Category: Uncategorized

Had this sent to me the other day after it was received from the Assistant Majority Leader, Senator Carl Perry.

Someone should explain to Carl that most e-mail systems have this handy function called BCC; which stands for Blind Carbon Copy. If we’re going to go with the quick and dirty definition from Google AI:

BCC stands for Blind Carbon Copy, an email field that lets you send a copy of a message to recipients without their email addresses being visible to other recipients or the sender in the “To” or “CC” fields. It is used to maintain privacy and prevent the recipients from seeing who else received a copy of the email.

Such a handy tool. The Senate caucus might had asked him if he know what BCC was before they had him send this out to a large group.  (Not to mention that they should have proofed it, because it reads like it was written by a 8 year-old.)

Question, however; since Carl is inviting education leaders to the fundraiser, such as people from School Administrators and SDEA, does that mean that they’re going to quit picking on schools next session, where they were trying to post the ten commandments and make it part of curriculum in swim class? And that whole voucher thing ?

Gubernatorial candidate Toby Doeden was at the Right to Life convention this weekend, and when he posted the moment to Facebook, Toby seems to be having a Joe Biden moment on what his slogan exactly is:

“Thank you, South Dakota Right to Life, for allowing me to spread my message of faith, family, and freedom!”

I think that readers are more than familiar that the dime store slogan he just claimed as his own is used by someone not him.

Kind of young for a Biden-moment..

Spotted in Dell Rapids, Toby Doeden’s former PAC lackey & lobbyist Brian Lewis joins Senator Carl Perry in bailing from Toby Doeden, and trying to prop up the trailing 2% Jon Hansen for Governor effort:

Here’s Lewis spotted following Hansen with a phone in the air (filming I might guess?) at the parade as if it’s going to make any difference whatsoever in moving Hansen out of last place.

South Dakota US Senator John Thune appeared on NBC’s Meet the Press with Kristen Welker, and spoke about the shutdown that government faces because Democrats are unwilling to come together with Republicans on funding the budget, and are instead engaging in brinkmanship by holding the American government hostage.

KRISTEN WELKER: All right. Let’s talk about the big battle over government funding. We’re just two days away, Leader, as you know, from a potential government shutdown. The president did cancel a planned meeting with Democratic leaders. The House doesn’t plan to be in session until after the shutdown deadline. Is the government going to shut down this week, Leader Thune?

SEN. JOHN THUNE: Totally up to the Democrats. The ball is in their court. There is a bill sitting at the desk in the Senate right now, we could pick it up today and pass it, that has been passed by the House that will be signed into law by the president to keep the government open. So this decision, in my judgment, at this point in time is up to a handful of Democrats. We need eight Democrats to pass it through the Senate, something that 13 times when the Democrats had the majority over the last four years and President Biden was in the White House Republicans helped Democrats do. Thirteen different times, we did continuing resolutions in the Democrat majority. And in every case, they passed. And what the Democrats have done here is take the federal government as a hostage, and for that matter, by extension, the American people, to try and get a whole laundry list of things that they want, the special interest groups on the far left are pushing them to accomplish. And using a seven-week funding resolution, which is designed to give us time to do the normal appropriations process. They are using this hostage trying to get all these other things done. It’s a very straightforward argument in my mind. It’s simple.

Watch the entire segment here at NBC’s Meet the Press with Kristen Welker.

New and Improved
By Rep. Dusty Johnson
September 26, 2025

BIG Update

Artificial intelligence (AI) will be an engine of economic growth around the world. That’s why China and the United States are in a race to develop the infrastructure to support this transformative technology. America must win this race. President Trump and I understand the urgency and importance of this issue, from an economic and national security perspective.

I was in Aberdeen with energy, AI, and data center leaders to talk about how these investments would provide critical property tax revenue for South Dakota counties while helping the United States win this race.

As the world becomes increasingly digital, I will work with industry leaders to find ways to grow and train Americans for the skills needed to support this future-forward, emerging AI technology. South Dakota absolutely can and should be positioned to have a place in this digital race.

Johnson digital roundtable in Aberdeen

BIG News

The federal government is unfortunately heading towards another government shutdown. Shutdowns are stupid and do not serve the American people. That’s why I introduced the Eliminate Shutdowns Act with Senator Ron Johnson to prevent the government from shutting down ever again. My bill makes sure government funding continues at current levels until Congress passes new funding packages.

There is plenty of blame to go around for any shutdown, but one thing is clear: no one benefits from a shutdown.

BIG Idea

Four decades have passed since America’s ag producers had a mandatory update for the base acres – essentially how much a farm plants of certain crops. I’m sure you know how much the world has changed since 1985 and so has production agriculture. Inaccurate base acre numbers create discrepancies between USDA program payments and what is actually planted.

To improve these programs, I introduced the Balanced Agricultural Support and Efficiency (BASE) Act to require a one-time update of base acres for covered commodities to ensure base acres reflect recent planting history. These updates will better protect producers during disasters and more accurately reflect a recent average of acres planted.

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Big News for Small Businesses
By Sen. John Thune

For many South Dakotans, running their own business is part of their American Dream. Small businesses are the backbone of a lot of South Dakota’s communities, whether they are Main Street storefronts or family farms and ranches. I’m proud that this summer, Republicans delivered permanent tax relief for these hardworking Americans – relief that will help small businesses, farms, and ranches thrive and grow for many years to come.

This year, Republicans made permanent the pro-growth tax cuts that we enacted in 2017. Alongside lower tax rates for all Americans, this bill locks in the lower tax rates for small businesses that we enacted eight years ago. Small businesses, farms, and ranches that operate as pass-through entities will also continue to benefit from the small business tax deduction that our bill made permanent. And these pro-growth tax policies will help free up cash for small businesses, farms, and ranches, to invest in their operations and employees.

Then there are the specific investment incentives that are also now permanent fixtures of our tax code. Bonus depreciation for new equipment makes upgrading farm, factory, or office equipment more affordable. As just one example, with bonus depreciation, a farmer can deduct the full cost of a new combine or tractor the year he starts using it rather than over several years. We also made immediate expensing for research and development permanent, a provision that has already had a meaningful impact getting innovative technologies off the ground in South Dakota. And another provision allows full expensing for building new factories and factory improvements, which will help grow manufacturing across the country.

Our bill also delivered meaningful relief from the death tax for family-owned businesses, farms, and ranches – something that has long been a priority of mine. We permanently raised the exemption threshold for the death tax to $15 million, which will save a lot of family businesses from this fundamentally flawed tax and the costly estate planning that comes with it. Thanks to this bill, Americans who have worked their entire lives building up their dream won’t have to worry about that dream being sold off or dismantled to settle a tax bill when they pass it on to the next generation.

I spend a lot of time with small business owners, farmers, and ranchers in South Dakota. One thing I always hear is concern about the cost of doing business. With permanent tax relief, we’re giving small businesses more breathing room, which helps them grow and create good jobs in South Dakota. We’ve permanently oriented the tax code to support family businesses, farms, and ranches – and that will have a big impact for years to come.

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Rounding Up Results
By: Gov. Larry Rhoden
September 26, 2025

It’s tough rounding up 1,500 buffalo in the annual Buffalo Roundup, but it’s a whole lot tougher rounding up a two-thirds vote in both chambers of the Legislature to support a new prison. Regardless, we got both done this week, and what a week it was!

South Dakotans pride ourselves on getting things done – no matter how difficult it may be to do so. More than 20,000 visitors turn out to watch the Buffalo Roundup, and they get to see the big final show, but they don’t see the weeks of preparation that go into getting the herd ready for that big final push. And they don’t see the weeks of work that come after as the wildlife specialists at Custer State Park work the herd.

That spectacle is truly a sight to see, and if you never have, you must. The buffalo is as majestic an animal as there is, but they’re tough. And they’re mean. And they’ll turn on you in half a heartbeat. I rode in the Roundup this year, and it was far from my first time, but it was my first time as Governor! Turns out, the buffalo don’t care what your title is.

On the other hand, I was able to put my full Governor’s Office to work to get the prison across the finish line. For months, this issue was our top focus. We worked with the prison task force to build a plan. And then we diligently addressed every question that remained. We built a good plan, and we achieved a good result. We got it done.

Now, the real work begins of actually building the largest public safety investment in South Dakota history, and it’ll take some time. But the end result will be a good one. And in the meantime, we’re getting to work on the Correctional Rehabilitation Task Force to focus on making sure that inmates have the opportunity to return to our communities as productive members of society.

There’s always more work to do. Now, we get into the thick of preparing the State Budget and getting ready for the 2026 legislative session. Folks always have questions about what’s next for South Dakota. Answering those questions becomes a lot easier when I remember my oath to support the Constitutions of the United States and of South Dakota – and when we keep our eyes on the prize: delivering results for the great people of South Dakota.

So long as we continue to do that, we’ll be able to keep South Dakota strong, safe, and free for generations to come.

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The South Dakota Board of Elections was an interesting place to be today, according to media reports. Apparently, Jessica Pollema, one of the chief goofballs leaders of the group was demanding EVERYONE’s resignation today. Why? Because they didn’t get their way.

A leader of South Dakota Canvassing Group, a pro-Trump organization that’s been pushing for an overhaul of the state’s election system, on Thursday called for the resignations of all seven members on the South Dakota Board of Elections, including Secretary of State Monae Johnson, and said she wants the board abolished.

Jessica Pollema, of Tea, made the statements during the state board’s public-comment period. Her comments came a few minutes after the board had refused to go forward with a request from Rick Weible, of Elkton, for a declaratory ruling.

Weible wanted a decision on the legality of some laptops that an elections-equipment business, ES&S, had provided for use in the auditor offices of Lincoln and Pennington counties.

Read the entire article here.

South Dakota Canvassing is heavily promoting the candidacy of State Representative Heather Baxter who announced as a challenger for the office.  In fact, the chatter I’m hearing is that Pollema’s right hand election conspiracist Rick Weible is allegedly running the Baxter campaign.

From a look at it, Baxter has been provided the SDGOP contact list, as they immediately started e-mail blasting out to the members of County GOP organizations.

This was sent to me today, and is interesting to contemplate as Nebraska communities begin to receive income from their CO2 pipeline.  It comes at a time when South Dakota claps itself on the back for killing a pipeline that would have reaped massive rewards for the state. And the billion dollar project that would have put us in the lead for aviation bio-fuels instead is looking to our neighbor to the North, because we’re not exactly a great place to do business :

On Tuesday, officials with Tallgrass Energy said they would soon be shipping CO2 from the first of 11 ethanol plants connected to its pipeline — a converted, former natural gas pipeline — for a 392-mile trip across Nebraska, Colorado, Iowa and Wyoming.

and..

Such pipelines in other states have generated opposition, as well as lawsuits and protests. In this case, though, extensive new rights of way weren’t necessary, and many landowners along the pipeline route grow corn, a crop expected to benefit from expanding the markets for corn-based ethanol by making the fuel more environmentally friendly.

and..

“It’s going to put Nebraska ethanol into a league of its own,” said Steven Davidson, a Tallgrass spokesman.

Jeff Yost, president and CEO of Nebraska Community Foundation, said the new community fund will target some of the biggest challenges facing rural communities — quality early childhood education, senior care and food insecurity — providing small grants to sustain jobs and services.

Read the entire article here.

In case you missed it a few weeks back, our friends at Dakota Town Hall interviewed Brendan Thomas from the Internet for Growth organization about an area of regulation that seems to be on the hit list as we approach our next session. The problem is we have those legislators who think they can solve South Dakota’s property tax crisis by cherry picking sales tax exemptions here and there and they forget small government when faced with the scary internet box and get in the face of those who do their business on-line.

The problem is that overreaches of government and costs in both taxation and regulation end up getting passed down to businesses, which they pass down to consumers, which ultimately doesn’t amount to a hill of beans because minor exemptions are not going to do much of anything.

A troubling trend among some of our elected officials – and those who want to be elected officials – is over the question of what we want our future to look like. There are some who think we can have the same jobs we had in the 1950’s. And they’re happy to declare they like it how it was in the ‘good old days.’ Which they tap out on their cell phones which we did not have back then.

The parallel we can draw with the ‘good old days’ is that South Dakota can define America in one word: opportunity. Fueled by our hardworking spirit, we’re as much a home to rolling hills, golden plains and national parks as we are to modern cities like Sioux Falls and Rapid City. And we can create opportunities in our rural communities as we push the boundaries of what we have now by also being open to new possibilities in the digital age, such as data centers, digital offices and home based businesses that are connected to the world through the magic of the Internet.  The key to our state’s survival is recognizing the needs of our small business owners.

From the mom-and-pop shopkeepers of Rapid City to the home-grown entrepreneurs of tribal country, the 216,705 South Dakota residents “working small” comprise a silent majority. It’s time to make sure their interests are heard, starting with protecting digital advertising – a crucial component to their success. And to stop unnecessary regulation where one size does not fit all.

In South Dakota, South Dakota small businesses have created 89.4% of the net job increases between 2023 and 2024, AND in 2023, South Dakota small businesses brought in $837 million from exported goods.  And it’s not just people who advertise on websites like mine – take a look at social media. Social platforms empower small businesses across South Dakota to connect with consumers, serve as their own advertising agents, and implement real-time feedback on products and services. They’re the reason why small business employment grew more than 21% since the dawn of the iMac.

Digital advertising tools have reinvented what it means to be a small business, making it easier than ever before for small businesses to enter their sector and be competitive. Through social platforms, small businesses can reach their audience anytime, anywhere—from just down the block to around the globe, all while saving tens of thousands on advertising! Those savings fuel growth, allowing internet based businesses to reinvest in employees and grow workforces.

If we want our state’s economy to continue to flourish, small businesses need to speak up about the power of digital advertising and tell legislators to keep their hands off of burdensome regulation. If South Dakota’s representatives pass laws that restrict access to data that gives small businesses a competitive edge, big companies won’t suffer; our communities will.  If they increase taxes on those who advertise on-line, it’s just another hurdle for South Dakota small business to enter the marketplace and to compete in that market. 

When the next pieces of tech legislation are drafted, big businesses with deep pockets will pay lobbyists and lawyers to protect their interests. It’s our job to make sure that the needs of small businesses trying to enter the on-line universe aren’t forgotten.  What do legislators need to be mindful of when looking at what legislation to bring next session?

• Small businesses advertising on the internet should be treated fairly and equally to brick and mortar businesses, and not be hit with more regulation or punitive costs (that will be passed down).
• Legislators should work toward thoughtful solutions that protect consumers from bad actors without eroding digital advertising capabilities for small businesses.
• Restrictions on digital platforms’ ability to collect information will hurt the small businesses that rely on those platforms—not the mainstream competitors with expansive marketing budgets.  

As legislators try to rein in what they perceive and derisively call “big tech,” they need to make sure they aren’t hurting small business in the process.