Category: Uncategorized

From my mailbox:

PIERRE, S.D. (May 29, 2024) – Today, the Biden-Harris Administration announced the recipients of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) 2023 Clean School Bus Program rebate competition, funded by President Biden’s Investing in America agenda. The rebates will help Tripp-Delmont School District 33-5 in North Dakota to purchase one clean school bus for its students. The Program will help South Dakota accelerate the transition to zero-emission buses from existing diesel-fueled school buses, which have been linked to asthma and other conditions that harm the health of students and surrounding communities.

EPA Administrator Michael S. Regan will join schoolchildren, district leaders and community members in Jackson, Miss., today to make the announcement and highlight how the program will reduce greenhouse gas emissions, save schools money, and better protect children’s health. The investment will also drive demand for American-made batteries and vehicles, boost domestic manufacturing, and create good-paying jobs.

“President Biden believes every child deserves the opportunity to lead a healthy life and breathe clean air, and his Investing in America agenda is designed to deliver just that,” said EPA Administrator Michael S. Regan. “With today’s latest round of funding, we are transforming the nation’s school bus fleet to better protect our most precious cargo—our kids–saving school districts money, improving air quality, and bolstering American manufacturing all at the same time.”

Er.. yeah..

I thought this was a good message from one former legislator to another in his pursuit of returning to the State Senate:

6 more days!

Not sure how this got past me earlier in the election. A correspondent sent this over on Travis Ismay, District 28B House Republican candidate, noting one of his favorite cultural observations. White History Month.

Why do we have these awful candidates stinking up the place?

Not sure what the Revolutionary war has to do with skin color. Pretty sure the people we fought against were easily sunburned as well.

Do you think he’ll give up all pretext for this years’ celebration, and wear a pointy white hat around town?

Dear God. Please don’t elect this guy.

Shooting some turkeys sounds relaxing at about this time in the campaign.

Tom Pischke’s minders must be seeing some problems in Tom’s campaign. Because last night, they launched a below-the-belt false attack through the group being run by their buddy, the thick-necked, greasy weasel known as Toby Doeden.

With an attack that wasn’t on anyone’s bingo card, rounds of fake and unsubstantiated text messages fanned out across District 25 claiming Jordan Youngberg “supports the LGBTQ agenda” and “planned parenthood,” and actually claimed Youngberg is “so clearly a covert member of the Democrat Party.”

When attacking, it helps is something is demonstrably provable. But this text message reads like it was authored by someone in middle school. (He’s running in your district as a Republican?!? Yeah right…). More often than not, when attacks are this shrill, there’s a problem.

I have the feeling that Tom & Toby’s attacks might be a sign that they see it slipping away, and it’s an act of desperation.

Less than a week to go, so we’ll have to watch and see what other schoolyard taunts they try to throw out there.

Remember back on May 17th, when I did a post on Toby Doeden’s PAC filing a document that noted a $100,000 donation from him to his “Dakota First Action” PAC?

The law very clearly lays out what is and is not permitted:

12-27-9. Limits on contributions to political action committee–Violation as misdemeanor .

A political action committee may accept contributions during any calendar year as follows:

(1)    Not to exceed ten thousand dollars from a person;
(2)    Not to exceed ten thousand dollars from an entity;
(3)    Without limit from a political action committee;
(4)    Without limit from a political party;
(5)    Without limit from a candidate campaign committee; and
(6)    Not to exceed ten thousand dollars from a ballot question committee.

Any contribution from a person who is an unemancipated minor shall be deducted from the total contribution permitted under this section by the unemancipated minor’s custodial parent or parents. A violation of this section is a Class 2 misdemeanor. A subsequent offense within a calendar year is a Class 1 misdemeanor.

So, since Toby Doeden filed a document with the Secretary of State noting that he gave more, I brought it up to them, and sent an e-mail asking if they were going to do anything about it.

Good Morning. 

I wanted to draw your attention to the campaign finance report for “Dakota First Action” political action committee that was filed yesterday with the Secretary of State’s office, which appears to indicate an impermissible donation was accepted by the committee. 

According to the report, Toby Doeden of Aberdeen, SD donated $100,000 to the committee, despite the requirements of SDCL 12-27-9, which limits said donations to $10,000 from any one person.

In addition to this violation, I also believe the Committee at the direction of Mr. Doeden to be a serial violator of campaign disclaimer laws, with examples attached of the thousands of text messages without disclaimers being sent across the state.  I do realize I may not have standing, as I did not receive these, but I draw it to your attention. 

Thank you for your consideration and review. 

Pat Powers

And what was the result?  After a few days ruminating over it, on May 21st I received the following:

Hello Pat,

Our website has outlined the campaign finance complaint process.
https://sdsos.gov/elections-voting/campaign-finance/campaign-finance-complaint-procedure.aspx

Thank you,
Rachel Soulek
Director, Division of Elections

Wait, what? 

I can understand if they wanted a specific complaint on the text messages. But this is the Secretary of State’s response on a document that was required to be filed with them which contains blatant and shameless violations of campaign finance law?  Are they kidding?  While there is a campaign finance complaint process, I know of nothing in law that prevents the Secretary of State from acting on the obvious.

So, fine.  As of today, I have filed the affidavit, and the ball is in the Secretary of State’s court:

Dakota First Action_Toby Doeden Affidavit by Pat Powers on Scribd

Hopefully by filing the affidavit, some action can be spurred with regards to the shameless violation of state law when it comes to a renegade political committee (at least appearing to) completely ignore the fairly loose campaign finance laws that are in place in South Dakota.

So.  We’ll see what happens.

For those who are ultimately elected this fall, maybe they should take this example and be spurred to action as to the failure of how we’ve currently structured enforcement of our campaign finance laws.

I’m one of the first ones to point out that law enforcement has bigger and far more important things to do. They need to move these away from criminal penalties that no one enforces unless it’s the worst of the worst violations. They should go back to making things administrative penalties (like they used to have) for the small potatoes, and put an actual system in place to act on it when someone skips the disclaimers, flouts campaign finance law, and allow for some some actual resolution.

Below is an example of one of many postcards going out this election primary from the group AFP Action. And the emphasis is on “many.”

Reports are coming from candidates across the state that Americans for Prosperity affiliated group AFP Action has apparently been mailing in several races across South Dakota. But, not just a card here, and a card there. Some districts are reporting being pounded by two and three mailers in the last few weeks, raising a question as to “what is AFP is attempting to accomplish?”

Americans for Prosperity in South Dakota has billed itself as a pro-business group and viewed as a largely mainstream organization in it’s latest incarnation in South Dakota over most of the past decade, and had met with success in advocacy among Republicans and among legislators in moving legislation through Pierre.

But starting in the 2022 SDGOP Primary and greatly escalating in the 2024 primary election, the group has fitted itself with much sharper elbows and has engaged more and more aggressively in the Republican primary process, primarily supporting candidates from the very far right.

First in 2022 with Facebook ads, and now with that and an an onslaught of postcards in 2024, their efforts seem more directed at electing their politicians as a political party or movement would, and less about educating the public and legislators as to their issues and why they should be viewed in the mainstream of GOP thought.

I have had one Legislator provide rumor and speculation that South Dakota’s AFP head Don Haggar might have his eye on the Congressional seat in 2026, and this flood of cards could be a prelude of an effort towards those ends, but I’m a bit skeptical on that talk.

Should an opportunity open up for the Congressional seat, I’m sure we’re going to see a number of people talk about it, and the rubber will hit the road on #1) who can build a credible coalition, and #2) who can raise the immediate cash to fund the effort. And we’ll hear who is in that hunt very soon.

Because 2026 is going to be a monster election, and people will start pulling the trigger on exploratory committees by November 6 or so.

And along those lines, a person can direct cards be printed, but I’m not sure that translates into Congress.

Freedom Is Not Free
By Sen. John Thune

The month of May is a special time to honor the brave men and women who serve and who have served our country in uniform. The entire month is observed as Military Appreciation Month. We also celebrate Armed Forces Day and honor the fallen on Memorial Day.

In his first inaugural address, President Eisenhower, himself an accomplished general, said, “We must be ready to dare all for our country. For history does not long entrust the care of freedom to the weak or the timid.” If you want to see these words in action, just look to the men and women of the United States military.

Many military members join the service at a young age, often right after high school or college. They choose a path different from many of their peers. They subject themselves to a life of regimentation and roll calls. They embrace challenging physical and mental demands. And they choose a life that asks them to forgo comfort for sacrifice, up to and including the sacrifice of their own lives.

Many of us don’t see their sacrifices or the sacrifices that their families make along with them. It can be easy to forget as we go about our daily lives that our lives of freedom are only possible because of the men and women who spend their lives defending our country.

During Military Appreciation Month, my thoughts turn to South Dakotans serving in the armed forces, especially the South Dakota National Guard and the airmen at Ellsworth Air Force Base. They represent the very best of our state, and I am grateful every day for their service and sacrifice. South Dakotans know and value the sacrifices that our military families make, and I am tremendously proud of how the Black Hills Region has worked to support our airmen and National Guard Members, earning national recognition.

Memorial Day in particular is an occasion to remember those who have made the ultimate sacrifice defending our country. These brave Americans gave their lives for our country and for the freedoms we enjoy as Americans. It’s a debt that we can never fully repay, and we owe it to them to recommit ourselves to living lives worthy of their sacrifice.

“[H]istory does not long entrust the care of freedom to the weak or the timid.” The men and women of the United States military stand strong – ready to answer the call when their country needs them. We owe them all a great debt for securing our freedoms and defending our country. May God bless and protect the men and women of the United States military, and may He continue to bless America.

###

FARM BILL PASSES COMMITTEE
May 24, 2024
by Congressman Dusty Johnson

BIG News

The Farm Bill is an essential piece of legislation for farm and ranch country. It’s renewed every five years, allowing members of Congress to update programs in the bill to better serve rural America.

The final bill is the result of more than 80 listening sessions across 40 states to hear from farmers and ranchers on what their priorities are. I worked on drafting this bill with the House Ag Committee to ensure South Dakota priorities are included. After months of collaboration, the final text is strong and provides valuable updates for rural America. I’m proud the bill contains dozens of my priorities to improve rural broadband, farm safety net programs, increase trade, and more.

BIG NEWS – The Farm Bill advanced out of the House Agriculture Committee after hours of debate and discussion on the text. Agriculture is South Dakota’s number one industry, and this Farm Bill will do well to support it.

BIG Update

It was a big week in Congress and started with my bill to create a digital asset framework passing the House with broad bipartisan support. The Financial Innovation and Technology for the 21st Century (FIT21) Act is a historic piece of legislation and the first of its kind to receive a vote in Congress. This bill is the result of two committees working together for over a year, which is an unprecedented feat.

America is the only G7 country without an established framework for digital asset trading, which has enticed many developers to innovate overseas. This shift in innovation could prevent the U.S. from remaining the global leader in tech and finance.

FIT21 is the solution. It will fill gaps in America’s regulatory market to ensure predictability and certainty for innovators. Rep. French Hill (R-AR) and I published an op-ed in the Washington Times detailing the urgency of the issue.

BIG Idea

In 2022, President Biden signed an executive order that could lead to the creation of a central bank digital currency (CBDC). A CBDC is essentially a digital dollar and would allow the government to track and restrict transactions of private citizens. Governments like the Chinese Communist Party use this technology to surveil their citizens. Canada even went as far to freeze the bank accounts of individuals who participated in trucker protests. This is antithetical to American values.

I voted to pass the CBDC Anti-Surveillance State Act to prevent the U.S. from developing a digital currency. We must protect the financial privacy and liberty of Americans.

National Travel and Tourism Week
By: Governor Kristi Noem
May 24, 2024

As the beautiful vibrant colors of spring paint our landscapes and the sweet scent of renewal fills the air, it’s time to celebrate one of the most thrilling aspects of South Dakota: travel and tourism. We are just wrapping up National Travel and Tourism Week.  It’s a perfect time to embark on a journey of appreciation for the countless blessings and opportunities that come with exploring our beautiful state.

Tourism is our second largest industry here in South Dakota, contributing billions of dollars to our state’s economy each year. In 2023, tourism brought a grand total of 14.7 million visitors here. Those visitors spent $4.96 billion, generating $384 million in tax revenue, and supporting 57,835 jobs!

But the impact of travel and tourism extends far beyond economic gains. Travel creates lifelong memories among families, allows us to meet new people, and has the power to unite us at a time when the world often feels divided. Tourism gives us the perfect opportunity to show off our world-renowned South Dakota hospitality.

Travel and tourism are also woven into the fabric of our communities. The tourism industry supports countless small businesses, local artisans, and entrepreneurs who rely on visitors to sustain their livelihoods. From quaint bed and breakfasts to family-owned restaurants serving up hearty Midwestern fare, these establishments are the lifeblood of our towns and cities, infusing them with character and charm that our visitors say they love.

I heard about one family who visited from Australia for Christmas. They said their trip was, “magical…the best Christmas EVER!” And their eight-year-old daughter plans to come back for every Christmas forever. They loved cutting down their own Christmas tree, the 1880 Train, Mammoth Site, sledding, and the prairie dogs – it even snowed for them on Christmas Day!

Whether it’s exploring the iconic Mount Rushmore National Memorial, marveling at the otherworldly landscapes of Badlands National Park, or immersing oneself in the rich history of De Smet and our pioneering history, our state offers so many unique experiences that cater to every taste and interest. As we close out National Travel and Tourism Week, our peak tourism season is still just beginning. So let us continue to embrace exploration and welcome the world to experience the beauty and hospitality of our great nation.

If you or a family you know is interested in visiting beautiful South Dakota, visit TravelSouthDakota.com and start planning your trip today.

Here’s to the spirit of adventure, the joy of discovery, and the endless possibilities that await us on the open road. Happy National Travel and Tourism Week, South Dakota!

###