Author: @SoDakCampaigns

The Value of Good Reporting
By Rep. Dusty Johnson

On days I’m home in South Dakota, I sit down for my morning bowl of Wheaties and flip through our local papers. This week, as I ate my bowl of cereal, I came across a well-researched and well-written article. The title was: “Effort begins to reduce risk of death of South Dakota mothers during childbirth.” It was written by local reporter Nick Lowrey from South Dakota News Watch and placed in many papers throughout the state.

It struck me for two reasons – one, it’s shocking because even as one of the most developed nations in the world, our mothers are dying during childbirth at the highest rate, and two, because the very next day I would be attending a congressional committee hearing on the same topic.

It’s important I go prepared to these hearings and the Education and Labor Committee does a fantastic job sending memos to ensure everyone is up to speed. The information is always helpful, but it’s not typically South Dakota specific. That’s where Nick’s article came in – because of his reporting I walked into that hearing knowing 60% of maternal deaths are preventable, that maternal “pregnancy-associated” deaths in South Dakota averaged 7.2 per year between 2010 and 2018, and nine South Dakota mothers died within a year of giving birth in 2018 alone.

To be frank, these are terrible statistics and hard to read. When I attended the Education and Labor hearing on maternal health, I was able to include Nick’s article in the Congressional Record for the rest of the committee and our entire nation to reference. There are several reasons the U.S. has seen an increase in maternal deaths – higher rates of obesity and diabetes, as well as giving birth at older ages have all played a role. According to Nick’s research, South Dakota does not keep data on severe pregnancy complications. During this week’s hearing, the witnesses expressed continuous concerns over the lack of information on maternal complications.

We can’t solve a problem if we can’t understand it.

There are new protocols being put into place, though, and hospitals like Sanford are working on their own set of practices to improve the safety of mothers. There is much work to be done across the U.S. and it may take years, but I’m glad organizations throughout the country and Congress are working to tackle this issue.

Investigative reporting plays a crucial role in exposing flaws in our many systems – and in this case, articles like Nick’s may help save lives. We’re living in a time where click-bait articles are taking over our news feeds – but I’m grateful South Dakota’s journalists are focused on news that matters.

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Strengthening Rural South Dakota
By Governor Kristi Noem 

In early January, along with two South Dakota producers, I was honored to be at the White House as President Trump locked in a new trade deal with China. The new U.S.-China trade agreement includes a promise to purchase approximately $80 billion of ag products over the next two years. This is a strong step forward for South Dakota’s ag community.

I think South Dakota soybean and corn producer Jerry Schmitz said it best: “The pioneer spirit lives on in South Dakota agriculture, and today’s agreement could very well be the new horizon we need to extend our operations and continue producing the food, feed, fiber, and fuel for the world.”

We landed another win later in January when President Trump signed the United States-Mexico-Canada (USMCA) agreement. While in Congress, I worked on this trade agreement to bring a new, modern approach to trade with two of our closest allies.

Each year, South Dakota exports more than $900 million worth of goods to Canada and Mexico. The USMCA rebalances and transforms the agreement into a 21st century, high-standard trade deal that ensures our goods are sold in a marketplace that is fair, open, and competitive.

Here in South Dakota, we’re also working to implement policies that help operations and rural communities succeed.

Rural development projects are vital to the long-term success of our small towns, communities, and the families that keep them strong. During my State of the State Address, I said we are rolling out the red carpet, not the red tape.

Recently, I announced a plan that creates a fairer, more predictable process for those who want to create or expand their operations in our state. Too often, permitting and appeals processes are lengthy, unfair, and unpredictable. If we’re going to push economic progress and preserve the health of our small communities, this legislation is critical.

To learn more about our efforts, visit facebook.com/govnoem.

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State Representative Fred Deutsch is on Facebook this morning thanking the Codington County Sheriff’s office and the extra security they’re providing him and his family over someone posting his home address on twitter and encouraging people to go to his house and “kill him.”

(From personal Facebook page of State Representative Fred Deutsch, 2/1/20. Reproduced with permission)

Local and State Law enforcement are very aware of the threat, and in speaking with Attorney General Jason Ravnsborg, it’s noted that by nature of the communication (a threat being made electronically), it could rise to the level of being a federal crime.

Obviously, the person making the threat isn’t that smart, not knowing the difference between a Congressman and State Representative.

People can debate an issue, and even disagree strongly. But when disagreement rises to the level of inciting violence against others, they should be prepared to bear the full consequences for their actions.

Get ready for this fall, because the out of state pro-pot groups aren’t just pouring money into South Dakota, they’ve broken a dam loose to pouring big money into the state. In looking at their campaign finance filing, they clearly opened up their checkbooks in 2019 to get their measure on the ballot:

sd4betterpotlaws_sdcfdisclosure by Pat Powers on Scribd

South Dakotans for Better Marijuana Laws took in $874,595.94 from the Washington DC based New Approach PAC, as well as a few other minor donations from in and out state sources, and dropped $877,323.94 into the petition signature gathering phase of their campaign to put recreational pot use in the State Constitution.

