Gubernatorial Challengers Jamie Smith & Steve Haugaard trying to talk education, after failing to use the opportunities to take any action in the past.

Today I saw a facebook post from Steve Haugaard clucking about the educational funding formula as part of his claims of “what he will do” as Governor.

And it was a reminder to me that both of the challengers who are looking for the job as Governor are talking a lot of smack about education.. but if you look at the track record of the bills they’ve been the prime sponsor of, that unwavering commitment to education only seems to bubble up at election time to quickly blow away in the wind.

First off, Democrat Candidate for Governor Jamie Smith.  In his announcement for Governor a couple weeks back, Smith noted:

Smith, who is also a Sioux Falls real estate agent, acknowledged that he faced an “uphill climb” as he enters a race in which Noem has already raised $11.8 million and carved out a nationwide profile among Republicans. He told The Associated Press he plans to make a broad appeal to “Democrats, independents and Republicans” and that he will portray Noem as setting her political ambitions above state interests.

and..

Smith, who also has worked as a teacher and wrestling coach, plans to focus on bolstering education resources. He said also he will pitch improvements to mental health resources and plans to reduce incarceration rates. He pointed to his record of “building bridges” in the Legislature to “solve real problems.”

Read that here.

And it’s not just now that Smith has made promises about education. This former teacher and wrestling coach has given lip service education over his legislative career. Here he is in the May 27, 2018 Argus Leader expressing his commitment to education:

And he said it again in October (10.28.18, Argus Leader)

How many bills did he introduce in 2019/2020 on education?    In 2019, Smith was the prime sponsor of NO bills in the House, although he did prime a couple of resolutions and to represent 2 Senate bills in the house. In 2020, Smith had three bills he brought. And they had nothing to do with education, despite it being claimed as his top reason for running.

In 2021, he brought two bills, one a vague hoghouse measure, and another one regarding call centers. Funny. Neither one had anything to do with education. And in 2022, while he brought a bill that used the word “school” this year, it has nothing to do with funding, and only tries to tie the hands of police investigating crimes.

And it doesn’t get any better as you go farther back.

So when Jamie Smith, a former teacher and coach says that education is a top priority.. well, if you look at his actual legislative record of bills he brought to the table? That claim falls pretty short.

Now, we move on to GOP Challenger Steve Haugaard’s smack talk on education:

So, State Representative (and Gubernatorial Candidate NOT endorsed by Donald Trump) Steve Haugaard makes the statement yesterday bemoaning that “teachers and schools in South Dakota cannot properly meet the needs of their students” and laments that the Education Funding Formula “has never adequately met the needs of schools across the state.”

So, when exactly has Steve been the prime sponsor of legislation that addresses his concerns over the education funding formula?  He’s been in in the legislature a lot of years. Because I seem to be having a lot of trouble locating it in the record.

Did he bring legislation in 2015 to right this wrong? Nope.

In 2016?  Not seeing it.

In 2017?  There must be an error in the system, because I’m not finding it.

In 2018?  ZERO education funding bills.

In 2019? There was a Haugaard hoghouse bill “to revise and enhance provisions regarding state education,” which had entirely no content. Which seems to be  pretty accurate at this point.

In 2020? Still no bills on the ed formula. Nunca. Nil.

In 2021?  No bills on education funding. But he did have a bill to require divorcing parents to take a parenting class. Because Steve thinks we need government to teach us how to parent. Thankfully that bill went down in flames, because no one needs another mandate from government.

How about this year?  Despite his lamentation yesterday, Steve Haugaard has no legislation currently introduced to address what he sees as problems with the education funding formula.

Which as you’re seeing, appears to be a common theme among the people who want the big chair.

Lots of lightning and thunder when they talk to the media or place ads.

But they just have never taken any initiative to make it rain.