Category: Uncategorized

Thune Statement on FCC Vote

WASHINGTON, D.C.—U.S. Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.), chairman of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, issued the following statement on the FCC’s 3-2 vote to regulate the Internet:

“Despite the Federal Communication Commission’s partisan action to approve a 317-page power grab over the Internet, the fight to keep the Internet unburdened from regulatory overreach is far from over. As parties line up to challenge this action in court, it will soon be time for Congressional Democrats to review the situation and decide if they are prepared to join a bipartisan effort that brings real certainty to American consumers and provides the necessary protections to the Internet. Only action by Congress can fix the damage and uncertainty this FCC order has inflicted on the Internet.”

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From today’s Argus Leader website comes a story about the tax increase proposal no one is really talking much about… Until tonight, on the eve of the measure moving forward in the House, after narrowly passing the Senate.

“The key thing to remember is, we have a limited capacity in our overall sales tax system,” Wiest told legislators at a bill hearing Feb. 4. “We cannot have as a state a 15 percent sales tax when you combine state and local sales tax. That’s not going to work for citizens in the state. They won’t permit it.”

Still, governing bodies in 100 communities across the state have signed on in favor of the legislation. The Senate passed it 19-14 earlier this month. It now goes in front of the House Taxation Committee Thursday morning.

And..

This new legislation would give community residents another option, said Yvonne Taylor, executive director of the South Dakota Municipal League. A property-tax opt out puts the burden only on local residents. Up to an additional third penny in sales tax captures anyone doing business in a community, she said.

Beyond that, governmental bodies decide on property tax opt outs, though their decisions can be referred to a vote. With this new legislation, a vote is mandatory.

Bob Riter, a lobbyist for the South Dakota chapter of the National Federation of Independent Businesses, believes SB 135 if passed could put state businesses at a competitive disadvantage, especially for those near neighboring states that have a lower sales tax structure.

Read it here.

How much would this increase taxes for South Dakotans? According to the note from Americans for Prosperity this evening, it bypasses the $100 million highway proposal that was labeled DOA for being the largest tax increase in state history, and does it better by another $50 million:

It’s the biggest tax increase you’ve probably never heard of.

The legislature is considering a bill that would allow cities to impose an additional 1-cent sales tax increase. If every city in South Dakota participated, it would mean more than $150 million in new taxes.

We Need You To Help Stop It

With all the debate on the highway funding bill, it seems almost no one is talking about this secret sales tax increase. We can’t let this bad tax policy get passed into law! The worst part? The bill was approved by the South Dakota Senate and is headed to the South Dakota House for a vote.

Send a letter to your legislator today: Tell them to vote NO on the sales tax increase!

Instead of finding new ways to let government raise taxes, lawmakers should be looking for ways to reduce the burden of government on taxpayers.

Thanks for all you do.

Sincerely,

Ben Lee
AFP South Dakota
State Director

If legislators rejected a tax package which would have cost taxpayers $100 million… Then why is a $150 Million tax proposal sliding through so quietly?

Or maybe not so quietly now that the cat is out of the bag.

Delegation Meets with VA Secretary to Urge Reconsideration of Proposal to Close Hot Springs VA

WASHINGTON, D.C.—Following a February 10 letter from the South Dakota delegation to U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Secretary Robert McDonald urging the Obama administration to withdraw its budget proposal plans to reconfigure the Hot Springs VA, U.S. Sens. John Thune (R-S.D.) and Mike Rounds (R-S.D.), member of the Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee, and Rep. Kristi Noem (R-S.D.) held a delegation meeting today with the secretary to reiterate their concerns with the administration’s proposal to close the VA Medical Center. South Dakota Secretary of Veterans Affairs Larry Zimmerman, Deputy Secretary Aaron Pollard, and VA Black Hills Director Stephen DiStasio were also in attendance.

At the meeting, Secretary McDonald assured the delegation that the Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) process remains underway and that no decision has been made at this time. The VA expects the draft EIS to be released in June of 2015, which will be followed by a public comment period. Secretary McDonald has declined numerous invitations to visit the Hot Springs campus and the delegation encouraged him once again to visit Hot Springs as soon as possible.

“Today’s meeting made clear what we’ve known for some time—the VA hasn’t been straightforward with South Dakota veterans,” said Thune. “I will hold Secretary McDonald to his pledge to reconcile the long-standing discrepancies in cost estimates and veteran impact data on the closure of the Hot Springs facility. After more than four years, I think they owe our veterans honest answers about the hiring practices and management decisions that have been made to get Hot Springs to this point. I urge the secretary to properly incorporate the new State Veterans Home in the EIS, and consider the healing potential of an expanded PTSD center in Hot Springs. The Obama administration should stop giving veterans this bureaucratic run-around and start providing answers.”

“I thank Secretary McDonald for meeting with the delegation today and following through on his personal commitment to me to remain engaged on this important issue,” said Rounds. “I appreciate his willingness to sit down with the delegation to make sure we are all working with the same data. I am also happy to have his assurance that no decision has been made on the reconfiguration of the Black Hills Health Care System. The Hot Springs VA hospital has the potential to become a national model for providing veteran care to rural veterans.”

“It’s critical that the secretary visit Hot Springs, talk to the veterans who use the facility, and see this community known as ‘Veterans Town,’ which is something I’ve pressed him on before and again today. I plan to hold him accountable for the assurances he made today: that he will visit Hot Springs after the EIS is completed but before any decision is made,” said Rep. Noem. “While it was good to hear assurances that the secretary plans to visit, the VA failed to offer veterans and the Hot Springs community any more clarity on the significant data discrepancies that have marred this entire process – nor did the agency give any certainty that the outcome of the EIS was not determined before the process even began. Our veterans deserve answers as well as a fair an unbiased EIS process. I am deeply concerned that they have not received either thus far. I strongly urge the secretary to consider the alternatives put forward by veterans in and around Hot Springs and will hold him to his promise to get to a point where we can all work off the same set of facts.”

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So, how does someone under indictment for several felonies leave the country for Haiti? Don’t they take their passport or something? Or have I been watching too much Law & Order?

I bring this up, as that’s where Dr. Annette Bosworth, who has been pleading with people to send her $400,000 for her family’s expenses, claims to be now on a medical mission. At least, according to her Facebook page.

What do you think about her going overseas while she faces criminal charges in South Dakota?

Amidst my nose being buried in taxes this morning, I did want to take a moment and wish my state representative, and former gubernatorial candidate, Representative Scott Munsterman a very happy birthday.

Go over to his Facebook page and give him some SDWC good cheer.

I’m laying in bed with my iPad this morning, occasionally getting up to make sure kids are fed as my wife dozes after driving down and back to Arkansas between Thursday and Saturday.

And as I’m glancing at the morning’s news, I come across what has to be one of the most ridiculous things I’ve ever read, as the headline trumpeted “Scott Hoy’s long journey back.” I had to read, because I was naturally curious if he had a near-death cancer scare, or a car accident, or whatever.

No, this was not a journey back from infirmity. It was a tale of his journey back from… Internet infamy?

Scott Hoy was descending the escalator at Sioux Falls Regional Airport after a trip to Florida in December 2013 when he learned he was a national punchline.

The Sioux Falls lawyer heard from a colleague that he had appeared on the previous night’s “Late Night with Jimmy Fallon” show, but it didn’t seem like a big deal. Hoy pointed out that television commercials for his family-run law firm had been placed in that time slot many times.

“He said, ‘No, you don’t understand — you were on Fallon last night,'” recalls Hoy. “By the time I reached the bottom of the escalator, my stomach had started to drop out.”

Read it here.

WTF? (If you’ll pardon the expression).

I had to go out to the curb to get my dead tree edition, out of curiosity where it ended up in terms of placement. It was on top of the life section, right above a story & photo about wiener dog races. I’m not sure how a story about the aftermath, fourteen months later, of a trial lawyers’ teasing after an awful commercial beat out wiener dog racing, but sometimes editors have to make tough calls, don’t they?

It’s here my wife wakes up long enough to comment “I read that last night. It was pandering.” And promptly dozes off again, giving the story about all the attention it deserved from the public at large.

I’m not sure how we managed to get by for 14 months without this story having been told. Maybe we can have the Argus bring us equally compelling tales, such as feature articles on the poverty elected officials face when they’re not being paid as much as they’d like. Or maybe a follow up on the anguished wiener dog who came in last.

Yes, through their valiant and intrepid reporting we may have learned that Scott Hoy somehow manages to bravely soldier on.

But we’re also asking “why on earth am I paying money for this newspaper?”

Rounds Statement on Fermilab Meeting

PIERRE, S.D. – U.S. Sen. Mike Rounds (R-S.D.) today made the following statement following a meeting with Fermilab Director Nigel Lockyer to discuss the planned Long-Baseline Neutrino Facility (LBNF) experiment:

“I was pleased to meet with Director Nigel Lockyer to hear about the latest LBNF developments. Fermilab is leading LBNF for the Department of Energy, partnering with the Sanford Underground Research Facility to base the LBNF detectors for this world-leading neutrino experiment deep underground in the Black Hills of South Dakota. Construction of the facility is expected to have an immediate economic impact in South Dakota. I’m proud of the work being done by Director Lockyer, his team and the crew at Sanford Underground Research Facility to further scientific discovery. We welcome this opportunity here in South Dakota.”

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Tony Mangan at KCCR news got the closest thing to a hint about Brendan Johnson’s political future yesterday when interviewing the outgoing US Attorney:

Johnson announced Wednesday that he is resigning March 11 to go into private practice in Sioux Falls. Johnson, the son of retired Democratic U.S. Senator Tim Johnson, has long been rumored to be a possible candidate some day for a statewide office.

But Johnson, who has declined in the past to speculate about any such intentions, tells KCCR News that he is not now thinking about that possibility.

Read it all here