Author: Pat Powers

Thune and Markey Applaud FCC Mandate to Protect Consumers From Illegal Robocalls

“In the midst of this coronavirus pandemic, it’s important now more than ever that consumers are protected from illegal robocalls.”

WASHINGTON — U.S. Sens. John Thune (R-S.D.) and Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.), authors of the Telephone Robocall Abuse Criminal Enforcement and Deterrence (TRACED) Act, today issued the following statement on the Federal Communications Commission’s (FCC’s) report and order to mandate the STIR/SHAKEN call authentication framework, as required by their TRACED Act. The STIR/SHAKEN mandate was a key provision of the TRACED Act and will enable a telephone carrier to verify that incoming calls are legitimate before they reach consumers’ phones.

“In the midst of this coronavirus pandemic, it’s important now more than ever that consumers are protected from illegal robocalls,” said Thune and Markey. “Today’s action by the FCC to implement key framework from our TRACED Act could not have come soon enough, and we are thankful for the commission’s continued work on this issue. Once implemented, STIR/SHAKEN will reduce illegally spoofed calls, a critical step to making it safe to answer your phone again.”

Last week, Thune and Markey urged the FCC to take all necessary steps to protect the public from illegal robocalls during the coronavirus health emergency.

The June 2nd primary election will appear to stand. Or maybe June second-ish according to the election measure passed in the wee hours of the morning.  And they’re likely to be joined by the municipal elections, as per the measure:

House Bill 1298 – ENROLLED
An Act ENTITLED An Act to provide for the postponement
of certain elections and to declare an emergency.

Be it enacted by the Legislature of the State of South Dakota:

Section 1. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, any election scheduled to be held from April 14, 2020, through May 26, 2020, shall be postponed in the interest of public health and safety. Any candidate deadline associated with the original election date shall remain in place. The members of the governing body of the political subdivision holding the election shall choose any Tuesday in June 2020 as the alternate election date.

If the governing body of the political subdivision chooses to hold the election on the primary election date of June 2, 2020, the following provisions are required:

(1) The combined election is subject to approval by the county commission of any county in which the political subdivision is located;

(2) Any expense from a combined election shall be apportioned in a manner agreed upon by the governing body of the subdivision and the county commission of each county in which the political subdivision is located; and

(3) Any other obligation arising under state law for either election shall be handled as agreed upon by the governing body of the subdivision and the county commission of each county in which the political subdivision is located.

The person in charge of the election shall use any and all reasonable means necessary to notify any eligible voter in the jurisdiction regarding the postponement of an election under this section. Upon the selection of an election date consistent with this section, the person in charge of the election shall publish a notice of election once each week for the two consecutive weeks prior to the election. A facsimile of the official ballot shall be published in one of the two calendar weeks prior to each election. The notice and ballot shall be published in the official newspaper of the jurisdiction.

For any election postponed under this section, any absentee voting period that opened prior to postponement shall extend through 5:00 p.m. local time the day before the new election date.

Section 2. This Act is repealed on December 31, 2020.

Section 3. Whereas, this Act is necessary for the support of the state government and its existing public institutions, an emergency is hereby declared to exist, and this Act shall be in full force and effect from and after its passage and approval.

Read the progress of the bill here.

This bill is a far sight short of the July 28th that the Governor had requested as a result of the Coronavirus, but logistically has the possibility to be a little more workable.

The risk is that the epidemic will be in full swing at that point, but it’s difficult to predict the future. We’ll just have to take it one day at a time in what might be one of the most challenging election environments that we will see in our lifetimes.

From KELOLAND, it appears that reporter Bob Mercer is claiming there were some antics that may have been observed during South Dakota’s first electronic session which gave rise to the last minute call for a disciplinary hearing:

An hour earlier, several Republican and Democratic legislators had told KELOLAND News to check out Langer’s behavior.

She was seen barefoot in room 413, which was the Senate’s base of operation during the final day. She also was spotted barefoot in the hallway outside, and in room 499.

Her diction was loose, her walk unsteady.

