Category: Uncategorized

Despite the efforts of some to discredit her because she’s a woman, Cynthia Mickelson has been pushing hard in her race for Sioux Falls School Board, and has been building up to election day.

And this morning, she’s blasting an animated message to get out and vote via the Sioux Falls Argus Leader website:

If anyone visits the Argus website today, I don’t think there’s any danger of missing that ad!

Best of luck today to a fantastic candidate. And if you have friends in Sioux Falls, make sure you tell them to get out to vote for Cynthia.

Happy #605Day – celebrating our state’s singular Area Code while it lasts!

From my mailbox:

Dear Editor:

Circulators are currently passing around petitions to put end-of-life suicide on the ballot for the 2018 election. Before you sign the petition, consider South Dakota ranks seventh highest in suicide rate in the US.  In addition, suicide is the second leading cause of death for youth and young adults in our state, and is among the highest in the nation among Native Americans.

End-of-life suicide laws have only been successfully passed in five states, but in each of those states the over-all suicide rates among all people have substantially increased since passage of the law. In essence, it seems that legalizing suicide for one group of people sends a message to all people that it’s acceptable to take your life.

If you oppose suicide, the easiest way to defeat the measure is simply not to sign the petition. If supporters can’t get enough signatures, it won’t appear on the ballot.

Dr. Fred Deutsch
Vote No on Assisted Suicide

And Fred brings up an important point that I hadn’t heard before. That in the five states where they have a “kill grandma” assisted suicide law, “the over-all suicide rates among all people have substantially increased since passage of the law.”

That’s a pretty powerful point.

With epidemics of teen suicide in cities like Pierre, and Indian Reservations, do we really want to send a message that it’s ok to kill yourself?

If we believe that life matters, as a society, it’s ok to withhold permission for people to kill themselves.

Attorney General Explanation Released for Constitutional Amendment Regarding Initiated and Referred Measures

PIERRE, S.D. – South Dakota Attorney General Marty Jackley announced today an Attorney General Explanation for a proposed constitutional amendment has been filed with the Secretary of State. This statement will appear on a petition that will be circulated by the sponsor of the amendment.   If the sponsor obtains a sufficient  number of signatures (27,741) by November 6, 2017, as certified by the Secretary of State, the amendment will be placed on the ballot for the November 2018 general election.

The amendment is entitled “An initiated amendment to the South Dakota Constitution regarding initiated and referred measures.”

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 amendment and a description of the legal consequences. The Attorney General Explanation is not a statement either for or against the proposed amendment.

AG Statement for Initiated Constitutional Amendment 6.5.2017 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 from marijuana, 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

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(Chart from Keeping Current Matters) According to the 2016 United Van Lines National Movers Study, last year South Dakota had the highest rate of inbound movers in the nation. According to United Van Lines, “the study is based on household moves handled by United within the 48 contiguous states and Washington, D.C. This study ranks states based off the inbound and outbound percentages of total moves in each state.”

What’s driving the numbers? According to the company’s survey, retirees are chasing tax benefits, and job seekers are looking for new opportunities.

The Indian Health Service Must Be Held Accountable
By Sen. John Thune

The Indian Health Service (IHS) is broken. It has been for a long time. And while it might shock some people to know that the federal agency whose sole mission is to raise the “physical, mental, social, and spiritual health” of Native Americans is so fundamentally flawed, it will, unfortunately, come as no surprise to the tribal members throughout South Dakota who depend on it for their health care needs. The IHS is in such dire straits that even a nominal improvement in health care delivery would be far less than what Native American men, women, and children deserve.

While there are many hard-working people who do good work for the IHS, too many systemic challenges remain. The status quo is unacceptable, and it has to change. Words are important, but we are far beyond the time for Congress to take meaningful action to correct these problems. I intend to be part of the solution.

Last year, I introduced comprehensive legislation that would reform the IHS and hold its leaders more accountable to Congress and the communities they serve. I drafted the bill with a colleague from a neighboring state who heard stories similar to the ones tribal members had shared with me. One story in particular stuck with me – a young mother who was in labor at an IHS facility was relegated to giving birth on a bathroom floor without a single medical professional there to help her. It was because of heartbreaking stories like this one that we put pen to paper on our IHS Accountability Act. Enough was enough.

After the i’s were dotted and the t’s were crossed, the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs (SCIA) traveled to South Dakota to hear directly, again, from the tribal members whose lives would be affected by our bill. SCIA field hearings aren’t common, so I knew we had a unique opportunity to gather feedback that the committee likely wouldn’t otherwise receive. I’m still thankful that the committee gave South Dakotans such a strong platform to share their stories.

This year, with a new Congress upon us, we’ve teamed up with more senators and representatives to introduce an improved version of our bill. The Restoring Accountability in the IHS Act would accomplish several core goals I’ve sought to implement, including giving the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services secretary greater flexibility to terminate poorly performing employees, streamlining the hiring process so IHS can get additional dedicated and talented medical professionals on the job faster, and creating and expanding incentives so those folks stay on the job longer.

None of this would be possible, though, without continued consultation with tribal leaders and members. Their feedback is critical. They know these issues better than anyone, especially D.C. bureaucrats who are disconnected from the day-to-day life in tribal communities throughout the Great Plains. Together we can accomplish the goal of bringing accountability back to the IHS, and I look forward to finally making it happen.

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A Better Way to Determine How Your Tax Dollars are Spent
By Sen. Mike Rounds (R-S.D.)

President Trump recently sent his first budget proposal to Congress. Historically, a president’s budget, which is required by law to be submitted annually, is viewed as a framework for the administration’s priorities and typically kicks off the appropriations process in Congress, where we are supposed to work our way through 12 individual appropriation bills. These bills allow us to make important changes to policy in the United States. When the appropriations process works as intended, it is the best tool we have to make certain that the federal government is a responsible steward of taxpayer dollars, reining in wasteful spending and allowing us to review programs to make sure they are working as intended. The problem is, the appropriations process has only worked as intended four times in the last 43 years. Yet the process remains unchanged. It is the epitome of “Washington is broken.”

Rather than working through the separate appropriation bills individually, Congress continues to pass spending bills that preserve the status quo. I, along with a number of my colleagues in the Senate, have grown increasingly frustrated by this broken budget process and are working to fix it.

Even when the appropriations process works as it should, Congress still only debates around 28 percent of our annual spending, as the 12 appropriations bills only include spending for defense and non-defense discretionary programs. Meanwhile, mandatory payments on Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security and interest on our ever-growing debt account for 72 percent of our budget and are not even debated in Congress. They run on auto-pilot. Discussions about lowering our federal deficit must include addressing the way we manage our mandatory payments if we’re ever going to address the growing fiscal crisis we’re currently in. We simply cannot afford to continue funding the government at the same levels year after year without addressing the major drivers of our debt.

By properly managing programs like Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security, we will be protecting future generations from being saddled with debt, and also making sure those important safety nets are still available for generations to come. I often use the South Dakota Retirement System Board of Trustees as a good example of how the federal government should manage these programs: they are proactive about managing the retirement system so they can address and fix any issues well in advance. If federal mandatory programs were debated and improved by Congress every year, they would be much easier to manage and we would be in a better position to help them stay in good financial shape.

It is up to Congress to be responsible stewards of Americans’ hard-earned tax dollars. By changing the way we address our budget each year, we will be able to cut wasteful spending, make federal programs as efficient as possible and, hopefully, allow more Americans to keep more of their money so they can reinvest in the economy instead of spending it on taxes. A growing number of members in the Senate are beginning to recognize the need to actually manage and vote on the entire budget, not just the 28 percent, as has been the case for the last 43 years. I think we are making progress.

