Category: Uncategorized

My Work on the Next Farm Bill Begins Today
By Sen. John Thune

Most Americans don’t realize the important role agriculture plays in our daily lives. They can easily hop in their car, drive across town where pre-packaged meat, produce, and other items are waiting for them on the shelves at their local grocery store. Everything is easily accessible, ready to be purchased and brought home to fill refrigerators and pantries.

Ask a South Dakotan about agriculture, and you’ll hear an entirely differently story. Farming and ranching make agriculture our state’s top industry. It’s an opportunity to provide for one’s family. It defines a lifestyle. The hard-working farmers, ranchers, and entrepreneurs throughout South Dakota are among the people responsible for making sure there’s food in America’s grocery stores, restaurants, and schools. And they’re proud of it, too.

Neither farming nor ranching is an easy way to make a living. There’s plenty of blood, sweat, and tears to prove it. It’s not a nine-to-five, stress-free job either. They’re often up before the sun rises and home after it sets. The dirt literally runs through their hands as next week’s weather forecast weighs heavy on their mind. As if farming and ranching aren’t hard enough during the best of times, today’s record low commodity and livestock prices have made it even more difficult. 

We’re less than two years away from needing to pass the next farm bill, and given today’s market conditions, it’s not too early to start working on it. Our top priority must be to make production agriculture more sustainable by keeping farmers and ranchers on their land. We can work toward achieving that goal by enacting policies that could help prices rise above production costs, bolster commodity programs, protect soil health, preserve crop insurance, and simplify and streamline conservation programs.

I feel strongly about making sure we get this right, which is why I’ll soon be unveiling multiple farm bill proposals that will address specific portions of most titles of the overall bill – well in advance of any deadline. I think these individual proposals are an important place to start. Once we begin the rollout, I look forward to hearing from South Dakotans about what they think of my proposals and if there are any areas in which we can improve.   

I’ve written three farm bills during my time in Congress, having served on both the House and Senate Agriculture Committees. Next year’s bill will be my fourth. I know what it takes to get these farm bills across the finish line, and I know the farmers and ranchers who will be affected once we do. After having recently met with former Georgia Gov. Sonny Perdue, who will soon lead the U.S. Department of Agriculture, I’m confident we’ll have a strong partner who also understands these high-stakes times.

Our work begins today. 

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Obstruction in the Senate Does More Harm Than Good
By Senator Mike Rounds

Since even before President Donald Trump took office in January, the Senate has been attempting to work through the confirmation process for his Cabinet secretary nominees so we can get to work on the important policy issues to get our country moving in the right direction again. Filling the Cabinet is critically important for the executive branch to function effectively. In addition to their advisory duties, Cabinet members lead their respective departments, create policies that guide each unit and manage programs within their respective departments.

I take very seriously the Senate’s role in providing ‘advise and consent’ to the president’s Cabinet selections. However, as a former governor, I generally believe that a chief executive has the right to choose his or her Cabinet and that nominees should be allowed an up-or-down vote. The Senate’s job is to assure each candidate is qualified to assume the offices for which they are nominated. 

The idea of a Cabinet dates back to our first president, George Washington, who had a group of four advisors who assisted him in fulfilling his duties as president. President Trump’s nominees have unfortunately undergone the slowest Cabinet confirmation process since President Washington took office. 

If you have monitored the news recently, you’ll note that confirming President Trump’s nominees has been a slow-moving process, as Senate Democrats continue to do all they can to slow their confirmations, regardless of their experience or qualifications for the jobs they have been nominated to fill. I understand that some Senate Democrats may have differing policy objectives than some nominees, but rather than voicing those concerns, they have slowed down the entire confirmation process for nearly all nominees, with very few exceptions. 

Historically, the Senate has worked with an incoming administration to fill their Cabinet picks. In fact, every incoming president from James Garfield in 1881 to Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1933 had all of his Cabinet officials confirmed on day one of their presidencies. By this point in his first term, President Obama had all of his Cabinet secretaries confirmed. As we all know, elections have consequences. I understand that some of my colleagues were not pleased with, nor expected, the result of our recent election, but it’s time to put aside political gamesmanship and work together on behalf of the American people we all serve in Congress.

This historic obstruction prevents Congress from working on issues important to many Americans, such as regulatory reform, tax reform, repairing Obamacare and fixing the VA to make it better for our veterans. These are issues that drove millions of Americans to the ballot box in November in support of President Trump, and issues that I have pledged to work on throughout my time in the Senate. I am ready and willing to work with colleagues on both sides of the aisle to accomplish these goals. Additionally, when federal agencies do not have leadership in place, policy decisions important to citizens are delayed in their delivery. 

