Category: Uncategorized

Gov. Noem Appoints Rick Vallery to the Transportation Commission

PIERRE, S.D. – Today, Governor Kristi Noem announced that she will appoint Rick Vallery to serve on the Transportation Commission.

“South Dakota’s Transportation Commission is dedicated to keeping our citizens safe as they travel,” said Governor Noem, “Rick has worked with me for years both in Congress and as part of my administration, and I am confident that he will serve this state well in this new role.”

Rick Vallery was raised on a ranch near Nisland, South Dakota. After graduating from Mitchell Vocational Technical School, Vallery farmed and ranch with his dad and brother for twelve years. He then began a career with the South Dakota Farm Bureau. Over the years, Vallery has worked with South Dakota Wheat, Inc., the South Dakota Oilseeds council, the South Dakota Pulse Council, the Department of Agriculture, and the Governor’s Office of Economic Development.

“I am honored, humbled, and very appreciative to be considered by Governor Noem for this appointment,” said Rick Vallery. “It is my hope that my years of experience of working with various state agencies and my strong desire to serve the citizens of South Dakota will be put to use in serving on the Transportation Commission.”

Rick Vallery lives in Fort Pierre with his wife Carrel. He is very active in Community Bible Church. Vallery’s hobbies include spending time with his grandkids, traveling, touring state capitols, touring different history museums, reading, and big game hunting.

A photo of Rick Vallery can be found here.

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While the Free-dumb caucusers spend their time attacking the GOP and trying to unseat it’s officeholders, someone should pay attention to the wolf at the door as Democrats are quietly in the background getting ready for the Fall.

Sddp Federal May 2024 by Pat Powers on Scribd

SD Dems are revenue neutral in their federal account with $44k raised, $44k spent, and $53k Cash on hand, but that’s more than 10x the amount raised in the federal account by the State GOP this last month.

Not sure we’ve reached a tipping point yet, but it’s like the Badlands when you drive past Belvidere heading west on I90.. it’s visible on the horizon.

Dems aren’t facing the level of toxicity that Republicans are, which is shifting vital funds over to candidates directly and away from going to the party to act as a broad support mechanism for all Republicans.

Who is going to suffer for it? Candidates who need the broad support and help.

Hate to be the canary in the coal mine. But the message is there.

It’s just a question if people are going to notice the signs before they drive off the cliff.

From the Secretary of State, while Rick Weible might try to talk the talk about campaigns, he certainly is showing he has no clue how to walk the walk:

Rick WeIble Pre Primary by Pat Powers on Scribd

Weible managed to raise a so-so $6k from an apparent island of misfit toys..

including $1000 from himself, and $1000 from D7 Candidate Jeff Struwe, who is doing worse than Weible, despite Weible running his campaign. He did get $1000 from maybe-Republican Justin McNeal, and $1000 out of team Assman in S Central SD, but they seem to be donating to any anti-establishment cause.   But even the Free-dumb Caucus only slipped Weible $100.

Compared to his opponent Crabtree? It’s just not pretty.

Crabtree Sdcfdisclosure by Pat Powers on Scribd

Starting with $30,808.40 in his campaign account, after Weible announced his run, Senate Majority Leader Crabtree raised another $68,550.00 – 10x the amount Weible managed to scrape together.  Casey might want to thank Weible for being so obnoxiously offensive to… well, darn near everyone… and making it so groups were chasing after Crabtree to send him money to put him near the $100,000 mark.

With 2 weeks left, even 10 miles down the road, I don’t think Casey is letting off the accelerator while Weible is still in the station, claiming his life is in danger because he knows secrets behind the gas pump (a substitution for voting machines in our moral tale).

If the best steakhouse on the eastern side of South Dakota says you’re ok, that’s a pretty big vote in my book.

Unfortunately, it has made me hungry for prime rib.

FAA Bill Means Safer and Stronger Skies
By Sen. John Thune

Millions of Americans will board airplanes this year to travel throughout the United States and the world. They depend on a robust and efficient national aviation system to keep the skies safe and traffic running smoothly. Congress recently passed a bill to reauthorize the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) that includes some significant provisions to create a better experience for the traveling public. I’m proud to have secured several provisions that will strengthen aviation safety, improve airport infrastructure, and streamline the use of next generation technologies.

The United States is currently facing a pilot shortage, which has resulted in reduced air service at airports across the country, especially smaller airports like those in rural states like South Dakota. My proposal to improve pilot training will help address this shortage by making pilot training more accessible and improving training quality.

