Category: Gubernatorial News

Reforming Our Juvenile Corrections System
A column by Gov. Dennis Daugaard:

We have much to be proud of in South Dakota. Our state has the third lowest unemployment rate in the nation. We’re among the states with the lowest cost of living. Just a few weeks ago Pew named South Dakota as the state with the least volatility in year-to-year tax revenues.

There is, however, one top ranking of which we shouldn’t be proud: South Dakota has the second highest juvenile commitment rate in the nation. This high rate of commitment is not explained by a higher rate of juvenile arrests for violent crime. In fact, South Dakota’s juvenile violent crime arrest rate is just one-third of the national average.

Seven of every 10 youth committed to the Department of Corrections in 2013 were committed for misdemeanor offenses, probation violations and “status offenses” –violations which, if committed as an adult, would not even be considered crimes.

Research shows that for many youth, commitment to residential placement fails to produce better outcomes than alternative sanctions. Commitment to residential placement also costs much more and can actually increase reoffending in certain circumstances.

Two years ago, we reformed our adult corrections system to improve public safety, hold offenders more accountable and control costs. Though it’s only been a short time since those reforms took effect, early results are positive. The percentage of offenders who have successfully completed parole has increased, hundreds of probationers have earned early termination of their supervision by complying with the rules, and the prison population is slightly less than what was projected.

Because the criminal justice reforms of 2013 are showing positive early indications, I, along with a number of stakeholders across the state, wanted to offer similar reforms for the juvenile justice system.

This legislative session, I’m proposing that we reserve commitments to the Department of Corrections for only youth who commit the most serious offenses and pose a risk to the public. I’m also proposing that we develop an array of effective interventions for youth offenders, including community-based programs to address substance abuse, antisocial tendencies and challenges within the family. These types of programs would allow youth to get the help they need without being removed from their homes. They would also help judges as they perform the difficult task of weighing how best to set youth on a better path.

We have a choice to make. We can continue to place juveniles in expensive state-funded facilities that, for many, are less effective at reducing delinquency, or we can invest in proven interventions and treatment programs that keep our youth close to home and connected to their communities.

Though it would be easier to keep doing what we’ve been doing, that would be a disservice to South Dakota – to the taxpayers who fund the correctional system and to the young offenders who need to be rehabilitated.

I’m hopeful that lawmakers will continue to be engaged on this issue and that they will come to agree that now is the time to fix this problem.  As we’ve proven in the past, we can do great things when we work together.

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A Better Road Ahead
A column by Gov. Dennis Daugaard:

This week, I delivered my State of the State address on the opening day of the South Dakota State Legislature. I used a major portion of that address to discuss South Dakota’s roads and bridges.

In a rural state like South Dakota, good quality roads are our lifeline. And right now, our roads are underfunded. In all corners of the state, we have road funding needs. State highways, municipal streets, county oil, township gravel, and hundreds of rural bridges are in need of additional maintenance.

Sixteen years ago, when I was a state senator and Bill Janklow was governor, the Legislature implemented the current 22-cent-a-gallon fuel tax.  Since then, construction costs have doubled, but our gas tax hasn’t.  It is still 22 cents per gallon.

We have 82,000 miles of roadway in South Dakota, many of which are in disrepair. Between local roads and state highways, we could easily spend another $150 million per year. We have nearly 1,400 bridges that are still safe, but structurally deficient or functionally obsolete. The replacement cost for those structures is about $240 million.

In 2003, $1 million would buy 7.8 miles of asphalt overlay, 1.5 miles of rural roadway reconstruction, and about 0.4 miles of urban concrete roadway reconstruction. In 2013, just 10 years later, that same $1 million could only overlay or reconstruct about half as many miles of roadway.

Our state highway system is South Dakota’s most valuable physical asset, and if we want to maintain it, we must act now. That is why I am proposing a road and bridge funding bill that meets the need at both state and local levels. My proposal generates about $50 million more this year, and in the long run it will permanently fix the current imbalance between road construction needs and funding.

When President Ronald Reagan proposed a gas tax increase in 1982, he said this: “America can’t afford throwaway roads or disposable transit systems. The bridges and highways we fail to repair today will have to be rebuilt tomorrow at many times the cost.”

President Reagan was exactly right. This year we need to fix this problem, for good.

Maintaining our roads and bridges is one of the most fundamental functions of government, and it is vital for this year and for decades to come. I don’t want to leave this problem to future generations.

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Launch of the Boards and Commissions Portal
A column by Gov. Dennis Daugaard:

State government should be open and accessible to the people of South Dakota. Throughout my time in office, I have made government transparency a priority. The Governor’s Office has released invitation lists, opened both the Governor’s Mansion and Valhalla to tours, and has made more information available online.

Open government is about more than availability; it is about accessibility. For example, in 2013, we launched the administrative rules website, rules.sd.gov, making it easier for South Dakotans to read and give input on proposed rules. The success of the site taught us that there is a lot of value in putting information in one location.

As Governor, I have the privilege of making appointments to our state boards and commissions. Through serving on more than 100 boards and commissions, over 1,000 South Dakotans generously lend their time and expertise to aid our state. One day as I was having difficulty finding minutes from a state board meeting, I was reminded of the administrative rules website we launched last year. While most of the boards and commissions post their information online, having to visit a number of different agency websites to find those things could be time consuming and inconvenient.

