Author: @SoDakCampaigns

Traded for some great items to add to my SDGOP Ribbon and State Capital fight ribbons today, including a ribbon badge from the Montrose Herald newspaper supporting Pierre in it’s efforts to be declared the permanent State Capitol, with a “Stand Pat for Pierre” pin also attached. It might be one of the best items I’ve managed to come across as cities across the state waged a battle to be the seat of our state’s government.

Also picked up Mitchell and Chamberlain for Capital ribbons which I did not have, a couple of 1896 GOP convention ribbons, and a very challenging South Dakota for Ike button.

(If anyone ever comes across ribbons of this nature and want to part with them, don’t hesitate to drop me a note!)

From a petition sent out today by Legislative Leaders:

SPECIAL LEGISLATIVE SESSION ON IMPEACHMENT

Pursuant to and in accordance with the provisions of Article III, § 31 of the Constitution of the State of South Dakota, I hereby petition the presiding officers of both houses of the Legislature to convene a special session of the Legislature for the purposes of investigating and evaluating whether the conduct of Jason Ravnsborg, Attorney General of the State of South Dakota, surrounding the death of Joe Boever, involved impeachable offenses, pursuant to S.D. Const., Art. XVI, § 3, and if so, to conduct further impeachment proceedings thereon and legislate on matters involving the attorney general’s office.

The South Dakota Legislature is being asked to convene in special session to investigate the South Dakota Attorney General in connection with the September 2020 accident involving the AG and Joe Boever which resulted in Boever’s death.

There is also an article in the Argus Leader this afternoon.

 

A responsibility to be smart with taxpayer dollars
By Governor Kristi Noem
September 17, 2021

Do you find yourself wondering where your tax dollars go? In South Dakota, the simple answer is to education, health care, public safety, and other state government operations. But if you really want to talk dollars and cents, I can break it down for you using the change you find in your couch cushions.

Of course, we’ve got to start with the rules. In this case, Article 12 of the state Constitution says I must sign a balanced budget and cannot plan to spend more than we earn each year. That’s good because it means lawmakers, who negotiate the budget during each legislative session, are Constitutionally bound to pass a responsible budget.

When times are tight, we cut spending. When our economy goes from 83% performance rating on January 1st up to a peak of 116% just last month, you end up with a surplus of more than $80 million at the end of the fiscal year.

Before we look ahead, let’s first break down how the state chose to spend its funds before our economy hit turbo drive.

Remember what I said about that change in your couch? Here’s the breakdown of how much of your state tax dollar goes into specific areas of the budget:

• 49-cents of every dollar goes to education in South Dakota. This includes public schools, higher education, and tech colleges.
• 36-cents of every dollar goes to health care. Medicaid. Social Services. The Department of Health. The Department of Human Services. State institutions. All going to serve South Dakotans so they get access to the care they need.
• A dime out of every dollar goes to public safety, including our courts and justice system, prisons, and the Attorney General’s office.
• And a nickel of every dollar, the least of all expenditures, goes to running other state government operations.

That funding breakdown includes continuing operations and making smart investments in the future of our state. Last session, we saw major victories in growing the state’s commitment to broadband connectivity from border to border — the total state investment was $75 million.

We also appropriated a combined $72 million toward scholarships and bond payoffs for technical colleges. This is a significant boost to serving South Dakotans with higher education. The Health Care Trust Fund received $50 million, with additional funding to expand the availability of doctors and nurses across the state.

Other investments in our future include:

• $20 million toward a Bioprocessing Facility
• $20 million for railroad rehabilitation in West River
• State-supported investments of $19 million to help with the SDSMT Mineral Industries Building project; and $12 million to help fund the Dakota Events CompleX at the State Fair
• We also put $10 million in the IT modernization fund to ensure South Dakota is keeping up with technology trends for efficiency.

All of these investments are strengthening our state’s ability to compete, without over-burdening taxpayers. All of these investments were made well before our economic engine started picking up speed.

Now our economy is booming compared to where we were at the start of the pandemic. We continue to lead the nation in Moody’s “Back to Normal Index,” with our economy performing at 106% compared to March 2020.

We are also among the top in the nation, according to U.S. News, when it comes to fiscal responsibility – both in the short-term and long-term management. Not to mention, South Dakota is consistently listed among states with the lowest tax burden in the nation.

Taxpayers should be encouraged by that as we look ahead at responsibly managing nearly $1 billion in anticipated federal assistance over a five-year period. We also will be carefully considering smart one-time investments with surplus funds; investments that will keep our economy running strong while being good stewards of the taxpayer dollar.

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Noticing that I posted the re-election announcement for Sioux Falls Mayor Paul TenHaken, the other candidate in the race David Zokaites wanted to reach out and make sure people knew he is running too. And has been for a while.

From my e-mail box:

On Reddit I found one of your articles about Paul TenHaken campaigning for mayor. I’m also campaigning for mayor although I haven’t held a rally to officially announce. On the other hand, I’ve been driving around in a van with a license plate of “MAYOR” for about 3 years.

I think you’ll enjoy the softcopy flyer booklet which I have attached to this email My booklet is composed of two documents, both of which are attached.

Enjoy life,
David

And in case you wanted to read his booklet…

DAVIDZ Platform 1 by Pat Powers on Scribd

 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Thursday, September 16, 2021 

ATTORNEY GENERAL RAVNSBORG JOINS 24 STATE COALITION DEMANDING PRESIDENT BIDEN DROP VACCINE MANDATE OR RISK LEGAL ACTION 

PIERRE, S.D. — South Dakota Attorney General Jason Ravnsborg has joined with 23 other state attorneys general to send a letter to President Joe Biden today, warning that litigation will follow the implementation of the proposed mandate on private sector employees to either get a COVID-19 shot, submit to weekly testing, or be fired. The coalition of AGs outlined their legal and policy concerns with the mandate, which will be carried out through an Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSHA) emergency temporary standard. 

“The policies of this administration will hurt the American people and business,” said Ravnsborg. “This President seeks more government control over the lives and choices of all Americans.” 

History has shown that the judicial branch is highly skeptical of the use of OSHA emergency temporary standards because of concerns about federalism and the separation of powers. Further, the AGs raise concerns about the expansion of a federal regulatory agency and public perception of the order’s constitutionality. 

The coalition of AGs goes beyond legal arguments to address practical policy considerations of such a sweeping order. Most concerning is the potential to drive individuals out of the workforce, particularly healthcare workers, who are most needed right now to fight the pandemic. Additionally, this mandate ignores the tens of millions of Americans with natural immunity and will drive further skepticism of vaccines. 

Last, and perhaps most importantly, the AGs note there are alternatives to a broad, nationwide order. The letter states, “The risks of COVID-19 spread also vary widely depending on the nature of the business in question, many of which can have their employees, for example, work remotely. The one-size-fits-almost-all approach you have decreed makes clear that you intend to use the OSHA statute as a pretext to impose an unprecedented, controversial public health measure on a nationwide basis that only incidentally concerns the workplace.” 

South Dakota was joined on the letter by the attorneys general of Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New Hampshire, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Texas, Utah, West Virginia, and Wyoming. 

You can read the letter here: AGs letter to President Biden on Vaccine Mandate 

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I have a new long-form post up at South Dakota Political News tonight which you can preview..

20 years ago, we were more geographically diverse in who served in elected office. Now, we seem to be coalescing to certain areas. I think that trend will continue will more concentration to our population centers as we cruise towards the next decade.

While it had already been broken at the Federal level, Kristi Noem shattered the glass ceiling for who we consider for leadership.  And looking at the current makeup of the legislature, many of the more dynamic potential candidates moving up through the ranks look a lot different than they did a decade ago.

Absent a drastic change in political landscape, I think we’re going to remain fairly red.. but we may start to see a bit more purple shading in Sioux Falls.  And I’ll just stop there, as this post will get far too long and too far afield if I don’t. As opposed to talking about 2030’s environment – let’s talk about who to watch.

With that, let’s consider and predict what the SDGOP’s “Generation Next” – the future class of elected leaders – is going to look like.

Read the entire article here.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Wednesday, September 15, 2021 

ATTORNEY GENERAL RAVNSBORG ANNOUNCES APPOINTMENT OF JAY SEKULOW AND STAFF AS CO-COUNSEL IN PRO-LIFE APPEAL 

PIERRE, S.D. — South Dakota Attorney General Jason Ravnsborg has prepared the following statement regarding the appointment of co-counsel in the appeal to the 8th Circuit Court of Appeals in the matter of Planned Parenthood v. Noem. 

“As Attorney General I have made the rights of the unborn a priority. For many years, Planned Parenthood has denied South Dakota women access to free counseling that is needed to properly inform their consent to the abortion procedure and protect them from coercion and pressure from others to have an unwanted abortion. The South Dakota Attorney General’s office is tasked with defending all state statutes, including South Dakota’s abortion counseling statute. Consequently, after the District Court denied the state’s motion to dissolve the injunction on the state’s counseling statute, I consulted the notable constitutional scholar Jay Sekulow. Mr. Sekulow has served as President Trump’s lawyer and has argued numerous cases in the United States Supreme Court and federal Circuit Courts of Appeals. 

As a result of our conversations, Mr. Sekulow and his staff have agreed to co-counsel with attorneys here in the South Dakota Attorney General’s office on the appeal now before the 8th Circuit Court of Appeals. To that end, I have appointed Mr. Sekulow and his staff Special Assistant Attorneys General to work alongside attorneys in the South Dakota Attorney General’s office to assist in preparing the state’s case for the next stage of this litigation in the federal appeals courts. Mr. Sekulow brings a wealth of experience in the areas of First Amendment and pro-life litigation in the federal courts. His office’s participation in this case reflects the merits of the state’s counseling statute, the strength of state’s legal position and the importance of this case in the legal fight for the unborn.” 

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Rounds Announces $11.2 Million Grant Awarded to South Dakota School of Mines and Technology for DoD Cold Weather Research

Funding for this project has been Rounds’ top defense appropriations request for three years

WASHINGTON—Senator Mike Rounds (R-S.D.) today announced that South Dakota School of Mines and Technology has been awarded a $11.2 million grant to partner with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ Engineer Research and Development Center’s Cold Regions Research and Engineering Laboratory (CRREL). This new project called “Materials and Manufacturing for Cold Regions” will be conducted over a five-year time span, with funding going to faculty and student research at the School of Mines from multiple engineering and science disciplines. The team will develop advanced materials and manufacturing technology in support of the U.S. Army’s global military objectives in cold and remote regions.

“I congratulate South Dakota School of Mines and the Army Corps of Engineers on this important collaborative research effort,” said Rounds. “Thanks to the work that has already begun, the conditions have been set for the research team to design enduring systems and processes for use in cold and remote conditions. The success of this vital program is critical to the joint force’s ability to meet National Defense Strategy objectives to fight and win in extreme cold weather environments.” 

“U.S. Senator Mike Rounds along with members of the US Senate Armed Services Committee and other members of our congressional delegation have been instrumental in supporting this sort of research that is critical for our military to protect the nation’s interests in cold regions of the world,” said Dr. Grant Crawford, professor of materials and metallurgical engineering at South Dakota Mines. “Through this partnership we will apply materials and manufacturing research expertise and infrastructure, developed over the past two decades by numerous Mines faculty, staff and students, to support the critical needs of our nation’s armed forces. It’s a perfect opportunity for us and we look forward to the new partnership.”

“This research has the potential to be a win-win,” said Dr. Jim Rankin, President of the South Dakota Mines. “It will aid our nation’s defense and it will lead to new technology, new materials and new manufacturing processes that will spin-off into start-up companies right here in the Black Hills. This translates to more local high-paying jobs for our graduates and an economic boost to our community.”

Background:

CRREL solves interdisciplinary and strategically important challenges for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, U.S. Army, Department of Defense (DoD) and the nation by advancing and applying science and engineering to complex environments, materials and processes in all seasons and climates, with unique core competencies related to the Earth’s cold regions.

School of Mines faculty and students will focus on three main research areas in support of CRREL.

Advanced Materials: This includes lightweight composites that offer thermal insulation and low temperature ballistics capability to support armor for soldiers, equipment, vehicles and structures. This also includes multifunctional shape memory materials that can be used for damage tolerant devices and energy harvesting in cold environments.

Advanced Repair and Manufacturing Technologies: This includes friction stir welding/processing and cold spray technologies that can be used to repair broken parts and produce lightweight structures in cold regions.

Advanced Coatings: This includes both thick and thin film coatings that offer advanced wear and corrosion resistance, anti-icing capability, and are tailored for use in earths cold regions to extend the lifetime of equipment, structures and devices.

School of Mines faculty and researchers involved in the project include Dr. Grant Crawford, Dr. David Salem, Dr. Bharat Jasthi, Dr. Nick Bruno, Dr. Forest Thompson, Dr. Satish Bhattiprolu, Dr. Leila Sorkhi, Joshua Hammell, Todd Curtis, Michael Carter and James Tomich. Thirteen members of CRREL and the Engineer Research and Development Center (ERDC) joined Mines researchers for a meeting on the Mines campus last week.

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Jay Sekulow to Represent South Dakota in Planned Parenthood v. Noem

PIERRE, S.D. – Governor Noem and the State of South Dakota have retained attorney Jay Sekulow and the American Center for Law and Justice (ACLJ) to join the State’s legal team in the ongoing Planned Parenthood v. Noem litigation. South Dakota is appealing the current ruling to the United States 8^th Circuit Court of Appeals.

“Jay is a brilliant conservative legal mind,” said Governor Kristi Noem. “He’s argued 12 Supreme Court cases, including several religious liberty and pro-life cases. He will bring the same tenacity to protecting unborn children here in South Dakota.”

The State of South Dakota’s appeal in Planned Parenthood v. Noem seeks to uphold the South Dakota state law requiring that a pregnant woman consult with a pregnancy help center before deciding whether to abort her unborn child. This will ensure that women considering an abortion have all of the facts regarding their unborn child and the potential risks of an abortion procedure.

“On behalf of the ACLJ, I am honored to represent Governor Noem and the good people of South Dakota,” said Jay Sekulow. “This common-sense legislation protects mothers and the unborn children.

Jay Sekulow is Chief Counsel of the ACLJ, one of the most prestigious law firms in the country. Sekulow led President Donald J. Trump’s defense team in its impeachment acquittal in January 2020. He is an accomplished Supreme Court advocate, renowned expert on religious liberty, a #1 New York Times bestselling author, and a respected broadcaster. You can learn more about Jay here.

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