My proposal, which is based on a recommendation from an independent board, would provide prospective pilots with a new pathway to meet their certification requirements that includes training in advanced simulators. For obvious reasons, standard flight training hours in a cockpit don’t involve deliberately flying into a storm or dealing with fires or engine failure. But simulator training offers prospective airline pilots the chance to experience those situations, and deal with them again and again until their response is fine-tuned. I’m glad this proposal was included in the final bill because it’s a win-win for addressing the pilot shortage and improving the quality of training airline pilots receive.

I was also able to secure provisions in this bill to support small airports as they expand flight service and upgrade their facilities. One such provision allows communities to receive multiple grants from a program designed for small community air services, which will make it easier to expand sorely needed air service in rural communities. Another gives small airports more flexibility to use certain federal funding for terminal improvements, which will enable rural airports to expand access even as construction costs rise. These elements of the bill will help ensure many of the airports that South Dakotans use can make upgrades in facilities and flight offerings that will benefit South Dakotans.

The FAA bill goes beyond just commercial flights and airplanes. This year’s bill also includes my bipartisan legislation related to drone flights. The Increasing Competitiveness for American Drones Act will streamline the approval process for beyond-visual-line-of-sight drone flights, which would clear the way for drones to be used for commercial transport of goods across the country. The wider deployment of drones have transformative potential for our economy, including innovative opportunities in transportation and agriculture that would benefits places like South Dakota. And it will ensure the United States remains competitive in a growing industry that is increasingly dominated by competitors like China.

This year’s FAA reauthorization bill takes important steps to keep America at the forefront of aviation. It keeps America’s skies safe, increases flight access, and ensures American innovation will continue soaring to new heights. I’m proud of the work that my colleagues and I put into this bill, and I look forward to continued American leadership in the skies.

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The Yankton Press and Dakotan has a front page, above the fold story on State Rep. Julie Auch’s unsafe gun handling:

(John Marquardt said..)”I certainly support the Second Amendment wholeheartedly,” he said. “The Second Amendment doesn’t mean you just pull out a firearm anywhere, let alone a crowded room. If you pull your weapon, it should be for recreational use or to protect yourself.”

and..

“I remembered when I took the gun safety course back in 1966 and the first lesson presented was to treat every gun as a loaded gun, even if empty, and never point at anything you don’t intend to shoot,” Hunhoff added. “Maybe we all need to take a refresher course on gun safety.”

You can read the entire story here.

Honestly.. Her opponent John Marquardt & Sen. Hunhoff had it right, because that was such a histrionic, slob thing to do in terms of setting an example on gun rights. Maybe the NRA should bump her down a grade or so, because she wasn’t doing herself or the second amendment any favors with her display.

Tony Venhuizen writes on his blog about yesterday’s loss of one of South Dakota’s legislative icons, former Republican House member Jan Nicolay:

The sad news comes that Jan Nicolay, a longtime Sioux Falls educator and state legislator, died this morning, aged 82.

As this blog wrote in 2018, Nicolay was a trailblazer for women in South Dakota politics. First elected to the State House in 1982, it was in 1987 that she became the first woman to co-chair the powerful Joint Appropriations Committee, serving as House chair for ten years from 1987-96. (For six of those years, from 1987-92, Nicolay co-chaired the committee with my grandfather, Senate Chair Henry A. Poppen.)

and..

Nicolay’s legacy in the State Legislature continues to this day. The Joint Appropriations Committee is a world apart from the rest of the legislature, and there is a long history of committee chairs training the next generation of leaders. Among Nicolay’s proteges was J. E. “Jim” Putnam of Armour, who would serve in both houses as appropriations chair or vice chair for sixteen consecutive years from 1995-2010. Putnam, in turn, mentored Jean Hunhoff of Yankton, who today serves as Senate Appropriations Chair and is the longest-serving woman in the history of the State Legislature, and Deb Peters of Hartford, who chaired the senate committee for four years. Nicolay, Hunhoff, and Peters are the only women to chair the appropriations committee in either house.

Read the entire story here.

Backing the Blue
By Rep. Dusty Johnson
May 17, 2024

BIG Update

It’s Police Week and the House passed several bills this week to show our support for law enforcement officers. Our men and women in blue sacrifice greatly to protect our communities, whether that is by the border, in Washington, D.C., or on reservations. Here’s a few bills I voted on to support those in blue:

• Detain and Deport Illegal Aliens Who Assault Cops Act to amend the Immigration and Nationality Act to include the assault of a law enforcement officer as grounds for detention and deportation.
• Improving Law Enforcement Officer Safety and Wellness Through Data Act to ensure we have the most accurate information on the impact attacks on our officers have on their mental health.
• A resolution to condemn violence against law enforcement officers and condemn calls to defund the police.
• A resolution to condemn President Biden’s border crisis and the dangers and burdens it has created for America’s law enforcement officers.

We must do more to support and protect our men and women in blue so we can keep our communities safe.

BIG Idea

Engineers play an outsized role in building and designing our infrastructure. I met with Doug and Nancy with the American Council of Engineering Companies of South Dakota, which has received the Outstanding Engineering Achievement Award for the third year in a row. We talked about the Tax Relief for American Families and Workers Act, which I voted for when it passed the House, the surface transportation bill, and the workforce needs of engineering firms.

BIG News

Last week, President Biden announced he will be withholding weapons to Israel, even though Congress recently passed an aid package a couple weeks ago to ensure our greatest ally in the Middle East can continue to defend itself against the terrorist group Hamas. This week, I voted to pass the Israel Security Assistance Support Act to condemn President Biden’s pause on sending resources to Israel and require the expeditious delivery of approved defense services. If resources are withheld and Israel is not able to remove Hamas, we risk continued turmoil in the Middle East. I will continue to support Israel in Congress. We can’t let Israel down in their time of need.

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Combatting the Cartel Crisis: at Home and at the Border
By: Governor Kristi Noem
May 17, 2024

“The State of South Dakota lacks criminal jurisdiction over Indian Country crimes; thus, in reality, the sole provider of law enforcement services to the Oglala Sioux Tribe is the federal government. We believe this federal neglect has resulted in the cartel moving on to our reservation, an increase in overdoses, and a proliferation of guns on our school properties.”

Those comments were made by the President of the Oglala Sioux Tribe, Frank Star Comes Out. And I agree with him 100%. The same man who said these words led a movement to banish me just two months later for speaking the same truth. Clearly, many tribal leaders would rather play politics to try and hurt me, rather than work with me to help their people succeed.

Banishing me does nothing to solve this problem or to help those who are suffering horrific tragedies.

Yesterday, I returned home from the dangerous, deadly warzone at our nation’s Southern Border. South Dakota National Guard soldiers have helped the Texas National Guard construct miles of border wall in 100-degree weather to keep the American people safe – and keep cartel-driven drugs and human trafficking out of our great country.

These brave soldiers represent the sixth deployment of South Dakota National Guard troops to defend our border, and some might wonder why a small state that’s closer to Canada than Texas would care at all. The answer is quite simple: Joe Biden and Kamala Harris’s radical open border policies have failed the American people and turned even South Dakota into a border state.

The cartels’ criminal activity has made all of our communities dangerous, especially tribal reservations where I have no jurisdiction. These cartels are working with gangs throughout the U.S. – like the Bandidos and their local affiliates the Ghost Dancers – to poison our people and to traffic women and children into sex slavery.

In fact, the cartels know it’s easy to supply drugs on tribal reservations with near impunity. According to President Jeffrey Stiffarm of the Fort Belknap Indian Community, “We don’t have criminal jurisdiction over any of these people that bring in these drugs, over non [tribal] members – even cartel members… so our hands are tied.”

State law enforcement has not been welcomed onto tribal reservations to help – and we have respected tribal sovereignty. The federal government has so badly failed at the most basic functions of public safety (both at the border and on our reservations) that the tribes are suing the Biden Administration for shirking their treaty obligations.

The presence of the drug cartels and their affiliates on tribal reservations across the nation is not up for debate – it is established fact. And it is not a unique problem to South Dakota. Even Democrat Senator Jon Tester from Montana recently said in a briefing before the Senate Indian Affairs Committee, “We’ve got cartels in Indian country. We’ve got a lot of bad shit going on.”

Stiffarm also testified that his tribe and their neighbors are “fighting a losing battle” against the drug cartels. But the most powerful moment of his testimony came when he said that one of his peers declined to testify because he had received death threats from the cartel.

Think about that. A Native American leader decided not to testify before his own Congress because of death threats from a foreign criminal element.

I have repeatedly reached out to South Dakota’s nine Native American tribes and offered what help I can to improve their public safety. On some issues, we’ve succeeded – recently launching a first-of-its-kind law enforcement training focused on tribal law enforcement officers alongside our Attorney General. And my state agencies actively work with our tribes on thousands of needs affecting almost every aspect of their lives, from child welfare to emergency response, from tax collection agreements to upgrading their ambulance services.

Tribal residents see my actions and recognize my heart and the truth. One caller to my office, a woman from the Oglala Sioux Tribe, told me that there is tremendous corruption amongst the tribal council, and that some of the tribal council members themselves personally benefit from the cartel being there. She stated that if tribal members call this out, they are “blackballed” and will be prohibited from working anyplace on the reservation.

We have received hundreds of calls and emails in recent weeks like that one with similar disturbing messages. The truth always comes out.

I will work every day to protect our children in every community from the danger of drugs, fight to protect our women from rape and trafficking, and help bring safety and peace to these communities.

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From facebook: