Category: Uncategorized

Union County GOP Announces Union County Fair Straw Poll Results

The Union County Republicans proudly announce the results of the Union County Republican Straw Poll, conducted among attendees of the Union County Fair for who they preferred in the Republican primaries for Governor and Congress.

“We do realize the poll might not be entirely scientific,” Union County GOP Secretary Merle Pochop admitted. “We allowed any interested party who attended the fair to cast a ballot. This might include Republicans, Democrats, kids, and various 4-H contest entrants. We do admit that some Democrats may have inadvertently decided they wanted to find out more about voting for the Republican candidates, since state Democrats showed up a day late, set up a video at their fair booth with no personal exchanges.”

Fresh off talking to TAR’s and killing rattlesnakes, GOP Congressional Candidate Dusty Johnson is featured in an article in the Rapid City Journal discussing his campaign:

A: Oh, competition’s good, right. Choices are good for voters. I was a high school track athlete. I wasn’t particularly good, and I really like running, but I liked the competition. And knowing that Matt Althoff, a great quarter-miler was going to be kicking my butt at track meets meant that I was gonna work that much harder to really get out and push myself a little bit. So I love a competition, and again, I think it’s good for voters. A worse thing for a voter is walking into the ballot booth and not having a choice, not being able to have their say. The bosses should be in control of our government and voting’s a pretty powerful way to exercise that authority.

We’re gonna run hard. I mean, I have a day job that does not allow me to campaign full-time. I work in the private sector, I work hard. I got a business unit that I run. Things are going really well there. But you do have to be willing to interview with the bosses. You are not gonna be able to interview for a job over TV commercials.

Attorney General Ballot Explanation Released for Initiated Measure Prohibiting Contributions to Ballot Question Committees 

PIERRE, S.D. – South Dakota Attorney General Marty Jackley announced today an Attorney General Explanation for a proposed initiated measure has been filed with the Secretary of State. This statement will appear on a petition that will be circulated by  the sponsor of the initiated measure. If the sponsor obtains a sufficient number of signatures (13,871) by November 6, 2017, as certified by the Secretary of State, the initiated measure will be placed on the ballot for the November 2018 general election.

The initiated measure is entitled “An initiated measure prohibiting contributions to ballot question committees by non-residents, out-of-state political committees, and entities that are not filed with the Secretary of State.”

Under South Dakota law, the Attorney General is responsible for preparing explanations for proposed initiated measures, referred laws, and South Dakota Constitutional Amendments. Specifically, the explanation includes a title, an objective, clear and simple summary of the purpose and effect of the proposed measure and a description of the legal consequences. The Attorney General Explanation is not a statement either for or against the proposed initiated measure.

AG Statement for Initiated Measure (Prohibiting Contributions to Ballot Question Committees) by Pat Powers on Scribd

To date the Attorney General has released Attorney General Explanations for the following:

1. An initiated measure requiring students to use rooms designated for the same biological sex, and requiring public schools to provide a reasonable accommodation for students whose gender identity is not the same as their biological sex
2. An initiated measure authorizing a South Dakota-licensed physician to prescribe drugs that a terminally ill patient may take for the purpose of ending life
3. An initiated measure to legalize marijuana for medical use
4. An initiated measure to legalize certain amounts of marijuana, drugs made frommarijuana, and drug paraphernalia, and to regulate and tax marijuana establishments
5. An initiated measure requiring people to use certain rooms designated for the same biological sex
6. An initiated measure to legalize all quantities of marijuana
7. An amendment to the South Dakota Constitution regarding initiated and referred measures
8. An initiated amendment to the South Dakota Constitution changing campaign finance and lobbying laws, creating a government accountability board, and changing certain initiative and referendum provisions (VERSION #1)
9. An initiated amendment to the South Dakota Constitution changing campaign finance and lobbying laws, creating a government accountability board, and changing certain initiative and referendum provisions (VERSION #2)
10. An initiated amendment to the South Dakota Constitution changing campaign finance and lobbying laws, and creating a government accountability board (VERSION#3)
11. An initiated amendment to the South Dakota Constitution changing campaign finance and lobbying laws, and creating a government accountability board (VERSION#4)
12. An initiated amendment to the South Dakota Constitution establishing open primary elections
13. An initiated amendment to the South Dakota Constitution providing for state legislative redistricting by a commission

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Attorney General Jackley to Lead National Attorney General Consideration of State Authority over Internet  Sales 

PIERRE, S.D. – Attorney General Marty Jackley announces that on Wednesday, August 2, 2017, he will head the Online Commerce and Taxes Forum at the  Conference of Western Attorneys General annual meeting. Attorney General Jackley will be joined by Deborah White, Senior Executive Vice President and General Counsel for the Retail Industry Leaders Association, and Todd Lard, a partner at the international  law  firm Eversheds Sutherland.

“As most South Dakotans, I believe if there has to be a tax, it should be applied fairly and equally to everyone. Our local retailers are presently paying a sales tax that many out-of-state companies are able to avoid because of federal law. This is an unfair advantage to out-of-state companies that is hurting our main street businesses across South Dakota,” said Attorney General Jackley.

In the spring of 2016, South Dakota took the lead to bring tax fairness to main street businesses when the Legislature passed SB 106 and it was signed into law by the Governor. SB 106 requires out-of-state retailers, who meet a specified sales threshold, to be taxed the same as in-state retailers for sales made and delivered into South Dakota.  It is estimated that millions of dollars of tax due on sales made by out-of- state internet retailers has not been remitted to South Dakota.

In support of the South Dakota Legislature and Governor, the Attorney General filed a lawsuit seeking declaratory relief in Hughes County. The prevailing federal law, as set forth in Quill Corp v. North Dakota, 504 U.S. 298, 112 S. Ct. 1904 (1992), provides that a state cannot require retailers who do not have a “physical presence” in the state to collect and remit the state sales tax.   The purpose of South Dakota’s current litigation  is to invite the United States Supreme Court to overrule Quill so that retail sales tax  may be applied fairly to both internet and main street businesses.

On March 6, 2017, the State Court recognized, as it must, that it was bound by the United States Supreme Court precedent set in Quill. The court noted, significantly, that this was required “even when changing times and events clearly suggest a different outcome.” In 2017, more than 77 bills were introduced into the legislative bodies of two-thirds of the states, resulting in nine states passing new laws and several other states taking  regulatory action.

The South Dakota Supreme Court has scheduled oral argument on South Dakota’s case for August 29, 2017, at the Capitol Building in Pierre. The Attorney General is pursuing an aggressive schedule to place this issue before the highest court. The Attorney General plans to apply for certiorari to the United States Supreme Court in October for it to be considered in conference before the end of the year.

The Conference of Western Attorneys General’s agenda highlights the issue’s importance:

The consumer shift toward online commerce has impacted how states are taxing digital products and services. In addition, states are more focused than ever on requiring remote sellers to collect/remit their sales taxes, passing a variety of new laws following four years of inaction by Congress since the Senate passed the Marketplace Fairness Act in 2013. This panel will discuss the states’ various efforts to broaden the sales tax base to include digital products and services and expand their ability to collect sales tax from remote sellers. Examples include: South Dakota approach/lawsuit, use tax reporting, and taxing video.

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After a weekend’s vacation to Florida to take a few of my brood to Disneyworld, I’m back in state with my merry troupe of traveling kids. Honestly, I’m very glad to be back.  We got both types of weather; punishing heat/humidity, and torrential downpours. In either case, you were dripping wet, either with sweat or rain. As you stood in an endless queue inching forward.

My boys had a lot of fun. Although, I let my 15 year old stand in line for 3 hours by himself for the new Avatar ride.  3 hours? Nope. Not going to happen. While he did that, the rest of us got cleaned up, and went to eat.

You don’t appreciate South Dakota heat for not being accompanied with tropical humidity until you experience it non-stop. I’ll take this climate any day over what they have.

Since I was on vacation, after lying dormant for quite a while my phone blew up.  I had a couple calls for printed materials, and a long, long dormant real estate client (think 4 years) popped up with a listing that had to be done that day. I had to pass it to a colleague, since I was not there, but that’s life.

One of the calls that did come in was for what I hope develops into a new advertiser for the SDWC. And a non-political campaign advertiser to boot.  (Still lots of space for all you political campaigns, btw).

So, it was a productive extended weekend… despite spending it standing in line.

The President Needs a Full Roster
By Sen. John Thune

I recently had the opportunity to sit down with Christopher Wray. He was nominated by the president to serve as the next director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). Christopher is eager to get to work leading the thousands of dedicated men and women at the FBI who work hard to protect the United States every single day. While I’m confident Christopher would report to the Hoover Building tomorrow if he could, my Democrat colleagues have unnecessarily dragged their feet on his and other nominations.

Hundreds of presidential nominees like Christopher must first come before the Senate for vetting, a committee hearing, and ultimately consideration on the Senate floor. This is an important and centuries-old Constitutional process – one that I don’t take lightly. Many of these nominees come through the committee I chair, the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation. We’ve worked hard to process as many of them as quickly and as efficiently as possible.

The Senate’s duty to provide its advice and consent is critical and should be timely. Yes, it’s important for the president to have his team place, but it’s more important for these federal agencies to be staffed-up because of the work they do for the American people. These are the folks who help “keep the trains running” at agencies like the U.S. Departments of Interior and Agriculture and help protect the United States at the U.S. Departments of Defense and Homeland Security.

