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Johnson Calls for Hearing on Federal Failures in Indian Education 

Washington, D.C. – Today, U.S. Representative Dusty Johnson (R-S.D.) called on the House Committees on Natural Resources and Education & Workforce to hold an oversight hearing on the Bureau of Indian Education (BIE) and the dire state of Indian education.

“Tribal educators and students are desperate for relief,” Johnson wrote. “Schools on reservations are outdated and deteriorating, with many schools in extreme states of disrepair due to leaking roofs and walls, mold, and signs of asbestos…These students deserve better.”

“It is time to confront the crisis in Indian education with an oversight hearing to ensure equity, safety and opportunity for Indian students,” said Cecilia Fire Thunder, President of Oglala Lakota Nation Education Coalition.

“I respectfully call on both the House Natural Resources Committee and the Education & Workforce Committee to hold oversight hearings to examine the critical challenges faced by tribally-controlled schools under the Bureau of Indian Education (BIE). Our schools face unique barriers, from inadequate funding to outdated infrastructure, which severely hinder our ability to provide quality education to Native students. A thorough review is essential to address these systemic issues and ensure that our children have access to the resources and support they need to thrive academically, culturally, and personally. I thank Congressman Johnson for making this issue a priority,” said Ryman Lebeau, Chairman of Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe.

Johnson has led efforts to improve tribal educator retirement benefits and increase funding to BIE.

Background:

• A recent Department of Interior (DOI) Office of Inspector General (OIG) report demonstrated BIE’s systemic mismanagement and noted a more than $1 billion backlog in deferred maintenance.
• The OIG report notes in the schools visited, some maintenance work orders have waited years to be completed.
• In 2021, BIE Director Tony Dearman estimated the cost for replacing the schools BIE considers to be in poor condition at about $4.5 billion.

Read Johnson’s full letter here.

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Greetings, and welcome to the historic 100th session of the South Dakota Legislature! It’s been an exciting first week filled with important events, including the Governor’s State of the State address, the State of the Judiciary address delivered by Chief Justice Steven Jensen of the South Dakota Supreme Court, and the State of the Tribes address given by J. Garrett Renville, chairman of the Sisseton Wahpeton Oyate. These speeches help set policy goals for key members of our South Dakota community and provide a strong starting point for the legislature as we begin evaluating the State’s priorities.

The Governor’s State of the State Address was extra special this year because it was Governor Kristi Noem’s final address. She is expected to be confirmed as the U.S. Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security. Once that happens, she will step down, and Lt. Governor Larry Rhoden will become our new Governor. One of his first jobs will be to choose a new Lt. Governor. This is an important moment because it’s the first time this kind of change has happened while the legislature is in session. The Lt. Governor plays a key role by leading the State Senate and helping connect the Governor’s Office with lawmakers. This teamwork is essential for solving problems and creating the best future for South Dakota.

The legislature also met in joint session for the State of Judiciary and the State of the Tribes.

South Dakota Supreme Court Chief Justice Jensen shared with the legislature how the courts uphold our freedoms and protect citizens from governmental overreach. Justice Jensen encouraged the legislature to consider continued support of a statewide system for indigent defense to ensure equal access to justice.

During his address on the State of the Tribes, Chairman Renville shared that tribal leaders are seeking a fresh start with the State. While they acknowledge there will be disagreements, they would like to collaborate whenever possible. Many tribes have appreciated the Tribal Relations Committee’s efforts to improve communication. Additionally, they value the State’s support in training tribal police. With federal funding stretched thin, seven of the nine tribes currently have three or fewer officers patrolling their entire reservations, making this assistance especially critical.

With a busy session calendar, the most detailed policy work occurs in committees. This year, I’m serving on three: Health and Human Services as Vice Chair, Agriculture and Natural Resources, and Taxation. When bills are introduced in the House or Senate, they are sent to the committee that handles their specific topic.

This past week, the Health and Human Services committees received updates from several departments, including the Department of Social Services (DSS), the Department of Human Services (DHS), and the Department of Health (DOH). In the Senate Agriculture and Natural Resources Committee, we already heard an update from the Department of Agriculture and Natural Resources (DANR). One especially interesting point was their focus on increasing international trade to create more markets for South Dakota farmers and ranchers. In the Taxation Committee, we’re set to receive updates from the Department of Revenue (DOR).

On Wednesday, during Children’s Day at the Capitol, I met with students from the USD School of Health Sciences. It was great to see how interested they were in healthcare and advocacy. We talked about how healthcare professionals can help make important policies and how our state government allows everyone’s voice to be heard. Their questions and excitement were a great reminder of how important it is to work with future leaders.

The Legislative Research Council offers a free MyLRC+ account to stay informed during the session. With it, you can track committees, bills, and legislators and receive email updates. Sign up today at https://mylrc.sdlegislature.gov/.

Share your thoughts on legislative priorities by taking this quick survey! https://bit.ly/davisweek1poll

Thank you for allowing me to serve as your Senator. If you have any questions or concerns, please email me at sydney.davis@sdlegislature.gov. You can also call or text me at 605-770-7029 to share your thoughts. Be sure to sign up for legislative email updates on my website – votesydneydavis.com

From Facebook:

From State Representative Kent Roe comes an update from the House of Representatives on week 1 of the legislative session:

Hello D4, It’s been a week of hard learning and little sleep here in Pierre. This is the kickoff week for the legislature. After the Governor’s State of the State address the pace picked up. We had other addresses by state departments. I’m on the transportation and taxation committees. There have been several social events. I especially appreciated the SD National Guard this morning, Friday morning. These service members are in our communities and our friends and neighbors. A tip of the hat to our fellow citizens.

Also, hats off to the rural water systems, and also the rural electric cooperatives for hosting their events. These organizations are responsible for the water we drink, and the electric service we are provided with, that is mostly taken for granted. Behind the scenes, and out of site-out of mind, these people are working continuously insuring our infrastructure and needs are taken care of. And they do all of this for us economically.

This morning our Governor is going through her confirmation hearings in the Senate. It’s amazing what a country girl from Brantford Township can accomplish. We are all proud of her accomplishments, regardless of political affiliation.

Several school groups have reached out for information for tours. It’s great news that this is happening. Our teachers are doing important work, and any teacher reading this who wants to visit the Capitol here in Pierre, please reach out. It’s incredibly important that we involve ourselves in the governance process.

Next week starts the real work. Bills will be brought to committees and possibly moved to the floor. The votes will begin and you can track what we do on sdlegislature.gov. This website has nearly everything regarding the South Dakota legislature.

I’m always accessible. Please reach out with any questions or concerns.

Yours,
Kent Roe
SD District 4 House Representative
Kent.Roe@SDLegislature.gov

Senator Casey Crabtree’s Weekly Update of the South Dakota Legislative Session – Week 1:

Greetings from the 100th South Dakota legislative session. It is an honor to once again serve the great people of District 8 as your state senator. The year ahead will include several challenges as we work to balance the budget during a soft economy and work to make sure opportunities for the years and decades to come can materialize in South Dakota.

As with each year, my priority is looking for solutions that help South Dakotans prosper. South Dakota is a place where anyone can live out their dreams as long as they’re able to find opportunity in our state. I will work with my fellow legislators to make sure that we can eliminate unnecessary red tape, keep taxes low, and make sure we are taking care of educating and training our future workforce. At the same time, we need to make sure our state is safe for our residents. 

This year, Rep. Kent Roe and I introduced SB 14 to address a growing concern with farmers–agroterrorism. People aligning with the extreme agendas of groups like PETA and Sierra Club are vandalising and ruining the livelihoods of farmers and ranchers. SB 14 strengthens penalties and adds clarity for law enforcement and prosecutors to protect the state’s number one industry.

Rep. Tony Venhuizen and I will also be asking the legislature to pose a question to the voters in November 2026. This last election, the two of us led the charge on implementing a Medicaid expansion work requirement for individuals who are able-bodied and able to work. This new proposal addresses the potential fiscal disaster that could affect South Dakota if the federal government decides to decrease the amount of money they reimburse the state. Today, they cover 90% of the cost for Medicaid expansion patients. With the stroke of a pen in Washington, DC, that amount could be significantly reduced. Even a 5% reduction would lead to drastic funding cuts or tough discussions on tax increases. I believe that South Dakota voters approved Medicaid expansion with the assumption that the federal government would keep its promise and continue to fund Medicaid expansion at 90%. Since this program is enshrined in our constitution, you, the people, get to decide if we should change how it is implemented in South Dakota.

I believe the dominant discussion of the upcoming session will be the state’s balanced budget. Sales tax revenues have dropped significantly this past year and the projections are not bright for the year ahead. This led Gov. Noem to propose some drastic cuts in her budget proposal to the legislature. While there is some one time money, dollars available for ongoing new programs are impossible without cuts elsewhere. At the same time, I want to work hard to reduce your property tax. There are several ideas that are being discussed amongst legislators. I will be working with my fellow lawmakers to find a proposal that provides serious tax relief for homeowners while also allowing us to meet our budgetary obligations.

Again, it is an honor to serve District 8. As we move through the nine week legislative session, I look forward to hearing from you on the issues that are important to you. If you plan to travel to Pierre, let me know so that we can meet to say hello. In the meantime, stay safe and may God bless South Dakota.

Johnson Condemns Biden’s Commutation of Peltier’s Sentence 

Washington, D.C. – Today, U.S. Representative Dusty Johnson (R-S.D.) issued the following statement after President Biden announced a commutation of Leonard Peltier’s sentence:

This commutation was another unfortunate mistake by the Biden Administration, and I asked the White House not to do this. Leonard Peltier was convicted of killing two federal law enforcement officers. More than twenty federal judges and Biden’s own FBI Director agree—Peltier’s convictions and sentence must stand. The denials of parole are further evidence that pardoning Peltier’s sentence is simply a bad decision. Protecting Americans and law enforcement officers should be of utmost importance.

Background:

• In June 1975, Leonard Peltier murdered two federal law enforcement officers.
• In 1977, Peltier was found guilty on two counts of first-degree murder and sentenced to two consecutive life terms in prison.
• Peltier has made numerous appeals and sought parole or commutation of his sentence, which have all been denied.
• In 2016, Peltier’s representatives petitioned then President Barack Obama for clemency and release. Obama did not grant the petition.
• In 2022, the Department of Justice denied another petition for a commutation of Peltier’s sentence.
• In July 2024, the U.S. Parole Commission denied Peltier’s request for parole. FBI Director Christopher Wray sent a letter to the commission, urging a denial of Peltier’s request.

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Attorney General Jackley Statement on Leonard Peltier Sentence Commutation

PIERRE, S.D. – South Dakota Attorney General Marty Jackley released this statement following former President Biden’s decision to commute the sentence of Leonard Peltier from life in prison to serving the remainder of his sentence in home confinement:

“The Attorney General’s Office strongly opposes this action and has in recent months argued against any change in the defendant’s sentence. He was convicted in the 1975 cold-blooded murders of FBI Special Agents Ronald Williams and Jack Coler on the Pine Ridge Reservation. That conviction has been reviewed and upheld by no fewer than 22 federal judges since then. Former Gov. Janklow, who was Attorney General at the time of the murders, also opposed any reduction or change in sentence.  I was the prosecutor in the Annie Mae Aquash murder trial that elicited the testimony from the witness recounting how Peltier described in his own words executing the FBI Special Agent by shooting him through his hand raised to protect himself into the face. The Attorney General’s Office will continue to stand with, and protect, law enforcement.”

 -30-

Outgoing President Joe Biden has been doing his best to be remembered as one of the worst presidents in US History, and underlined it today as one of his last acts in office was to pardon members of his family on a preemptive basis, and commute the sentence of the murderer Leonard Peltier. As noted in a story on the MPR Website:

In one of his last official acts before leaving the White House, President Joe Biden released Leonard Peltier from prison.

and..

The commutation was widely opposed by law enforcement who insisted that Peltier’s actions were cold-blooded, and he should remain imprisoned for the rest of his life for murdering FBI agents Jack Coler and Ronald Williams in 1975. The agents’ deaths came at a time when tensions were high over a nationwide struggle between the U.S. government and activists for Native American civil and treaty rights.

and..

Biden’s move is certain to anger many in the law enforcement community. FBI Director Christopher Wray lobbied against Peltier’s most recent parole request.

“Over the last 45 years, no fewer than 22 federal judges have evaluated the evidence and considered Peltier’s legal arguments.” Wray wrote in a letter opposing Peltier’s 2024 parole request. “Each has reached the same conclusion: Peltier’s claims are meritless, and his convictions and sentence must stand.”

The FBI also discouraged past presidents from pardoning or granting clemency to Peltier.

“They were down, they were wounded, they were helpless and he shot them point blank,” Mike Clark, president of the Society of Former Special Agents of the FBI, told The Associated Press last summer. “It is a heinous crime.”

Read the entire story here.

As noted by Attorney General Jackley in July of this year,

“Leonard Peltier murdered two FBI agents in cold blood, and he has never shown any remorse for these murders,” said Attorney General Jackley.  “The two FBI agents, who died in the line of duty, and their loved ones deserve justice, and parole for Peltier is not justice.”

Read that here.

For more reading, I’d recommend the book “American Indian Mafia” which presents first hand accounts, and the other side of the coin to the propaganda that Joe Biden succumbed to.  (Which was positively reviewed by Bill Janklow, and former Congressman Frank Denholm)

Sometimes it’s better to be quiet and thought a fool, rather than speak and prove it.

New State Senator John “California” Carley decided that now he’s in government he should learn more about what it is that the South Dakota National Guard does.

And so, in the 1/16 Joint Appropriations Committee, Carley asked if our National Guard members have ever been deployed to a foreign land:

Rep. Carley asks “I know the Military has been deployed personnel and  equipment but the actual National Guard in South Dakota has been deployed into foreign conflicts?“

In 2012, the newspaper covering his legislative District  – the Rapid City Journal – had an article about how at the time 26 South Dakota National Guard members had given their lives in defense of our country and had been killed in Iraq & Afghanistan.  If Carley had lived in South Dakota at the time, you think he would have noticed that.

Or that in 2018 Camp Rapid dedicated a memorial plaza to honor 171 fallen SDNG soldiers who died in various wars or conflicts since the organization’s formation in 1862.   Within 15 miles of where “California” Carley is living (now). I’m guessing n 2018, he lived farther away.. much farther away.

We can hope in the next election, his district will send a South Dakotan to Pierre. As opposed to a California transplant who has a tough time not pronouncing our State’s Capital as PEE-AIR.

Did I just read this?  Austin Goss at The Dakota Scout just dropped a story this morning on the Secretary of State’s race, largely based on  Minnesota Dollar Store owner turned elekt-shun expert Rick Weible’s complaints that Secretary of State Monae Johnson figured his goofiness out, and decided she didn’t want him nor his conspiracies anywhere near the Secretary of State’s office:

Rick Weible, a prominent figure in the election integrity movement, has publicly called for Johnson to remove Tom Deadrick from his position as her chief deputy as well as other high-ranking staffers, citing concerns over their suitability for the roles.

and..

Weible has also urged Johnson to give him an appointment to the state’s Board of Elections, the group responsible for oversight of election laws, and where these clashes often are reignited.

“Some of the things she’s done are troubling,” said Weible who, along with his wife, played a big part in getting Johnson across the finish line in 2022. “I still like her personally, but she is getting bad advice and going the wrong way.”

Read it here.

What is Austin smoking, trying to consider former Senate candidate Weible as someone credible or to be taken seriously by anyone outside of the fringes of the hard right?

Lest we forget Danger Rick...:   Starting at about 5:50:

“The fact is that I’ve now shown you this piece of evidence, I understand that my life is at risk, and that the United States does not want this to be known that this software is available on the dark web..”

Or lobbyist Rick…

Or self-declared “South Dakota Hero” Rick..

I could go on, but trying to make it a story that the Secretary of State figured this guy out, quickly distanced herself, and noped-out on demands regarding appointing him to the state Board of Elections does not seem to be the basis of legitimate critique.