The Senate is historically known for its decorum. Though individual senators may disagree with one another on policy, comity reigns in this body. I’d like to think that all of us share similar principles, especially when it comes to a peaceful transition of power. We will all benefit by finalizing the president’s nominees in a timely manner so we can get to work on the issues that will have a positive impact on the lives of all Americans. 

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An Eternal Tribute
By Rep. Kristi Noem

Through the many sacrifices made, our veterans and their families have earned America’s eternal gratitude.  Since 1948, the Black Hills National Cemetery has been one way in which this appreciation has been shown, although burial space there is increasingly limited.

Tucked in the hills outside Sturgis, around 100 acres has been set aside to serve as a final resting place for some of our state’s most courageous.  Included among these heroes is Chief David Beautiful Bald Eagle.  Born in a tepee in 1919, Chief Bald Eagle served as a paratrooper during World War II.  He – alongside John Bear King and Clarence Eugene Wolf Guts, who are buried in the Black Hills National Cemetery as well – was also a Code Talker.  These men were critical to our success in numerous battles during the war, using their native languages to help protect, defend, and secure freedom.

Brigadier General Richard E. Ellsworth was also laid to rest at the Black Hills National Cemetery.   This is a man who flew 400 combat missions during World War II and earned numerous metals.  He returned to the U.S. where he eventually became wing commander of what was then called the Rapid City Air Force Base.  While co-piloting a bomber during a simulated combat mission in 1953, his plane encountered bad weather.  With limited visibility, the plane struck a hill, killing everyone on board.  Later that year, Rapid City Air Force Base would be named in General Ellsworth’s honor.

These legacies continue to earn our country’s respect.  This is a lesson in patriotism that Sturgis and other nearby communities have never forgotten.  On a brisk day this past December, for instance, Pennington County 4-H, the Sturgis Boy Scouts, the Veterans of Foreign Wars Auxiliary, and members of the surrounding community came together to place 1,000 wreaths on the graves of those laid to rest in the Black Hills National Cemetery – a community coming together around those who sacrificed much to protect it.

The cemetery, however, does not have the room required to continue serving veterans and their families unless it is expanded.  After working with a number of area veterans and related federal agencies, I again introduced the Black Hills National Cemetery Boundary Expansion Act this year, which would nearly triple the cemetery’s size by transferring federal lands that are currently under the Bureau of Land Management’s jurisdiction to the Department of Veterans Affairs.  I was humbled to see the House unanimously pass my legislation earlier this month and I’m hopeful the expansion can soon earn the support of the Senate, where Senators Round and Thune have introduced a companion bill.  Enacting this legislation would be an incredible way to show our nation’s eternal gratitude for all our service members and their families have done. 

One final thing: to all those who have served and to the families who stand beside you, thank you. You are what makes this nation great.

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SD’s Gun Laws: Effective, Appropriate and Minimal
A column by Gov. Dennis Daugaard:

Gun control measures have been gaining ground in some places around the nation in recent years. In the more urban areas of the country and along the coasts, people are more wary, and perhaps fearful, of guns. That may be why some states pass very restrictive gun laws. For instance, in New Jersey a citizen cannot even own a handgun, rifle or shotgun without a permit or Firearms Purchaser Identification Card. In some states, obtaining a concealed carry permit can take months. In Maryland and California, an individual has to prove a need to be granted a concealed carry permit.

South Dakota is a state that respects the Second Amendment. A great many of our citizens own pistols, rifles and shotguns. Here, guns are as common as saddles and pickups. Many of us grew up hunting or on farms or ranches where we needed to be able to handle a gun. Most importantly, we understand that law-abiding individuals should be able to defend themselves.

As a lifetime member of the NRA, I support the right to bear arms. I own a rifle, a pistol, and more than one shotgun. I am happy to be governor of a state that still respects that right and I am proud of our current gun laws.

South Dakotans do not need a permit to purchase a firearm in our state. The firearm requirements we have in state law are few and reasonable. One such requirement is that if you want to carry a concealed pistol – under your coat, for example – you must obtain a permit. You pay $10 and undergo a background check. The background check is a safety measure to identify applicants who may not be eligible to carry a concealed weapon because they have a criminal record or a history of mental instability. Barring those few exceptions, it’s easy and cheap, and it usually takes only a few days to receive a permit. My friend Matt said he spent five minutes at the sheriff’s window, paid his $10 and three days later had his permit.

There are a number of bills being considered this legislative session that would alter our state’s common sense gun laws. A couple of those bills are deceptively labeled as “constitutional carry” bills.