That is why we created a boards and commissions portal at boardsandcommissions.sd.gov to serve as a central hub for this information. At this website South Dakotans will be able to more easily find minutes, public documents, information on members and dates, and agendas for scheduled meetings.

In our state constitution, the South Dakota Bill of Rights states, “All political power is inherent in the people, and all free government is founded on their authority, and is instituted for their equal protection and benefit.”

As South Dakota citizens, you deserve the opportunity to know about and participate in your government.

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Matching Funds Awarded To Communities For Workforce Plans

PIERRE, S.D. – Gov. Dennis Daugaard has awarded nearly $1 million in matching funds to help communities across the state take an active role in addressing their own workforce issues.

In September, the Governor challenged the business, education, government and other sectors to work together to submit plans for the South Dakota Workforce Development Council to consider. Sixteen applications were received.

“I wanted to hear community-specific ideas and innovative plans to meet communities’ workforce needs,” said Gov. Daugaard. “Applications addressed a variety of topics, such as housing, internships, certification and training programs, and English as a Second Language classes.”

Communities receiving awards include:

• Aberdeen Development Corporation, $60,000
• Associated General Contractors of South Dakota, $50,000
• Belle Fourche Development Corporation, $175,200
• Black Hills Community Economic Development, $70,000
• Brookings Economic Development Corporation, $174,750
• City of Pierre, $20,480
• DeSmet Development Corporation, $8,100
• Greater Huron Development Corporation, $125,000
• Gregory Business and Industrial Development Corporation, $7,000
• Mitchell Technical Institute and Mitchell School District, $115,332
• Wagner Area Growth, Inc., $22,239
• Watertown Development Company, $50,000
• Yankton Area Progressive Growth, Inc., $60,000
• Yankton Rural Area Health Education Center, $50,000

The council evaluated the proposals on several criteria, including cross-sector involvement, sustainability in the community, consistency with statewide initiatives and quality of matching funding. The application narrative needed to detail the targeted workforce need and the proposed activity, as well as the cross-sector engagement each community used to develop the proposal.

The program is being administered by the Department of Labor and Regulation and the Governor’s Office of Economic Development. For more information and to view all submissions, visit www.SouthDakotaWINS.com.

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Gov. Daugaard Unveils Boards And Commissions Portal

PIERRE, S.D. – As part of his mission to streamline government and promote openness, Gov. Dennis Daugaard announced on Tuesday the launch of a state Boards and Commissions Portal.

“Government should be open and transparent,” said Gov. Daugaard. “This portal will serve as a central hub for many of our state’s gubernatorial appointed boards and commissions, where South Dakotans can easily find minutes, information on members and upcoming meetings.”

South Dakota has more than 100 boards and commissions whose members are appointed by the Governor.

The portal will provide the public with access to a master calendar, meeting materials and information on each board and its members.

The new portal may be accessed at boardsandcommissions.sd.gov.

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Vaccinating Saves Lives
A column by Gov. Dennis Daugaard:

For those who grew up in the 1950s and early 1960s, measles was almost a childhood rite of passage. Fifty years ago there were half a million cases and 500 deaths reported in the United States every year. South Dakota experienced over 10,000 cases of measles during the peak years before the 1960s.

Since the 1950s measles and several other diseases – smallpox, polio, diphtheria, tetanus and mumps – have been either controlled or eliminated in South Dakota.

What accounts for this tremendous shift in public health? Improved nutrition, widespread understanding of how diseases are transmitted, and improved sanitation have all played a role. But by far the single most important factor in saving lives from contagious disease is childhood vaccinations. Thanks to Jonas Salk – who developed the polio vaccine – and others like him, people are living longer and more productive lives.

Unfortunately measles is trying to make a comeback in the United States. Measles is a highly contagious airborne disease that causes permanent brain damage in one in every 1,000 patients. It is fatal in three of every 1,000 patients. The majority of those who contract measles in the United States are preschoolers, adolescents and young adults who were not vaccinated.

As I write this, the state Department of Health has confirmed six cases of measles in South Dakota. After 17 years without a single case, we’ve had 6 confirmed cases in one week. Why? Because even though vaccinations are proven to prevent disease and save lives, some choose against vaccination.

Avoiding vaccination has been a recent trend. As the memory of these diseases fades into the past, too many people seem to forget the risk of not vaccinating children.  Unsubstantiated and discredited theories about side effects have created unreasonable anxiety. Medical professionals, repeated scientific studies and organizations such as the American Academy of Pediatrics agree that vaccination is vital and safe.

I recognize that there are extreme circumstances where a child may not be able to receive specific vaccines because of a severe allergy or condition. In South Dakota, we also allow people to forgo a vaccination for religious reasons.  But for the overwhelming majority of people, vaccines are safe and reliable.

Not vaccinating doesn’t just affect you and your kids. It puts others at risk as well. Just as the polio vaccine protected millions of children from disease in the 1950s, vaccines save lives today. Vaccination is just as necessary today as it was decades ago.

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