The lieutenant governor told Jensen there were no legislative days left for a disciplinary committee to act.

and…

Curd said it would be appropriate to pursue the matter through the Legislature’s Executive Board.

Any fact-finding, dismissal or exoneration could be done through the board, Curd said.

Read the entire story here.

According to the Argus Leader, it sounds like everyone up at session was getting along as well as they usually do up at the final day of session, which was being held electronically, because of the coronavirus epidemic:

The early morning hours also brought discontent between lawmakers. Moments before the Senate adjourned, Sen. Phil Jensen tried to move to convene a disciplinary committee to investigate claims that Sen. Kris Langer was intoxicated and had interrupted proceedings in both the House and Senate.

Proceedings were briefly thrown into confusion, until Lt. Gov. Larry Rhoden eventually ruled Jensen out of order, given that he was unable to provide his request in writing. Jensen challenged the ruling, and lost in a 4-26 vote.

Read the entire rundown of the proceedings here.

Phil Jensen going after the majority leader? If I wanted to watch a guy with a mustache attack a woman over the Internet, I think I’ll rewatch Tiger King. (At least Joe Exotic sings and has Tigers.)

This was just filed as goes along with the rumor I heard last week about District 30:

Part 1 just happened… now watch for part 2, which was Florence Thompson filing for the House.

I anticipate this will generate primary elections for both seats. Why? If you have to ask, probably because JFM is self-interested and awful, as is Florence Thompson in her own right.

The primary ride is going to get wilder…

If you haven’t been paying attention, the primary election season is set to get a little wild.. and I’m hearing they’re not done teeing things up. Currently by my reckoning, there’s a total of eight nine Republican State Senate primaries, and 12 primary races for the State House of Representatives. And from what I’m told, we could see more pop up.

Here’s what I’m tracking in the short term in the Senate:

District 6 – Herman Otten versus Isaac Latterell: This one could get interesting, as Latterell’s strength was always his door to door ability. Which, courtesy of the coronavirus, that aspect is now effectively negated. With that opening, Otten may be able to push a message out past his competitor.

District 12 – Curd v. Steele: This one may not materialize, as it was questioned if Steele was filing to make sure the seat was filled. But, who knows?

District 14 – Larry Zikmund v. Dave Zellmer: This will be one to watch, as Zellmer has a statewide following, versus Zikmund’s experience & relatively inoffensive voting record. Both are pretty solid people. We’ll see who can make a campaign happen in this environment.

District 17 – Art Rusch v. Nancy Rasmussen: Well, shoot. Former judge Art Rusch is a bastion of the Vermillion community, and a pretty good guy. And Nancy Rasmussen is eminently and equally likable as well. Ugh. I hate seeing either of them lose, but there can be only one who wins..

District 21 – Lee Qualm v. Erin Tobin: This had been a very safe seat for Senator Rocky Blare, elected in 2018. But with term limits capping Rep. Lee Qualm’s run in the House, Senator Rocky took a step back to allow his district mate Rep. Qualm continue his political run.  He was a shoe-in, right?

But this session Rep. Qualm insanely introduced an anti-vaccination measure that would have made it a class one misdemeanor to require school children and health care employees to be vaccinated against measles and polio, etc., which rankled the state’s entire healthcare community.  That happened to coincide with health care provider Erin Tobin (daughter-in-law of longtime Winner SDGOP activist Tom Tobin) deciding she had a strong interest in seeking the Senate seat herself.  And then coronavirus happened. This is not a good set of circumstances for the outgoing House majority leader.

District 23 – Bryan Breitling v. Larry Nielson: With Senator John Lake passing on a full term in the Senate, the seat opened up, and two stepped up. Bryan Breitling of Miller, current Chairman of the SDAHO organization and Larry Nielson of Tulare, who had ran for District 23 House a few years back are both competing for the seat.

District 29 – Gary Cammack v. Terri Jorgenson: Here’s another case of two good Republicans competing for the same seat. Incumbent State Senator Gary Cammack is a long-time businessman, and involved with the SD Retailers organization. Terri Jorgenson is a retired military officer, vice-chair of the Meade County GOP, and one of the nicest people you could ever meet. Again.. hating having to see either of them lose.

District 33 – Dave Johnson v. Janet Jensen:  Dave Johnson has served in the House for several years now, and I don’t think a year hasn’t gone by without him being under hard fire by any number of a certain group of the hard right in Rapid City. With one of them – Phil Jensen – being termed out of the Senate, Dave seemingly had a free run to the GOP Nomination. … but not so fast. Now he has to face Phil’s wife.  They’ll likely try to make Dave bloody… again… but they’ll be doing so without the advantage of an established candidate.

That’s what’s on deck in the Senate as of this moment.. but don’t consider it done. I’m hearing of at least three to four more possibilities for Senate primaries. And that’s counting the ones we know about.. there are some popping in these races out of nowhere, so this could explode in the next few days.

Stay tuned!

UPDATE.. No quicker did I post this, then we added one…

District 31 – Tim Johns v John Teupel: former Judge Tim Johns is moving up from the House, but a late entrance into the race just occurred this morning from former State Representative John Teupel.

From Facebook, several people are hosting an event to show awareness for Coronavirus, and to help unite the Sioux Falls Community:

HELICOPTER, AERIAL PHOTOGRAPHER AND VIDEOGRAPHER WILL BE OVER THE SKIES OF SIOUX FALLS DURING THIS TIME!

SIOUX FALLS WILL FIND THE LIGHT DESPITE THE DARKNESS AND DISTANCE. IT’S OUR TIME TO SHINE! #ONESIOUXFALLS

WHAT CAN YOU DO?

1) PLEASE SPREAD THE WORD AND SHARE THIS POST. TAG OR MENTION 3 PEOPLE THAT HAVE BEEN IMPACTED BY THIS VIRUS.

2) Turn on your exterior lights, find your flashlights, grab your phones and let them shine brightly into the Sioux Falls sky for 15 minutes. The professional images (Robb Long Photography) and video (Collin McKenzie with STORYBUILT Media) will be captured by two of the best in the business. The purpose of this night is to show our appreciation for all healthcare workers throughout the nation who are on the front lines battling this virus, the patients fighting the virus, businesses who have to close their doors, individuals who have lost their jobs, and those that are struggling with mental health issues. Secondly, this is an opportunity for those citizens and businesses who are able to DONATE to two funds that have been established with the THE SIOUX FALLS COMMUNITY FOUNDATION:

ONE SIOUX FALLS FUND
The goal of the fund is to help residents in the Sioux Falls MSA (Minnehaha, Lincoln, McCook and Turner counties) avoid evictions if they are unable to work due to COVID-19. To learn more and give please visit:
https://www.sfacf.org/covid-19

CORONA HELP SIOUX FALLS FUND
A coalition of churches and community volunteers working to bring supplies and food to those in need during the Coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic. Any funds remaining after the initiative will be donated to Feeding South Dakota and The Community Outreach. To learn more and give please visit:
https://www.sfacf.org/corona

A BIG SHOUT OUT TO THE FOLLOWING TO HELP MAKE THIS HAPPEN:

Ride The Sky Helicopters
midwesthelicopterrentals.com

Robb Long- Robb Long Photography
robblongphotography.com

Collin McKenzie-STORYBUILT Media
STORYBUILTmedia.com

Molly Kreutzfeldt-HenkinSchultz
henkinschultz.com

Frank Regas-Ascending Innovations
ascendinginnovations.com

From Facebook:

TJ Just-former mayor of Sisseton and Owner of 3 Bean Coffee is running for House District 1 with Tamara St John, and they are looking for a few good Republicans to drive through to sign petitions!

3 Bean Coffee in Sisseton
Today till 4pm and open Sunday

Drive up, get a coffee, sign his petition. The GOP has a great chance to take back district 1 this year, and they need your help!

From facebook, it look like one of the Democrat candidates for District 7 House didn’t manage to get their petitions done correctly….

Also not a good sign for Raver, if she’s still trying to pull off signatures at this late hour.