Making an Impact for South Dakota
by State Senator Casey Crabtree
MADISON–It was the second week of the Legislative Session and the Senate was firing on all cylinders. I’m focused on policies that make communities safer and make our economy strong. This week we worked on bills related to health care, ethanol, public safety, and education.
On Thursday, the Senate Commerce and Energy Committee approved my plan to incentivize gas stations to sell E15 to consumers. By encouraging gas stations to carry E15 at their pumps we can keep our homegrown fuels closer to home and closer to consumers which will increase profits for corn growers and reduce fuel costs for consumers. The full Senate will consider this measure in Week 3.
Another victory this week was a bill to revise which newspapers can publish legal notices. After disagreement between newspapers like the Dakota Scout and the SD News Media Association last year, the groups came together over the summer and worked with lawmakers to reach an agreement. It goes to show that in South Dakota we are often able to work out our differences, and it also highlights that work never ends for legislators. We are continually working on a handful of issues throughout the year.
Legislators are here to tackle the toughest challenges, and only have 38 legislative days to do that. Legislators came prepared this year and the pace of the 2024 Session has been moving fast with thoughtful and diligent debate and consideration.
There were a lot of familiar faces in the Capitol this year. Folks from our tourism industry, Brookings community, SDSU, ABATE, 4H, FFA, and homeschool families all made their way to Pierre and met with lawmakers. Thank you everyone who visited! We also hosted the head of the Irish Senate, Mark Daly. He is on a tour of a handful of states and made South Dakota a priority visit.
Finally, on Thursday, the Legislature held our annual memorial service for former legislators that passed away during the past year. I’m grateful that we take time to remember these public servants who made an impact while on this Earth. It also reminds us of all of our mortality and the short window we have to make a positive impact for our neighbors, communities and state. Each day in the Capitol, your legislators are making the most of our time to make all of our lives better, just like the Lake County leaders we remembered this week–Jerry Lammers, Dick Belatti, and Bill Johnson. I’m thankful for their service and honored to carry on with the torch for our region.
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