House Bill 1072, for example, would eliminate the permit requirement in order to carry a concealed weapon. Under this bill, the vetting process would be removed. Individuals with a proven history of violence or substance abuse and those who have been identified as a danger to the public or to themselves could not be restricted from carrying a firearm. If this bill becomes law, it will create confusion for law enforcement who will still seek to ascertain whether an individual is lawfully concealing a weapon. Innocent citizens could be detained by law enforcement and subjected to time-consuming criminal and mental health background checks.

I am proud of South Dakota’s traditions and pro-Second  Amendment track record. Just as I do not support gun control measures, I cannot support bad legislation which would lead to a whole host of unintended consequences. The laws we currently have in place are effective, appropriate and minimal.

U.S. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia was an ardent defender of constitutional rights and a staunch conservative. In one of his last opinions, Scalia referenced concealed permits. He stated unequivocally that “like most rights, the right secured by the Second Amendment is not unlimited,” and he affirmed that concealed weapons permit laws are not an affront to our Second Amendment rights.

On this issue, I’m with Justice Scalia.

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From KOTA news there’s more coverage of tomorrow’s for state party chairman:

The disputed race hints at an increasingly divided GOP in South Dakota. For more than forty years, the Governor of South Dakota has hand selected the State Party Chair. The Governor’s nominee was approved in a largely ceremonial vote.

Most of those now serving on the state central committee do not remember a time where anyone in the party has broken from the wishes of the Governor and nominated a second candidate.

Lederman announced his candidacy for the position after Roberts indicated she would not seek another term as State Party Chair.

But Governor Dennis Daugaard says he stepped in and did a bit of ‘arm twisting’ to get Roberts to run again. Daugaard told reporters that Roberts was the ‘best person for the job and she has my 100 percent support regardless of who else is running.’

Read it here.

Is the Lederman revolution about to begin?

Dan Lederman’s candidacy for Chair of the South Dakota GOP arose several weeks ago after current chair Pam Roberts had provided direct notice that she did not intend to run again, triggering a search for the next chair. In each instance where they had approached people, they were turned down flat.

While this was going on, Lederman, the former Senate Assistant Majority Leader, heard about the vacancy, and had expressed interest in the past in leading the GOP, but was passed over at the time of previous vacancies.

And in the ensuing vacuum that had presented this time, he made a fateful decision. He decided he was going to buck a tradition nearly as old as he was. He was going to run for Chairman of the Party, and return the seat to being selected by the party’s governing body, the Republican State Central Committee. And the phone calls began.

Shortly thereafter, Roberts was convinced to run again, and a letter of endorsement was released from the State’s top elected officials. (And maybe some weren’t quite made aware of a challenger.)

The race was on. And so too was the revolution.

Did Lederman start the revolution that’s currently bubbling amongst the party members?  It’s been brewing for a while, but it has been a long time coming, and has become more evident in the past few years.

20-25 years ago, the party’s operations were quite active, with the party operations being comprised of an Executive Director, a Communications Director, a Finance officer who handled FEC reports, and for many years, a legislative campaign person added during election cycles.

From there, the party evolved. Staffing has changed with FEC reporting duties being farmed out due to their ever increasing complexity and a fine that was levied at one time for a mistake arising from that ever increasing complexity.  But, it for a long time, it made the effort to have a significant staff presence who worked with candidates and counties.

It had traditionally been based in Pierre, but in recent years, the SDGOP had made efforts to shift focus from the center of the state to a place where 1/3 of the state’s people live, focusing many of their activities in Sioux Falls.

Not a bad move, and arguably one that made sense, given that it represents an area where the GOP has the most challenging aspects of its mission to elect voters, it is where the state’s media is largely based from, and there’s a significant donor base there.  But this notion was a constant fight with traditionalists who wanted it back in Pierre.

So, the argument was made that after several successful election cycles was that it was too expensive and not worth the value to maintain in the eyes of some. So, boxes were packed, and offices were moved back to the sleepy little government town from whence it came, back within the protective confines of the city of Pierre.

To save money, the party was largely left in those boxes, even going without a director for a significant amount of time. Shutting the doors in an off year made sense monetarily, as it allowed the party to raise and squirrel away money for the 2016 election year.  In February 2016, the party finally hired it’s sole full-time staffer, Executive Director Ryan Budmayr, who has been working hard to meet the challenges of the demands of the party. But he’s still only one person for a party that boasts over 250,000 registered members.

But two years after the office in Sioux Falls was shuttered, one has to wonder if the party’s period of near complete dormancy stoked the flames for the revolution which has Lederman as figurehead?

The party has done a good job of raising money. And starting several cycles before, they have done a great job of electing Republicans. But if those were the only tasks, why not set up a PAC and call it a day? And if those were the only things of importance, why is there this degree of unrest.

This political party stuff might be easy if there wasn’t all those darn people you have to worry about.