I suspect the cash dump is only going to get bigger from here.

UPDATE:

If you’re wondering about the Medical Marijuana petitioners, clearly the people from out of state carried them given what was reported as an in-kind donation from the recreational pot people to the medical pot people:

$252k of donated signature gathering makes that fairly obvious.

Rounds for Senate is certainly bringing the thunder with another strong fundraising quarter:

Rounds for Senate 4q 2019 FEC Report by Pat Powers on Scribd

The former Governor and current US Senator is posting fundraising in the amount of $402,174.43 against expenditures of $211,067.50, giving Rounds a healthy $1,812,831.66 cash on hand.

And there’s more to add to this total. With Rounds’ Peter Norbeck leadership PAC, he’s raised another $166,000 this year…and have an additional $62k COH. This is a bonus for Rounds, as he didn’t have a leadership pac in the 2014 cycle.

When combining the 2 accounts- Rounds raised $2,210,000 leaving him just under $1.9M cash on hand, which is $209k more than he raised in 2013 – the year leading up to the 2014 election – $724k more cash on hand when compared to the prior election.

Any way you cut it puts Rounds in strong position against any challengers who might take him on.

Continuing the worst campaign rollout since Paula Hawks for Congress, it appears that the Liz May for Congress campaign is getting around to making her announcement official, after filing all the paperwork, and putting a facebook page up with a few snapshots:

It appears that May will be making it official tomorrow at the fairgrounds in Rapid City. Right now it says on her page that 11 people are confirmed as going, as she boasts:

As a respected leader and relentless fighter, she has a track record of making hard decisions, and has solved real problems for South Dakotans. Liz Marty May Sticks to Her Guns and will Cull the Herd.

(Good lord, who wrote that awful copy? -pp)

What’s more interesting is noting who is running her only campaign presence at the moment:

The Liz May for Congress facebook page doesn’t even appear to be owned by Liz May, because according to Facebook records, the page for “Liz May for Congress” is owned by Base Engager, LLC., from Tyler, Texas, Jim McIntosh’s consulting firm.

I had mentioned McIntosh’s possible involvement a couple days ago, and the fact that a Texas based political consulting firm owns “Liz May for Congress” should tell you something.

If you’re starting off, and have to pay someone to run your free facebook page for you, what does that say about the groundswell of grassroot support for your campaign?  Not much.

Stand by for more to come on the race for Congress.

Wow. In case you haven’t seen House Bill 1215 yet, I get the distinct impression that Representative Randolph has some opinions about LGBT persons.

SD House Bill 1215 by Pat Powers on Scribd

Aside from the fact South Dakota has already lost that battle.. well it’s not aside from that fact, I’m pretty sure that under section 1, subsections 1 and 3 are unconstitutional. . For gosh sakes.

Not to mention, I question whether it might be a stretch to consider the proposed law itself as constitutional under the state’s constitution. Per AG Opinion 17-02:

Our State Constitution mandates that legislative bills meet two requirements.  First, each bill must contain an “enacting clause.”  S.D. Const. Art. 3, § 18.  Second, each bill must contain only one subject that is expressed in the bill’s title.  S.D. Const. Art. 3, § 21. 

Read that here.

It might be a stretch to say sexual orientation, tax dollars for sex change operations, conversion therapy, drag queen story time, and “a person’s right to practice secular humanism” all fall under “An Act to prohibit the state from endorsing or enforcing certain policies regarding domestic relations.”

What are your thoughts?

Scyller Borglum, Candidate for US Senate filed her 4th Quarter report for her race today:

Borglum 2019 4q FEC Report by Pat Powers on Scribd

In the 4th Quarter, Borglum raised $2,383.16 total against $3,918.29 spent, leaving her $8,219.38 cash on hand, mainly from a loan made by the candidate to the campaign for $12,000, which the campaign carries as a note.

(And yes, that is me on the report under disbursements, which technically should have been my business, Dakota Campaign Store for envelopes, magnets, etcetera. If you’re needing some of those things, drop me a note, and I’m happy to help.)

We’re still waiting to see the report from Senator Rounds, which I’ll post as soon as it’s available.

While he hasn’t turned petitions in just yet, State Senator Jordan Youngberg has announced his intentions to make a return run for District 8 State Senate seat.

In the last two Senate races, Youngberg first defeated incumbent Democrat Scott Parsley in 2016, and then turned him away again by a wider margin in 2018.

In Sioux Falls, the Alex Jensen for City Council campaign posted a video of Alex going door to door in his pursuit of the cItywide at-large City Council seat. From Facebook: