Category: Uncategorized

Gov. Noem Signs Bills into Law 

PIERRE, S.D. – Yesterday, Governor Kristi Noem signed the following seven bills into law:

• SB 188 modifies the time before which rural access infrastructure grant moneys must be expended or obligated;
• HB 1085 specifies the venue of appeal to circuit court for persons committed to a mental health facility;
• HB 1088 removes the option for a court services officer to prepare documentation in an adoption proceeding;
• HB 1117 repeals a requirement for the filing of an annual report regarding prearranged funeral trust contracts;
• HB 1126 permits an alternative delivery method for issuance of a policy by an insurer;
• HB 1129 repeals the session law authorizing the Board of Regents to contract for the design and construction of a new dairy research and extension farm on the campus of South Dakota State University, and to declare an emergency; and,
• HB 1135 expands definitions pertaining to the purchasing of grain.

Governor Noem has signed 108 bills into law this legislative session.

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Pull over! No, it’s a cardigan. But thanks for noticing.

Today is maroon cardigan day in the South Dakota State Senate in honor of the traditional garb of South Dakota President Pro Tempore and long time legislative leader Lee Schoenbeck of Watertown who is in his last days of what he says is his final legislative session.

And one of the legislators was nice enough to send me video to share.

The session isn’t going to be the same without Lee. Love him or hate him, Senator Lee Schoenbeck has been a driving force behind the Senate and how they’ve led the conversation over the last 4 years.

I saw this, and my initial reaction was “oh, god.”

Rep. Phil Jensen, who once opined that people should be able to ban people of color from their business, introduced a commemoration in the South Dakota Legislature to honor Aunt Jemina today.

The commemoration of the woman who portrayed the pancake icon and died over 100 years ago actually has nothing to do with South Dakota if you read the language of the measure, which Senator Tom Pischke of Dell Rapids also signed on for as co-sponsor.

It is just another odd & bizarre action from Jensen, who seems to have a predilection for racially tinged statements.

In the run up to the Senate Bill 201 debate today, there’s been a bit of interesting traffic on social media from county Republican organizations.

Interesting, as GOP breakaway groups are supporting attacks on the compromise legislation that was created by the House and Senate Republican majority leaders:

I know I’m likely missing a few, but these are party groups that are organized under the umbrella of the South Dakota Republican Party. At the same time the Republican party itself has adopted no position on Senate Bill 201, much less on carbon capture pipelines.

No Central Committee resolution. No statement of opposition by the executive board. No nothing. Yet, here are these party county groups ignoring the will of the GOP as a whole and directly advocating for the defeat of these bills being led by Republicans.

It’s actually kind of crazy in light of the press release about the recent carbon pipeline survey I posted earlier today which notes:

The South Dakota Ag Alliance released poll results showing a majority (55%) of Republican primary voters support carbon capture pipelines when landowners are given further protections and additional compensation.

and

Twenty-two percent said no and twenty-three percent were undecided.

https://dakotawarcollege.com/sd-ag-alliance-poll-shows-strong-support-for-carbon-pipelines-with-landowner-protections-and-additional-compensation/

So, only 22% of Republicans are actually against the concept. Yet some GOP groups are screaming for the compromise measure’s defeat?

One county, Butte County, has their people posting to other county GOP organizations to make it appear as those other counties oppose the pipeline, when that couldn’t be farther from the truth, as this fringe party organization group hundreds of miles away, sows discontent in the other GOP county groups.

Leaving one to wonder What on earth are they doing? Because they aren’t helping the Republican cause.

As one long-time carrier of water for the elephant noted to me today, “County parties should not be taking positions on such major policies, unless the state party passes a resolution. This will make fundraising for the party even more difficult. They will destroy our party for all at every level. Even good counties will suffer because of guilt by association.“

And that’s the problem. The small minority and loud populists who are doing this stuff and trying to push a message they shouldn’t be pushing in the first place don’t care if they choke the Republican party off from long-time supporters and donors who look at this kind of thing and just tap out.

It doesn’t matter to them that they have already damaged the GOP’s ability to raise money from a broad spectrum of supporters for the purpose of helping to win elections. They want to plain put a stake in the party’s heart and alienate anyone who has supported the policy in the past who doesn’t meet their test of ideological purity.

Those former supporters & donors they’ve turned off? They’ve already been finding their way to political action committees to support candidates they align with ideologically. And if anyone is yet still giving, they’ll stop giving GOP groups the time of day when they come around with hat in hand to try to get them put an ad in their annual dinner program, much less support them broadly.

I already know a number of them who take a hard pass on that. This will just accelerate the exodus.

And as these strident attacks drive people away, these runaway groups just don’t care. And it won’t matter.

That is, until they find themselves losing elections and find themselves asking “what happened?”

From facebook, District 30 Senate Candidate Amber Hulse continues to pick up endorsements in her primary against Julie Frye-Mueller, with both the Custer County Sheriff and the Mayor of Custer signing on:

Senate Bill 201, which was designed by House & Senate Republican leadership as a compromise measure on the CO2 pipeline issue which has roiled state politics over the last year, as opponents of ethanol companies taking steps to stay competitive in the current economy have fought their efforts and tried to kill the various pipeline projects.

It’s a strong showing for House Majority Leader Will Mortenson as one of the measure’s chief architects in an attempt to bridge the gap between landowners and pipeline companies.

Now the bill will head back to the Senate for concurrence with the amendments that were done in House Commerce and Energy; which will either trigger the measure going to conference committee, or possibly to the Governor for her action.

Watch for this vote to also serve as a potential flashpoint in the upcoming primary elections, depending where people ended up on the bills, and how strongly ethanol supporters and pipeline opponents get involved and continue to try to keep fires stoked up.

Stay tuned. It still has a ways to go, but this was one of the larger hurdles it had to cross.

Well, that took far longer than it should have.

In Senate committee this morning, the State Affairs committee killed House Bill 1239, a bill that would have made it an actual crime – a class 2 misdemeanor – for an organization or political party to put check marks by their candidate on a postcard, and not include everyone’s name, because someone could mistake the postcard for a giant ballot-sized sheet of paper.   Seriously:

…in a motion to move the bill to the 41st Day, a non-existent legislative day, Sen. Lee Schoenbeck, R-Watertown, said the intent of the bill was to intimidate South Dakotans from going to the voting booth.

“If you ever needed evidence that [Vladimir] Putin has friends in America, it would be when people introduce bills to try and intimidate people who may not approve of them in office,” he said.

and..

Soye assured senators that the bill wouldn’t apply to those kinds of postcards. It applies only “if you’re sending out something that purports to be an official sample ballot.”

Read the entire story here.

And the Senator is completely right. And frankly this silliness should have been killed in the House.  I wasn’t there for the testimony, but if one of the examples used was a GOP card that shows a mockup of a ballot, I was probably the one who designed it.  And nothing said “official sample ballot,” but would have said “sample ballot,” as political parties have done for OVER A CENTURY.

Should using the words “sample ballot” on a postcard printed on cardstock warrant being charged with a crime and going to jail?  OF COURSE NOT.  This bill was really just offensive, and a massive leap of overreaching government authority, as well as an effort on the part of sponsors to squelch speech.

House Bill 1239 was literally the “boo hoo, my name isn’t on that” bill, and should have not gotten out of House committee, much less made it to the Senate.

Instead of taking it to the legislature, proponents could have simply sent their own card that said “darken the little circle for me.” But, they elected not to, and instead demanded that it be made a crime.

Thankfully, the Senate committee were the adults in the room, and killed it unanimously.  As was deserved.

From Facebook:

Hot off the press from the hill:

Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (Ky.) is stepping down from his leadership post in November, ending his history-setting tenure as longest serving Senate party leader.

McConnell, who turned 82 this month, is announcing the decision in a speech on the Senate floor.

Read the story here.

And from Reuters, there is every indication that the current #2 in the US Senate, South Dakota’s Senator John Thune will be running for the top spot.

Senators John Thune the No. 2 Senate Republican, and John Cornyn were expected to vie for the top party job. It was unclear what other senators might jump into the race.

Read that here.

Good for Senator Thune! Looking forward to his steady and well-seasoned service for South Dakota helping the entire Senate.