challenging weather, destructive pests, trade disputes, labor shortages and market volatility over the past few years have brought an unprecedented level of pressure on America’s farmers. A 2019 Farm Bureau survey shows that an overwhelming majority of farmers and farmworkers say financial issues, farm or business problems and fear of losing their farm negatively impact their mental health. Farm Bureau supports the Home-Based Telemental Health Care Act and thanks Senators Mike Rounds and Tina Smith for their leadership in addressing the topic of mental health in rural communities,” said RJ Karney, Director Congressional Relations, American Farm Bureau Federation.

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Thune, Baldwin Introduce Bill to Improve Paycheck Protection Program for Agricultural Producers  

WASHINGTON — U.S. Sens. John Thune (R-S.D.) and Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.) today introduced legislation that would revise the way producers calculate their Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loan award. PPP was created by Congress in the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act to help small businesses retain their employees and cover other qualifying business expenses, and it provides forgivable loans to small businesses under 500 employees, totaling 2.5 times their average monthly payroll. Independent contractors, sole proprietors, and the self-employed are eligible for a loan through this program.

“South Dakota’s agricultural producers are the heartbeat of our state’s economy, and they are feeling the negative economic effects of COVID-19,” said Thune. “We need to ensure that our agriculture community can weather this pandemic. By making this fix to PPP, more of our country’s producers will be able to keep their farms and ranches operational, make ends meet, and continue to feed the world.”

“I’ve heard from family farmers who are fighting every day to make it through this crisis,” said Baldwin. “They are falling through the cracks in the Paycheck Protection Program, and that’s not right. Now more than ever, we must get federal support to the Wisconsin family farmers who need it. I’m working with Senator Thune to quickly take action and make sure farmers have better access to the PPP, because doing right by our farmers and their communities isn’t a partisan fight—it’s just common sense.”

“The Paycheck Protection for Producers Act will provide welcome relief for farmers rendered ineligible for PPP under the CARES Act as a result of financial losses caused by 2019 weather conditions,” said Jeff Thompson, president of the South Dakota Soybean Association. “Special thanks to Senator Thune for addressing this concern.”

“It’s important that the rules for critical programs like the Paycheck Protection Program reflect that farms are often structured differently from businesses in other sectors,” said Nic Schoenberger, Wisconsin dairy farmer. “I would like to thank Senators Baldwin and Thune for working to ensure that PPP rules can work for dairy farms like the one I run with my family in Wisconsin as well as the thousands of other farms across the country.”

On April 24, 2020, the Small Business Administration (SBA) and U.S. Department of the Treasury issued guidance for how producers filing a Schedule F must calculate their PPP loan award. It requires anyone without employees filing a Schedule F to use the following calculation:

• Use the net income amount from 2019, up to $100,000.
• Divide the net income by 12 and multiply by 2.5.
• Add the outstanding amount of any Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) made between January 31, 2020, and April 3, 2020, that the borrower seeks to refinance, minus the EIDL advance, which is a grant.

Under this guidance, producers filing a Schedule F and showing a negative net income are ineligible to obtain a PPP loan award. To help ensure that more producers can obtain a PPP loan, this legislation would allow producers filing a Schedule F to use their 2019 gross income (up to $100,000) when calculating their PPP loan rather than net income since many producers showed a net loss on their 2019 Schedule F due to the wet planting season and low commodity prices.

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State Senator John Wiik is likely to sail to re-election.. and after reading this, I get the feeling his fall opponent is the motor oil in the engine that’s going to propel Wiik to the win:

When your Libertarian opponent is posting on facebook that doing meth and prostitution should be decriminalized as ‘victimless crimes’ because the people participating in them are willing.. I just don’t think that’s an easy sell among the church going folks in District 4.

Wiik’s campaign expenditures this fall might consist of sending his Libertarian opponent a thank you card.

Former Gubernatorial Candidate and Constitutional Party crackpot Lora Hubbel was chirping about something nutty on facebook yesterday, and I had a thought…

Lora spends a lot of time posting crackpot theories about Bill Gates mythically wanting to track people by injecting them with tracking devices.  Of course, Lora spends all her time complaining about the Bill Gates tracking us conspiracy on Facebook, where they actually do track what you’re doing.

Just sayin..

Governor Kristi Noem’s leadership during recent national turmoil was recently recognized by National Review in an article as being based in science and fact rather than being driven by media hysteria:

Among the governors whose reputation has clearly been enhanced is South Dakota’s Kristi Noem. The 48-year-old Republican, who still ranches her family’s land, didn’t issue a shelter-in-place lockdown order for her state. “The people themselves are primarily responsible for their safety,” she said in a public statement in April. She added that the state and national constitutions “prevent us from taking draconian measures much like the Chinese government has done.”

But that didn’t mean South Dakota didn’t take clear steps to control the virus. Noem issued an executive order in March urging the elderly and those with preexisting conditions to stay home and encouraging employees to practice social distancing and to telework if possible.

and…

Most recently, Noem has acted to reduce tensions over the killing of George Floyd and the resulting protests. The local protests in South Dakota have been peaceful, and the governor says they were “legitimate and raised important concerns.” But in other places people were perpetrating violence in an effort “to shortcut public debates through fear,” she warned. “They want people scared.” She made clear that such behavior wouldn’t be tolerated in South Dakota.

Noem’s steady approach is attracting more national attention. Of course, her critics are still there. Stu Whitney, the media columnist of the Sioux Falls Argus-Leader, dismisses her policy on the virus as “mired in many of the strategies of President Trump” but concedes it has also made her “a darling of right-wing media icons.”

Read the entire story here.

It might not seem like it to the media during their fits of mania, but Governor Noem’s leadership style is pretty even keeled. She’s not easily swayed, and that’s a good thing, as she has been rock-stead during these turbulent times,

A nice and well deserved profile of Governor Noem.

Gov. Noem Outlines Lessons Learned from COVID-19 

PIERRE, S.D. – Today, Governor Kristi Noem outlined some of the lessons that South Dakota has learned from our fight against COVID-19. Key quotes from Gov. Noem’s remarks include:

“Perhaps the most significant takeaway so far is that more freedom, not more government, is the answer… Freedom is a better friend of true science than government-centered and government-controlled science. Freedom, not government, is the best friend of innovation. Freedom focuses our politics on persuasion and the intellectual strength of our positions, not on control, coercion or the heavy hand of government. And if someone is interested in the common good in all its iterations and complexities, freedom is the one and only choice.”

“My approach to this virus was to provide South Dakotans with all the information I could and then trust them to exercise their freedom to make the best decision for themselves and their families. We took a unique path – we haven’t locked people up, forced businesses or churches to close, or ordered a statewide shelter in place.”

“The mainstream media attack those who push for freedom and for people to be able to make the best decisions for their families.  But politicians who take away people’s freedoms and enforce lockdowns are praised – and shielded from real scrutiny.”

“Some think COVID-19 will accelerate the move of people out of cities. That story is still being written, but one of the few things we know about this virus is that density is one of the key factors contributing to its spread. Because of that, New York and Silicon Valley may look very different in the future.”

“Not all Governors trusted their people, but I did. Different paths mean people have different choices, and South Dakota chose common sense solutions.  If you want freedom, personal responsibility, and a government that works for you rather than dictates to you, South Dakota is the place to get it.”

“Our new normal may be very different from the past, but don’t ever forget this one fundamental truth – the windshield is so much bigger than the rearview mirror for a reason. In South Dakota, we always confront adversity and emerge into even greater prosperity. The future – our future – is bright. Hope is in front of us. We will come out stronger than ever before. And to those concerned about what the future might hold for you if you stay where you are right now, come to South Dakota – the air is fresh, the people are free, and the possibilities are endless.”

You can see the full video of Governor Noem’s remarks here and download them here.