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Reforming the Indian Health Service
By Rep. Kristi Noem

For years, federal reports have documented shocking cases of mismanagement and poorly delivered care within the Indian Health Service – more often referred to as the IHS. The agency was left to make improvements on its own, but even with consistent funding increases, it produced an unacceptable level of care.

Babies have been born on bathroom floors and with no doctor present. Surgical equipment has been washed by hand.  Staff have interacted with patients even though their certifications have lapsed.  Even now, years after many of these problems were identified, some IHS hospitals in South Dakota continue to run afoul of basic care standards, with one facility facing the loss of critical financial support just over a month ago because of the poor levels of care being delivered. Nowhere in the world is this kind of care acceptable – especially not in our backyards.

This May, I introduced the Restoring Accountability in the IHS Act, which fundamentally changes how the IHS operates. At its core, this legislation is about putting patient care first.

In many cases, improving care begins with recruiting better medical staff and hospital leadership. Most IHS facilities in South Dakota are located in remote areas and the incentives to move there – let alone relocate one’s family there – haven’t been adequate.  My legislation provides stronger incentives for new hires, including relocation reimbursements when employees move to high-need areas and an expanded student loan repayment program.  The bill also works to take advantage of volunteer labor, removing some of the barriers that currently inhibit medical professionals from volunteering at an IHS hospital or clinic.  And when it comes to firing employees who fail to support the patients they’re there to serve, we give the IHS greater authority to do so.

Beyond hiring and firing, the Restoring Accountability in the IHS Act aims to improve patient care through greater oversight. That means new standards for timeliness of care, restrictions on bonuses, and reporting requirements to help identify staffing needs, measure patient care, and detect any misuse of funds.

Enough is enough. We need to move swiftly, yet deliberately, with these reforms.  I’ve been working very closely with my counterparts in the Senate to advance the Restoring Accountability in the IHS Act through both chambers at the same time. I’m hopeful this will help streamline the process and enable us to get President Trump a bill sooner.

Lives have been lost because of what’s happening. Big adjustments need to be made – and they need to be made quickly.  I’m committed to this process and to working together to ensure tribal members receive the care their families need.

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Helping South Dakotans Get Back To Work
A column by Gov. Dennis Daugaard:

My parents took pride in self-reliance and taught me the value of hard work. They worked hard on our family farm, and when the farm went upside-down financially, they both took jobs as janitors at Augustana College to make ends meet.

Mom and Dad were also born deaf, but their inability to hear did not prevent them from working to support my sisters and me. They taught us that all work has dignity and that idleness is not an option.

In South Dakota we have the fourth lowest unemployment rate in the nation at 2.8 percent. That’s very low compared to the national rate of 4.4 percent, and about half of the rates recorded in Alaska and New Mexico.

South Dakota’s low unemployment number is in part thanks to the work ethic of our people. South Dakotans understand the value of work because working hard has been instilled in us by our ancestors.

Our low unemployment rate also has to do with responsible governance. In South Dakota we help those who stumble, but we don’t carry those who choose to lie down. Unlike some states that allowed a person to receive unemployment payments for almost two years following the recession, South Dakota has kept unemployment insurance as a more temporary assistance program – a program in which claimants are required to work hard to find employment.

In May of 2012, the South Dakota Department of Labor and Regulation implemented a program for the unemployed called Re-Employment Intensive Services (RIS). Those unemployed who have received payments for more than 10 weeks must engage with dedicated labor specialists for one-on-one assistance in the job hunt. The program helps them identify in-demand careers, evaluate their skills and find training options.

RIS is working. Over the past five years, 4,022 people who participated in RIS have obtained employment. Only 6.2 percent of those who participated in the program exhausted their UI benefits.

Putting more than 4,000 people back to work is no small thing. Through RIS and their own resiliency, these individuals can now provide for themselves and their families. Perhaps more importantly, they can experience the self-respect and sense of accomplishment that come from a job well done.

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