Seriously, though, there are many reasons cited by those in the rank and file of the State Republican Party as to why they’re willing to consider upending 40 years of tradition, where the Governor’s selection of Chair is accepted as the word of God.

Ultimately, many of them seem related to a lack of communication, as well as a growing want for self-determination. There are examples, some of which persist today.

As related to me by an attendee at the Yankton forum, from his wheelchair parked in the front row of the audience (as pictured here) Tom Bixler, who is sometimes viewed as a quixotic figure in politics declaring his candidacy for various offices with impossible odds, offered a particularly biting critique.

Bixler asked David Wheeler, who is running for vice chair on a slate with Current Chairwoman Pam Roberts to replace vice-chair Drake Olson who moved out of state, “Why can’t I e-mail the chairman?” Wheeler replied “You can, she has e-mail.”  To which Bixler shot back “Then why isn’t it on the website? She’s the head of the party, but her e-mail isn’t on the website!”

Ouch.  And that’s only one of the anecdotes I heard from that meeting.

And it doesn’t get any better when you look at other aspects of the SDGOP website, which underline more communication issues. Such as the part where it notes who our elected officials are.

At least, those who were our elected officials in years gone by, as you can see from the roster of Senators, including State Senator Mark Kirkeby. Who hasn’t been a State Senator since 2014.

And looking at the below screen clip of House members, only one is actually in the House of Representatives at this writing. Erickson resigned in May of 2014, and Hickey in 2015, with others falling away since then.

These are not things that illustrate to the party’s rank and file effective communication with the rest of the world, much less the members of the party who volunteer their time, effort and their hard earned dollars towards the cause of electing Republicans to office.

The website is just one example, but among the grassroots, there’s a distinct impression that there’s been a problem with communication for some time, which has resulted in a disconnect.

Calling it a disconnect might be putting it lightly. As I talk to people across the state, I get the feeling that a few of them feel more than a little put out.  So put out that people who have been foundational to the SDGOP for years, and in some cases decades, are open to a change in direction – including abandoning a decades old tradition of allowing the Governor to choose the chair – even if it risks the possibility of him withdrawing his support.

The most shocking evidence of this disconnect is the fact that the National Committeeman and National Committeewoman – two of the top people in the party – passed over the current chair, and endorsed Lederman for the office on the basis of his promised change.

What was one of the planks on which they lent him their names? More Communication:

“…a visionary Chairman must be effective with social media. As Assistant Majority Leader in the South Dakota Senate, Dan filmed weekly YouTube videos with his colleagues. He opened Twitter accounts to communicate Republican achievements.  He created and maintained websites, raised  money through online sources, and generated email updates to voters across the state. He’s tech-savvy and will lead our state party into creating a winning social media platform.

While we support Dan based on his qualifications, we made the commitment to publicly endorse Dan after the current Chair told each of us the week of President Trump’s inauguration that she was not going to run again for the SDGOP chairmanship. Dan enthusiastically wants the job, and he has the experience and passion to lead our party into a successful future.”

If that doesn’t hammer home the reality that the rank and file of the party are dissatisfied with the lack of communication from the party, I’m not sure what does.

Much like in any campaign, there’s evidence that the long knives have come out, with saboteurs and insiders seeking to derail the Lederman effort. And there are those preaching doom and gloom, and sharp words are being exchanged.  Ultimately, the Republican Party would be better served if some of the doomsayers would encourage people to vote for the candidate of their choice, or make a convincing case why their person was better as opposed to running the other person down.

The Governor himself is out making phone calls requesting that delegates retain Pam as chair. Others who believe the same or who support Dan should be doing the same before the vote is held.

Regardless whether the “Lederman revolution” succeeds or the insurrection is put down by the palace guard – the fact there is a strong challenge should serve as an extremely loud wake-up call that the people who make up the Republican Party have an expectation that their grievances will be heard, they want a say in how the party is ran, and that the leadership of the party needs to be accessible, vocal, and in the trenches with them.

It’s not enough that they raise money and win. The people who help make that possible also think they should have a seat at the table that’s more than being called to Pierre a couple times a year and dismissed.

Call it a revolution, or call it a renaissance.  But no matter who wins tomorrow, the grassroots of the GOP is putting it’s foot down, and issuing a call that it’s a new party.

And thanks to Representative (and SDWC contributor) Mike Clark for verification my daughter is working hard in Pierre (she never calls home to talk with her dad.).

With his return to the State Legislature, apparently, so too have Stace Nelson attacks against Republicans re-emerged:

I’m not sure what to wait for next; Robocalls, postcards, or an announcement he’s running for something.

In case you weren’t able to participate, Congresswoman Noem did a live video Q&A this AM and here’s the video: