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Gov. Noem Announces Vaccine Exemption Legislation

PIERRE, S.D. – Today, Governor Kristi Noem filed legislation to guarantee medical or religious exemptions from COVID-19 vaccines for private employees who are facing private employer vaccine mandates. The bill also recognizes natural immunity.

“The COVID vaccination should be a choice, and we should reject the efforts that we are seeing in other parts of the country to divide us into two classes: vaccinated and unvaccinated,” said Governor Kristi Noem. “Unvaccinated Americans are still Americans. We live in a free country – free to make our own decisions. In South Dakota, we will protect the liberty of our people to make the best decisions for themselves and their families.”

A medical exemption can be obtained with the signature of a South Dakota physician who signs a certificate attesting that the COVID-19 vaccination is not in the best medical interest of the employee.

A religious exemption may be claimed if the employee submits a signed statement to the employer stating:  “I, [insert person’s full name], dissent and object to receiving a COVID-19 vaccine on religious grounds, which includes moral or ethical beliefs or principles but not social, political, or economic philosophies or mere preference.”

A natural immunity exemption may be claimed with proof of a positive antibody test within the past six months.

Governor Noem previewed her vaccine legislation last year when she signed Executive Order 2021-14, protecting state employees from President Biden’s unconstitutional vaccine mandates. This legislation extends similar protections to private workers. Governor Noem also discussed the legislation in her 2022 State of the State Address.

You can read Governor Noem’s vaccine legislation here.

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This week, Drew Peterson of Salem has filed paperwork to form a Campaign Committee to run for District 19 House. And you may have heard of his campaign chairman:

Outgoing House Majority Leader Kent Peterson is chairing the campaign committee for Drew Peterson, his brother, after Kent is barred in seeking another term as a result of term limits.

In the growing ever more crowded D19 House race, Drew, a farmer and board member of SD Soybeans is currently facing Jessica Bahmuller, who was edged out in the last election after a recount and State Representative Caleb Finck, a veteran of three elections.  Also rumored to be eyeing the race is Michael Boyle, who lost in the 2018 House Primary against Kent Peterson and Kyle Schoenfish.

This might be one of the primary elections to watch, as I’m sure all will be battling hard.

Mark Willadsen to run for District 9 State Senate seat

Mark Willadsen announced his candidacy today for the South Dakota State Senate representing District 9.  Willadsen, a Republican, has owned and operated the Willadsen Insurance Agency for 39 years, and has a long history of civic service in the Sioux Falls community, including 14 years in the State House of Representatives.

“I’m excited for the opportunity to continue to serve the people of Minnehaha County in the South Dakota State Senate,” Willadsen noted. “State Senator Wayne Steinhauer, who is retiring from the Senate, has served the area for many years and I look forward to building on the work he’s done for our communities.”

Over the years, Willadsen has been a leading voice in Pierre for legislation to improve the lives of South Dakotans. One of the signature pieces of legislation he authored in recent years (HB 1091, 2016) was to change South Dakota insurance laws so ride share services such as UBER and LYFT could come to our state.  “This was a great example of business, insurers, regulators and South Dakotans coming together to keep pace with the changing times and to open up more opportunities in a changing economy.” Willadsen said.

Willadsen would be the first to admit that much of his legislation isn’t the kind you read about in newspapers, but it’s important to help the everyday lives of South Dakotans. “My legislative career has been about opening doors and fixing laws that don’t make much sense. I’m a big proponent in opening our state up for business, and making sure we keep pace with tomorrow’s economy.”

Willadsen is a graduate of Leadership Sioux Falls, past president of the Sioux Falls Morning Optimist club, the Southwest Optimist Club, Crime Stoppers, and the Sioux Falls Association of Insurance and Financial Advisors. Willadsen is a past chairman of the Sioux Falls Area Chamber of Commerce Tax Council.

Mark and his wife Suzanne have three children and twelve grandchildren.

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End of year state campaign finance reports for PAC’s and Statewide Candidates are due this week and are trickling in. There’s a few I’m particularly interested in, but while we wait for those, there’s plenty to whet our appetites.

This morning, I was particularly interested in what’s showing up for Constitutional candidates who are moving towards 2022.  Constitutional candidates often have a challenging time raising money, because they don’t always have a well-defined constituency.

Ryan Brunner leaves the Office of School & Public Lands with $1249.42 remaining in his campaign account. Brock Greenfield, running for Ryan Brunner’s office at School & Public Lands enters 2022 with $10,047 in the bank after $8182.55 in expenses last year. Fellow S&L candidate Jordan Youngberg’s report is still pending.

The Daugaard for Governor campaign might be in a retirement mode, but still commands $313,865 in his campaign account, but is slowly drawing it down with $45,000 in charitable contributions, and has handed out donations to officeholders including Dusty Johnson, Jack Kolbeck, Steve Barnett, and Will Mortenson. But, he’s also sent well wishes to  brand new legislative candidates Amber Arlint, Lisa Rave, Tyler Tordsen, and Jesse Fonkert.

Attorney General Jason Ravnsborg’s report is still out, as is Marty Jackley’s.

State Treasurer Josh Haeder comes into 2022 with $8122.27 banked for his campaign.

State Auditor Rich Sattgast currently has $855.31 in his campaign account.

Chris Nelson for PUC moves into the 2022 election season with a very healthy $72,853 in his campaign account.

And Secretary of State Steve Barnett has a tremendous $128,004.49 ready to roll for the campaign. This is very strong for a constitutional officer, who tend to struggle to raise money.   No report is due for Monae Johnson, also running for Secretary of State, who did not file her candidacy until after the first of the year.

From Punchbowl News this morning:

And you can read it yourself in Johnson’s latest report, where Johnson reports a great month with $378,553.44 in contributions, against a lean $68,846.00 in expenses, leaving him $2,022,889.99

Dusty YearEnd 2022 FEC Repot by Pat Powers on Scribd

From Sanford Health comes this weeks’ update on COVID hospitalizations:

The number of people hospitalized is remaining steady, but as compared to last week, it seems like the number of people who have been both vaccinated and boosted requiring hospitalization is at a higher percentage. But, in good news, we’re getting a few off of ventilators.

Still, well worth noting that you stand a better chance of not ending up in the ICU or on a ventilator if you’re vaccinated.  Follow the science.

From Twitter:

Our goal is to avoid war. Deterrence is the key. We need to send a strong message to Vladimir Putin that an invasion in Ukraine will cost him blood and treasure. Last night, I joined @ErinBurnett on @OutFrontCNN to discuss the situation. pic.twitter.com/6UDHAsxIWX

— Senator Mike Rounds (@SenatorRounds) January 25, 2022

I caught this interesting tidbit tonight.

Apparently, the Minnehaha-Lincoln Republican Women are hosting the entire group of US Senate wannabees at lunch later this week. I think we can refer to it – with a high level of confidence – as a farewell lunch.

Because in about 60 days, I think it’s a pretty sure bet that none of the three will be running.

As of last night, it looks like a Democrat has declared himself as a candidate for Governor.

Barry Hulse of Vermillion has filed paperwork to form a committee declaring himself as a “Democratic Candidate for Governor of South Dakota.”

His on-line footprint is a bit sparse at the moment, but he does have a Facebook page for his candidacy.  We’ll see if he gets any farther than that.

I’m kind of thinking that Jay Williams must have been busy.

Not a huge amount of activity today, but in District 7, former State Representative Doug Post has filed to run in the primary for the house. I show a 4-way race with Tim Reed, Mellissa Heermann, Matt Doyle, and Post.

District 20 State Rep Lance Koth informs me that his petitions “have been filed with SOS for District 20 Representative,” bringing the number of candidates up to two in the House.

And I’ve spoken with two today who will be new candidates running in previously unannounced primary elections, continuing the upward curve we’re on for activity.  But strangely, Democrats are nearly nonexistent to this point. We may actually end up with more Republican primary elections than general elections for legislative seats.

Keep watching for updates.