Unfortunately, my Democrat colleagues have ground the confirmation process on the Senate floor nearly to halt – not because they have problems with the qualifications of the nominees, but because they think they’re punishing the president. Again, it’s ultimately the American people who pay the price when federal agencies don’t have the right people in place to deliver the services and safeguards upon which so many folks rely.

To put it in real terms, as of July 25, only 55 of President Trump’s nominees, which include judges and administration officials, had been confirmed by the Senate, and more than half of those nominees had to overcome unnecessary filibusters. During that same period of time in 2009, President Obama had more than 200 nominees confirmed. With respect to cabinet nominees, by the end of January 2017, President Trump had just three of his cabinet secretaries confirmed. By the end of January 2009, the Senate had confirmed 10 of President Obama’s cabinet secretaries.

This is obstruction for the sake of obstruction. I hope my Democrat colleagues realize sooner rather than later that it’s just as important for this president to have a full roster in his administration as it was for the last president. The American people deserve it.

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Government-Run Health Care Does Not Work
By U.S. Sen. Mike Rounds (R-S.D.)

 Comprehensive health care reform is necessary to relieve American families from our current failing health care system. Following recent votes in the Senate, it’s clear that reforming our health care system is no easy task. However, I remain committed to working with my colleagues toward a solution. We believe affordable health care is best achieved through a competitive, market-based system that allows for innovation, competition and optionality.

 In the quest to address Obamacare’s failures, some have been advocating for a single-payer, government-run health care system in which health care is provided for every single citizen for free and financed by taxes. Care is rationed, and citizens cede their health care decisions to a central government bureaucracy. Additionally, the cost makes it unsustainable for future generations. Either taxes – which are already too high – will continue to skyrocket in order to pay for universal care, our debt will spiral even further out of control, or both. Our ability to make decisions for ourselves and our families will suffer. Bureaucrats don’t like taking advice.

 And we have many examples to substantiate this: In the U.S., California and Vermont recently tried to implement universal health care at the state level; both were abandoned as quickly as they were enacted due to its cost. In Canada, long wait times in their single-payer system are the norm. According to a Fraser Institute report, British Columbia residents have to wait up to six months just to get an MRI. Ontario’s own Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care states that residents may have to wait up to 11 months for hip replacement surgery. Droves of Canadians seek care here in the U.S., at an additional cost to their already-high taxes to pay for government-run health care. Across Europe, where universal health care is prevalent, the cost to governments for this care is exploding, contributing to rising national debts. But instead of increasing taxes, which oftentimes are already over 50 percent of one’s income, governments are slowing down care to curb the cost, and innovation is stymied. 

 Here in the U.S., the federal government has proved inept at running any large, nationwide program effectively, especially when it comes to health care. Look no further than Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) and Indian Health Service (IHS) for proof. While there are good employees in South Dakota at both agencies, nationwide these programs have been plagued with decades of long wait times, bureaucratic mismanagement, corruption and – most importantly – providing inadequate quality of care to Americans. In some cases, patients have even died waiting for care. Meanwhile, administrative costs have skyrocketed, wasting countless taxpayer dollars on paperwork instead of focusing on patient care.

 I wholeheartedly believe that everyone should have access to quality health care if they want it. No one should be priced out of health insurance for themselves or their families. But forcing all Americans onto a costly, ineffective system that will reduce the quality of care and making them surrender all control of their health care decisions to the federal government is not the answer. America is home to the best health care providers in the world, due to a free market system that allows for innovation and competition. Replacing Obamacare with a competitive, free-market system that actually controls costs, allows for innovation and focuses on the patient will allow us to continue our proud tradition of being the world’s health leader.

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Pushing Forward
By Rep. Kristi Noem

We’re a little over six months into President Trump’s first term, and regardless of what national pundits might say, the House has been systematically ticking through a conservative, pro-growth agenda. Altogether, we’ve passed more than 250 bills, a handful of which have been proposals I wrote. President Trump has signed more than 40 of these bills into law – more so than many presidents at this point in their administration.

 One of the largest areas of success – and least reported accomplishments – has been on the de-regulation front. Through the Congressional Review Act, Congress has the authority to repeal regulations. Prior to 2017, however, the provision had been used successfully just once. But this year, we’ve passed more than a dozen provisions under the Congressional Review Act that, when taken together, have saved hardworking Americans billions of dollars.

 As we’ve reduced regulations and outlined pro-growth policies, the economy has reacted with hundreds of thousands of new jobs. Alongside economic development, I’ve fought for greater workforce development, helping the House pass the Strengthening Career and Technical Education Act, which would expand our commitments to vocational and technical education training.

 At the same time, we’ve put America’s national security first. A year ago, we had an administration that prioritized climate change over terrorism and refused to call our enemies out for what they are: radical Islamic terrorists. Those attitudes have changed, as has our allocation of resources. Earlier this summer, for instance, I helped the House pass an annual defense bill that offered our troops a 2.4 percent pay raise (the biggest increase in eight years). The legislation also boosted end strength and provided needed aircraft, ships and systems. Additionally, we maintained the commitments made to our ally, Israel.

 On the border, we’ve seen illegal crossings decrease by 60 percent. Much of this is due to a tougher U.S. stance. I was proud to help the House pass Kate’s Law, which created harsher penalties for those who repeatedly cross the border illegally. We also passed legislation to crack down on sanctuary cities by withholding certain federal grants. Moreover, I’m supporting another bill that would go even further, deploying additional personnel and new technologies to the border.

 The House has also passed legislation to repeal Obamacare and replace it with patient-centered solutions. We approved more than a dozen bills to combat human trafficking in our communities. We passed legislation offering the resources necessary to build a strong border wall, invest in our military, and stop the EPA’s controversial Waters of the U.S. rule. And we ok’d the bipartisan Presidential Library Donation Reform Act, which would help eliminate the secrecy surrounding some donations to organizations like the William J. Clinton Foundation.

 Despite the House’s action on these items, the Senate has faced repeated delays and distractions from their Democratic colleagues, making similar progress difficult.

 This isn’t to say the House doesn’t still have work to do. I continue to drive progress on reforming our tax system in a way that simplifies the code; promotes economic growth for businesses, families and individuals; and holds the IRS more accountable. I am working closely with the House Agriculture Committee to develop the next Farm Bill. I’m also working on legislation to combat poverty and promote financial independence and upward mobility, while fighting for fundamental changes to the way the Indian Health Service operates. We need to make progress on driving down spending and getting our budget on track as well.  

But I am not about to slow down. We need to keep pushing forward.

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No Better Place to Live and Work
A column by Gov. Dennis Daugaard:

 When people around the country think about South Dakota, the first image that comes to mind is probably Mount Rushmore. Though we’re proud to be the home of Gutzon Borglum’s masterpiece, the truth is that we are much more than the stone-carved presidential tribute. South Dakota is a great place to live and work.

 First, we have a very low unemployment rate at 3 percent, compared to the national rate of 4.4 percent. We are a state of hard workers and productivity of our workers is high. In fact, many multi-state employers with locations in South Dakota tell us their South Dakota location is their most productive.

 Second, the tax burden in South Dakota is low. We are among only a few states without an income tax. We also have no corporate income tax, no business inventory tax, no personal property tax and no inheritance tax. This puts more money in the pockets of our businesses and citizens, creating a more favorable environment for growth.

 Third, not only do people keep more of the money they earn in South Dakota, but that money will buy more here than in other places. Type “Regional Price Parity” into your web browser, and you will find the U.S. Department of Commerce report which shows South Dakota is among the states that experience the lowest cost of living. We don’t spend as much money on housing, insurance, food and the other everyday needs. 

 Now some people will say, “There may a low tax burden and low cost of living, but I won’t get paid as much if I live in South Dakota.” Actually, when it comes to per capita personal income, we fare pretty well. Nationally, we rank in the top half and we do better than states like Texas and Florida. If you adjust the per capita personal income to consider the low cost of living and the lack of income taxes, we rank sixth in the nation.

A person who earns $45,000 annually in South Dakota is actually better off than the person living in New York or Los Angeles who makes $65,000 per year. When factoring in after-tax wages and cost of living, the South Dakotan who makes $20,000 less still has a greater purchasing power.

Beyond the financial reasons, though, South Dakota is a great place to live because we have a good quality of life here. Our communities are safe, our schools are high-quality and our people are friendly. We also have clean air, beautiful scenery and wonderful recreational opportunities.

I know I’m lucky to have spent most of my life in South Dakota. In fact, it took a multi-year absence from the state to help me realize just how lucky I am and how good we have it here. Now I wouldn’t trade this place, with its wide open spaces and down-to-earth people, for anything. 

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From Keloland News:

South Dakota’s House speaker plans to pursue ballot measures to raise tobacco taxes for technical schools and ban out-of-state political contributions to ballot question campaigns.

And..

The Sioux Falls Republican this week formed a ballot question committee for the out-of-state donation ban and says he hopes to start gathering signatures for both measures in August.

Read it here.

Last election Mark Mickelson enjoyed popular support on his Tech School measure, earning deference from many Republicans who otherwise opposed almost all other ballot measures. But, supporting tech schools was a far different proposal than what’s proposed for ’18.

This election the playing field may be different for the Speaker, with a tax increase on tobacco proposed, as well as an out of state ban on ballot contributions the LRC has cautioned may not survive a constitutional challenge. 

Neither proposal may dissuade some groups from promoting an anti-ballot measure message that some major groups & players demurred on in ’16.