Category: Uncategorized

From my mailbox:

RELEASE DATE: July 17th, 2023

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

After eight months of coordination and a legislative session, term limits may be finally heading towards the general election ballot.  The Secretary of State has approved the text, petition, and Attorney General’s explanation to begin circulating petitions for the initiated amendment.

Current law allows legislators to serve four consecutive terms, which means they may serve indefinitely (without limit) as long as there is a break or a switch between chambers.  The proposed amendment would limit legislators to eight years in each chamber or a total of 16 years.  State Senator Brent “B.R.” Hoffman said he initiated the effort at the request of his constituents and is confident it will pass if they can get the petition signatures required.  “South Dakotans support term limits by large margins across nearly every demographic group, and I’m confident voters will approve term limits at the ballot box because they always have previously,” he said.  Voters first passed (64-36) the provision with the consecutive language in 1992.  In 2008, voters overwhelmingly defeated (76-24) a resolution from the state legislature to remove limits.

Despite the public support for term limits, Senator Hoffman acknowledged the requirement to gather more than 35,000 petition signatures is a daunting challenge and there will be organized opposition.  But he also noted that South Dakotans for Term Limits is a volunteer-led effort, and they’re putting together a 35-district team of veterans, activists and both former and current elected officials to help lead the effort.  Brad Lindwurm of Sioux Falls is a member of that team, and he added, “Term limits encourage new ideas and accountability while discouraging elitism and politics as usual.  It’s also consistent with our state motto and the constitution, and I’m proud to support this effort.”

If South Dakotans for Term Limits submits the petitions, the amendment would be on the general election ballot in November 2024.  According to Senator Hoffman, they also plan to organize debates in host districts and at county political events as part of a “long term strategy” to engage citizens and improve representative government.

Received a press release early this AM (which I’ll share shortly) on the effort to expand term limits, and further preclude competent people from running for the State Legislature. It noted in part:

…Brad Lindwurm of Sioux Falls is a member of that team, and he added, “Term limits encourage new ideas and accountability while discouraging elitism and politics as usual.  It’s also consistent with our state motto and the constitution, and I’m proud to support this effort.”

Hadn’t heard much activity from Lindwurm, a former candidate for office, so sent a couple of notes out, did a quick Google search. And came up with something a little more interesting:

Now here’s something in this announcement you won’t catch right away. He’s running for State House.. but in what district?

When he originally ran in the primary in 2020, Lindwurm was in District 14. But since re-districting, he’s been registered to vote in District 10.  With the D10 House seats currently held by Democrats Erin Healy and Kameron Nelson, it might make sense for the hard-right Lindwurm to challenge in that District. Focused as he is on the culture wars, there’s a well defined difference between his opinions and those of the present House members, as evidenced by Lindwurm’s declarations on his campaign page:

BUT.. despite his ideological differences with his current representatives, I’m hearing he may not try to establish his beach head in D10, and may be looking to pull a “Cole Heisey” and move elsewhere, referring to the District shopping that the former Minnehaha County candidate was doing after re-districting in 2021 to find his best opportunity to run in 2022.

Seriously, I didn’t come up with that myself, but that was the slang term used by a Minnehaha County politico. But it is funny and it fits.

Lindwurm is going to have all sorts of other challenges in running wherever he lands (I’ll save that post for another day), but potentially not knowing who your neighbors are going to be for purposes of representing them in Pierre might be problematic if you haven’t figured that out by the time you launch your campaign.

Prioritizing South Dakota in the Farm Bill
BySen. John Thune

Farmers and ranchers face a lot of uncertainty in their profession – few jobs are subject to markets and weather like agriculture. That’s why farmers and ranchers depend on the resources available to them through the farm bill. Agriculture is the lifeblood of South Dakota, and as a member of the Senate Agriculture Committee, South Dakota’s farmers and ranchers are always a top priority of mine.

It’s no overstatement that work on the next farm bill begins almost as soon as the last one is signed into law. For each of the four farm bills I’ve helped craft, that process begins and ends with farmers and ranchers in South Dakota. I’ve held roundtables with producers throughout South Dakota, and the input I receive from them is invaluable. As Congress continues to draft the next farm bill, I’m working to ensure that South Dakota’s priorities are reflected in the final bill.

One of the things that farmers and ranchers have made clear is the critical role of the farm safety net. Crop insurance is the cornerstone of the farm safety net, and I’m working to maintain and strengthen it in the next farm bill. Producers also depend on the Agriculture Risk Coverage and Price Loss Coverage programs to help offset losses when the price of agriculture products drop. But payments from these programs are not always sufficient to cover producers’ losses, especially amid high inflation. I’m working to ensure the farm safety net is strong and sufficient to address the needs of farmers and ranchers.

I’m also working to secure improvements to the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) in this year’s bill. CRP plays an important role in improving soil health and water quality, as well as providing wildlife habitat, but the program’s current structure limits potential forage benefits for producers. Among other improvements, I’m working to make the program a more working lands-oriented option for producers and landowners through greater haying and grazing flexibilities.

Another priority is addressing some of the challenges livestock producers have faced in getting their products to Americans’ tables. Early pandemic closures of some meat processing plants led to bottlenecks in processing livestock and empty cases at the grocery store. It became clear that producers need more processing options, and I’m working to include my Strengthening Local Processing Act in this year’s farm bill to help smaller processors expand.

And I’m also working to advance my bill to reinstate mandatory country of origin labeling for beef. Our current labeling system, which allows beef that is only finished in the United States to be labeled “Product of the U.S.A.,” is unfair to livestock producers and misleading to consumers. I’ll continue working to ensure consumers can be confident that any beef labeled “Product of the U.S.A.” really came from American cattle producers.

Producing the food that fills Americans’ dinner tables is no easy task. Farmers and ranchers work hard every day, overcome weather conditions, and face uncertain markets. The farm bill provides certainty that the programs many producers depend on will be there for them. Farmers and ranchers’ priorities are my priorities, and I will keep working hard to advance the next farm bill.

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A Focus on Military Readiness
By Rep. Dusty Johnson
July 14, 2023

Our nation’s military is our first line of defense. They protect us in ways we don’t know and can’t see. Their round-the-clock monitoring of our adversaries such as China and Russia, boots-on-the-ground fighting, and cyber warfare protection deserve our utmost gratitude so we can live freely. This week, House Republicans secured major wins in the House-passed NDAA to give our military the resources necessary to do their jobs.

In recent years, we’ve seen a political ideology pushed on the military from COVID-19 to abortion. I want to be clear – I will always prioritize the mission of military readiness over partisan politics.

The annual defense bill:

• Gives servicemembers the largest pay raise in over 20 years.
• Counters the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).
• Authorizes funds for Ellsworth construction projects and B-21 procurement.
• Bans funding for distractions to military readiness, like critical race theory and drag shows.
• Prohibits taxpayer dollars to be used in allowing military members access to abortion services.
• Funds the National Guard’s southern border deployment account.

One of the provisions in the bill is an amendment I offered to prohibit China’s spying on American exports and ocean shipments. China is our biggest threat. I’m glad the defense bill is packed with policies to counter CCP aggression and strengthen partnerships with our allies in the Pacific region.

Taxpayer dollars invested in the Department of Defense are being spent efficiently to keep you safe, deter our adversaries, and maintain our technological advantage. In fact, we cut $40 billion worth of programs that weren’t meeting high enough standards and reallocated those dollars to their best possible uses.

The House of Representatives passed the defense bill today, and now it heads to the Senate. I’m proud of the work House Republicans have done to ensure America’s military remains the best of the best.

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Too Close to Home: Combating the Prescription Drug Shortage
By: Governor Kristi Noem
July 14, 2023

“Kristi, he’s turning blue!”

Those were the words of my mom when my son, Booker, was just four years old. I was helping out with the annual picnic at our church when she came racing over to me saying she was taking him to the hospital. Booker had breathing problems ever since he was born, but this time my son was quite literally turning blue because he could not breathe. Ten minutes later, we had him checked into the hospital receiving life-saving medication.

Throughout much of Booker’s childhood, he relied on the prescription drug Albuterol on almost a daily basis. Without it, he wouldn’t have been able to breathe. I can only imagine how helpless I would have felt if I couldn’t get my son the medication he so desperately needed – but that’s exactly what so many parents are experiencing right now.

The entire country is facing a shortage of essential prescription drugs. Even Amoxicillin – the most used antibiotic in the country – has face widespread shortages with no good explanation for why.

Families in South Dakota are being hit hard. Doctors, pharmacists, and other healthcare professionals are having to tell patients that they don’t have the medicine they need. Nobody should have to experience that kind of worry, especially not in the United States of America.

What’s worse, these shortages are being driven by nations that do not have America’s best interest at heart. China and India have taken control of more than 70% of generic drug manufacturing. As I have said many times before, when another country controls our critical resources, they will control us.

In the past, when China threatened our way of life, South Dakota stood up. We will do so again.

We’re taking action to combat this nationwide shortage of prescription drugs. The South Dakota Department of Health manages an inventory of medications to stockpile them in case of key shortages. We are expanding this medical cache to five additional cities across the state. We’re also diversifying the types of medications that are stored.

Expanding this medical cache will help us to be prepared for the colder months when respiratory illnesses become far more common. We’re doing everything that we can as a state to address this challenge, but Washington, D.C. needs to step up.

I have urged Congress and the FDA to take swift action in the following areas:

• Increase transparency in the supply chain;
• Increase diversity in manufacturing;
• Create a more favorable regulatory environment to boost U.S. manufacturing; and
• Allow waivers so that we can purchase medicine from countries like Canada.

South Dakota can act – and believe me, we are – but we can’t fix this on our own. We need decisive action from Congress and the FDA. It’s time for them to provide long-term policy solutions that will address the prescription drug shortage in America.

I’m grateful that we were able to treat Booker’s breathing problems efficiently and effectively. And now, seeing what so many of our families are going through, I know how lucky we truly were. Mothers should never have to worry about whether or not the life-saving medication their child needs will be available.

This is a crisis that hits too close to home for us to ignore. Together with Congress and the FDA, South Dakota will keep on combatting the prescription drug shortage.

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Assistant House Majority leader, Taylor Rehfeldt, has announced that she is a mommy again.

The Rehfeldt’s announced today that “Little miss Tallie Rae Rehfeldt met us at 8:47pm July 13th, 2023! She weighed 6lbs 8oz. 19″ long!
Baby is doing great and her brother and sister were very excited to meet her!”

According to the picture I stole off of Facebook, it looks like the entire family is overwhelmed with happiness at the event.

Congratulations to Representative Rehfeldt from the readers of SDWC!

From my mailbox comes an announcement that the SDGOP sent out this afternoon:

From: Chairman John Wiik
Date: Thu, Jul 13, 2023, 4:49 PM
Subject: IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT: SDGOP State Central Committee Meeting

So what does he have up his sleeve? Stay tuned.

This is not exactly the story I expected to read this morning.

According to the Secretary of State’s campaign finance website, Ravnsborg recently formed a new state political action committee (PAC) he’s calling “$99 for Freedom.”

And..

No other paperwork has been filed with the Secretary of State’s office for Ravnsborg’s PAC, but the primary interest of the committee provided by Ravnsborg was to “elect conservative candidates.”

Read the entire story here (subscription required).

Apparently he created this PAC back in February, and people are only now noticing. It will be interesting to see how much he raises to influence South Dakota elections.

While I’m out in the hills for a work conference, for the seat that SDGOP Chair John Wiik is termed out from running again in 2024, I’m hearing through the grapevine that State Rep. Steph Sauder will be entering that contest.

Sauder’s first run at the office was in 2022, where she was the top vote recipient in a 4 way primary.

Interestingly, it could also set up the District 4 Senate seat for a primary election in 2024. As fellow State Representative Fred Deutsch is termed out of seeking another term in the house of representatives.

(correction.. Fred is not termed until 2026)

Stay tuned.

Nearly 250 Million Impressions on Freedom Works Here Ads

 PIERRE, S.D. – Nearly 250 million people have viewed Governor Noem’s “Freedom Works Here” national workforce recruitment ads. Hundreds of applicants who have progressed through the process to move to South Dakota were sent a “Freedom Works Here” South Dakota license plate.

“The continued success of this workforce campaign has been so encouraging,” said Governor Noem. “The state that has the workers will be the state that wins the economic race. These ad views are turning into inquiries, and this license plate will help seal the deal to bring these families to South Dakota.”

2,483 people have applied to find career opportunities in South Dakota. The most applications have come from California (388), Texas (197), Florida (185), New York (107), and Arizona (96). And with 85 applications coming from our own state, the Freedom Works Here campaign is even helping South Dakotans find new jobs. A map showing where applications are from can be found here.

The ad campaign has been more successful in less than a month that any other workforce recruitment campaign in South Dakota history. Thousands of calls have already been made to these applicants to get them plugged in to career opportunities here in South Dakota.

If your South Dakota business has open jobs, find future talent here.

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