SD Bill Will Provide Clarity to Doctors on State’s Life of the Mother Provision
States Should Look to South Dakota in Dispelling Abortion Industry Misinformation

Pierre, S.D. – Rep. Taylor Rehfeldt has filed a bill to protect the lives of South Dakota pregnant women who face a medical emergency. The Medical Education Bill, HB 1224, allocates $100,000 for a training video and materials to educate doctors and hospitals throughout the state on the life of the mother provision in South Dakota’s life at conception law. Co-sponsors of the bill include Rep. Jon Hansen and Sen. Erin Tobin.

The materials will be established through the Department of Health and with input from the attorney general, medical professionals and legal experts. The video will cover the details of the state’s abortion law, the most common medical conditions that threaten the life or health of a pregnant woman, the standards of care for treating a pregnant woman in a medical emergency, and a practitioner’s ability to use reasonable medical judgment in all situations.

Kelsey Pritchard, state public affairs director for SBA Pro-Life America, thanked Rep. Taylor Rehfeldt for bringing the legislation:

“As a South Dakota mom, I’m grateful to Rep. Rehfeldt for sponsoring the Med Ed Bill so it is clear to doctors and those across this state that pregnant women can and should receive timely medical care in an emergency. The abortion industry has sown confusion on this fact to justify their political agenda for unlimited abortion, putting women’s lives in danger.

“The South Dakota Med Ed Bill is a model for how states around the country can protect the health of moms by addressing the confusion caused by the abortion industry through explaining how state laws as written allow doctors to act. This bill and any bill like it that protects women’s lives should have unanimous approval across the board by both Republicans and Democrats.”

Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America is a network of more than one million pro-life Americans nationwide, dedicated to ending abortion by electing national leaders and advocating for laws that save lives, with a special calling to promote pro-life women leaders. 

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What You Need to Know About Eye Surgery
HB 1099 would compromise safety for eye surgery in South Dakota.

On Thursday, Feb. 1, the South Dakota House Health and Human Services Committee will consider HB 1099, a bill that would reduce the training required to provide surgical eye care by adding laser and scalpel surgery to optometry’s scope of practice. It can be difficult to discern accurate information on this issue. Let’s set the record straight:

CLAIM #1: SD Ophthalmologists are “scaremongering” the public over eye surgery standards.

FACT #1: There are no shortcuts to surgical safety in eye care. In states where similar laws have been unfortunately enacted, patients have been severely hurt and visually impaired due to optometrists performing some of the same procedures as authorized in HB 1099. This is bigger than a piece of legislation. These are the safeguards for our families and communities. As Denise Hanisch, MD, President of the SD State Medical Association stated: “We cannot forget the patient as we debate who should be able to perform these surgeries. Our first priority must be to patients and their protection. This bill makes compromises regarding surgical safety.”

CLAIM #2: Optometrists are medical doctors and should be able to perform eye surgery.

FACT #2: Ophthalmologists and optometrists play critical roles in a patient’s eye care. Optometrists provide basic vision care through regular check-ups, diagnose proper prescriptive lenses, and treat certain eye diseases. But they are not medical doctors or trained surgeons. The American Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgery sent a letter to legislators explaining why this is problematic: “This dangerous legislation places South Dakotans at risk and threatens the high quality of eye care and surgical safety standards currently available to patients throughout the state.”

CLAIM #3: Optometrists are fully trained to perform the eye surgeries outlined in HB 1099.

FACT #3: Optometrists are not medical doctors or trained surgeons. Even in ostensibly straightforward procedures, eye tissues are extremely fragile, with narrow margins of safety. Surgical errors are challenging – if not impossible – to correct.

When it comes to the procedures outlined in the bill, optometrists’ “surgical training” consists of a 32-hour course containing lectures and practice on non-human models. This is shockingly low compared to the 15,000+ training hours ophthalmologists undergo in addition to 8-10 years of highly supervised medical and surgical training during medical school, internship, ophthalmology residency, and fellowship. Ophthalmologists complete medical school with a keen sense of judgment to ensure surgical therapies are offered only when necessary and are prepared to manage surgical complications if they arrive.

To note, 22 of the nation’s 24 optometry schools are in states where optometrists are not permitted to perform laser eye surgery, making it unrealistic at 91% of these programs for students to properly train in performing these procedures. This represents roughly 95% of U.S. optometry students. An optometrist who has completed the equivalent of a long weekend of training should never be permitted to perform laser surgery on someone’s eyes or inject anesthesia with a needle into someone’s eyelid to surgically treat patient’s eye or perform surgeries to treat skin conditions of the eyelid.

CLAIM #4: Expanding optometrists’ scope of practice will increase access for rural communities. HB 1099 proponents write: “If you live in a rural area, would it be better to be treated that day, or to need a referral to an ophthalmology clinic for an evaluation, and then a separate visit for the procedure?”

FACT #4: Medical research shows there is no significant increase in accessibility to eye care in states that allow optometrists to perform eye surgery. Living in a rural area must never be a prescription for unsafe eye surgery.

House Judiciary Committee Approves Two Attorney General’s Office Bills

PIERRE, S.D. – Two South Dakota Attorney General legislative bills were approved Wednesday by the State House Judiciary Committee.

*** Senate Bill 26 would clarify the membership of the five-member Open Meeting Commission to include Deputy State’s Attorneys. https://sdlegislature.gov/Session/Bill/24893

*** Senate Bill 27 would fix a statutory conflict concerning removal from the sex offender registry. https://sdlegislature.gov/Session/Bill/24894

“These two bills help improve the Open Meeting Commission and the sex offender registry,” said Attorney General Marty Jackley, who spoke in support of both bills. “We appreciate the continued support of legislators for public safety.”

Both bills now go to the full House. Since the bills already have been approved by the State Senate, if approved by the House, the bills would go to the Governor for final signature.

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Gov. Noem Signs Bills Prioritizing Tribal Relations into Law
Signs First Bills of Legislative Session

PIERRE, S.D. – Today, Governor Kristi Noem signed the first bills of the 2024 legislative session into law. The first two bills she signed into law prioritize tribal relations.

The first bill Governor Noem signed into law, SB 3, extends the length of time allowed for a tax agreement with an Indian tribe. And HB 1041 modifies the definition of public infrastructure to allow a federally recognized Indian tribe to be eligible for housing infrastructure grants and loans and to declare an emergency.

“Our state’s rich tribal history and culture are crucial to the fabric of South Dakota,” said Governor Noem. “With this legislation, we are prioritizing the relationships between the State and the tribes, and I hope these bills will help us to continue having conversations about how to work together for the betterment of all South Dakotans.”

Governor Noem also signed following 2 bills into law:

• SB 7 revises the water resources projects list; and,
• HB 1019 clarifies language regarding sales and use tax in certain statutes.

Governor Noem has signed 4 bills into law this legislative session.

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As the SDWC was founded in part with regards to making campaigns better, I thought I’d take the opportunity to drop some general information for candidates about what’s happening this year in the word of campaign materials, based on what I’m finding in my other role as owner of Dakota Campaign Store.  (Ignore my site being under construction. I’m in the middle of a complete website overhaul as I debate swapping platforms. Nearly all of my work is from word of mouth, so I’m lucky if I have time to even think about it).

The big takeaway for this election is that candidates should expect higher pricing on a couple of important items.

• Postage has bumped up (again), after minor increases during the last election cycle. Where in the last election, business rates were around .28 each, and then bumped up in July 2022 to be in the neighborhood of .30 each for postcards. Because of further increases in the year since, and an increase that went into effect on Jan 21 of this year, look for postage on pre-sorted business class postcards to be in the neighborhood of .375 per piece.  And that’s mailing into the Sioux Falls zone. If you’re out in the middle of the state, it might be slightly higher.
• Yard Signs are taking the biggest jump.   If you were printing full color yard signs before, you won’t notice much.  But for the rest doing 1 and 2 color signs, look for jumps of 25% in cost.

  Why the big increase? Traditional old-school screen printing of signs is on the way out, and in fact might already be extinct in South Dakota. The largest sign production house in the state that offered traditional screen printing on signs has been sold, and like many, the purchaser is forgoing offering that service.  Even if you know what you’re doing, traditional screen printing is messy, space intensive because you have to lay them out and let the ink evaporate, and it uses harsh solvents to get the ink to adhere to the plastic.  The new technology is to print the colors onto the plastic and instantly cure them with UV light with far less mess, cancer causing fumes, and space needed.  The downside is financing the massive printers, which are much more expensive than a reusable screen, some ink, and a person swiping that ink on top of a piece of coroplast. So, *sniff* inexpensive screen printed signs, we’ll miss you. 

What isn’t going up?

• Paper prices for postcards, brochures and palm cards seem to be stable. Not seeing a lot of price variance from last election. Maybe a little bump on shipping, but all-around I’m not seeing a large price difference. Thank goodness, because the postage rates make up for it.
• Steel is not in short supply, so yard sign stakes remain at the same pricing as 2022.  After the trade wars and steel embargoes made yard signs stakes a hot commodity and doubled their price during the last election cycle, supplies are back to being stable, and prices might have even softened slightly, especially on the heavy duty goal post stakes. Prices on stakes will vary greatly per vendor.
• Highway signs from 4×4’s to 4×8’s are about the same price as last election. Why? For the most part, those had long transitioned from being screen printed to being done on flatbed printers. So, if you’re a heavy user of highway signs, such as in rural areas, you can anticipate paying the same.

How does this impact your campaign budget?

It really depends on what you do in your race. The yard sign bump will affect those who campaign in cities the most, and the mail rates will affect heavy postcard campaigners.

Buying in larger quantities is a plus, as with yard signs the prices for low runs are such that it’s getting cost prohibitive to do a small run of say, 25 signs. Think 100 signs minimum when you’re budgeting in most races, as if you have a cost of $13-18 per yard sign sign with stake for 25 signs, you’re most of the way there for a larger order and the price breaks they provide. Expect most vendors to have price breaks at 25, 50, 100, 250, and 500, etc. depending on your vendor.

As always – and it’s never changed – candidates should be spending considerable time fundraising, as what you can raise directly affects what you can do. It also forces you to interact with the public seeking support of your campaign effort. And that’s kind of what campaigning is. If they believe in you enough to support your effort financially, they’re going to vote for you. And that’s the most important job that a candidate has – getting people to vote for you.

Stay tuned, and if you’re a South Dakota reader and need campaign materials, reach out to me here, and I’m happy to give you a quote.

Senator John Thune ended 2023 on a high note, according to his latest Federal Elections Commission report:

Friends of Thune YE 2023 by Pat Powers on Scribd

Raising $237,651.00, and transferring in $115,835.00 from authorized committees, Senator Thune’s final report of the year shows $726,959.96 in receipts, after interest.

Against this, the committee had operating expenditures and other disbursements of $367,609.33, leaving him with $17,795,642.29 cash on hand at the close of the year.

Not a bad position to be in.

Word is that ‘Congressional explorer’ Toby Doeden is speaking at the Brown County Republican lunch on Thursday this week.  The thought that comes to my mind is “why?” Why would he want to start addressing Republicans in South Dakota? Because as far as I can tell, the word Republican has never been important to him before.

If you look at his website or the materials he’s issued to date, he claims to be ‘conservative’ constantly, trying to pretend that the term means something to him. But he’s not once indicated any interest in representing South Dakota Republicans.  So why start now?

A couple of times, he’s thrown out the term RINO in reference to his opponent, trying to pretend he understands what it stands for. But.. Has he ever put his money where his mouth is, and actually supported the Republican Party?

Reviewing a number of sources, including the Federal Elections Commission, Political Money Line, and followthemoney.org, reviewing both State and Federal donations, the only donation towards Republican candidates or committees that you can find for Toby Doeden is a whopping $180 that he sent on the “Trump Save America Joint Fundraising Committee” on January 23^rd of 2023.  What, did Toby make a donation because he wanted a hat?

So, the answer to that question about supporting the GOP?  Appears to be no.

Let’s keep going.. Because there’s other places to check regarding Toby’s participation in the political process. Not every type of support is financial.  So asking the question, can we see how active in Republican politics Toby has been in the past?

Here’s where I stumbled across something particularly interesting.

According to records, I cannot find where Toby has ever voted in a Republican Primary.

He has .. well, mostly, voted in the general election.  I see in his voter history that he voted in the ‘04, ‘08, ’10, ’12, ’16, ’18, ‘20 & ‘22 general elections.  But nothing in a Republican primary.

If the voter history record is accurate, it appears that Toby Doeden has not voted in a Republican primary in the nearly 20 years’ time that I can find records for.

It looks like Toby doesn’t refer to himself as a Republican in his materials, hasn’t really supported the Republican Party or it’s candidates, and it doesn’t appear he votes in Republican primaries.  So why is he looking for face time in front of the Brown County Republicans now?

Of course, it’s because he wants something. As opposed to running as an independent or a Democrat, He wants to use the Republican Party.

Compared to the person Toby is running against, Dusty Johnson, Dusty has probably been kicking around the SDGOP for longer than I have, and I’ve got over 35 years in.  Active and identifying as a Republican since his Teenage Republican days, Dusty has been an active and visible part of the GOP ever since. Check that box off.

In terms of supporting the GOP statewide, he’s been doing that as a volunteer, staffer, serving in the Republican party, and in a hundred other roles, supporting local GOP groups and candidates in deed, helping to raise money, or just writing a check for the good of the party and/or it’s candidates.

During the last several campaigns, whether he has a race or not, Dusty has been on the ground himself, as well as insisting his volunteers support many of the legislative and local Republicans running. If he’s walking in a parade, they’re carrying other Republican signs too.  Another check box.

It also goes without saying that Dusty hasn’t missed voting in a primary or general election, but you knew that. Green check here.

Referring back to Toby Doeden speaking to the Brown County Republican group, when Toby is there he’s going to be asking for a lot of names. Even moreso if and when he gets outside of Aberdeen city limits.  Compared to when Dusty speaks to GOP groups across the state and knows most of the names of people in any given room.

If a candidate is going to go up and ask for support to represent the Republican party, I think it’s valid to ask whether this is going to be a one-sided relationship.  Because in this potential race, it looks like one of them has walked the walk with the Republican Party for more years than many can count.

The other one? Looks to be a Republican in name only, and it’s a pretty short and one-sided relationship, at that.

Gov. Noem to Address Joint Session of SD Legislature on Border Warzone

PIERRE, S.D. – Today, Governor Kristi Noem requested a joint session of the South Dakota Legislature to provide a briefing on the warzone at America’s Southern Border. House and Senate leadership quickly accepted the governor’s request. You can read the full letter here.

“I will address the joint session of the legislature on the current situation at the border and the potential South Dakota response,” wrote Governor Noem. “Because of the dire situation, it is pertinent that we have this conversation quickly.”

This joint session would make South Dakota the first state in the nation to take the rare step of calling a joint session to support Texas. The joint session will take place on Wednesday, January 31, 2024, at 2pm CT.

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POET and Summit Carbon Solutions Announce Carbon Capture Partnership
Partnership will incorporate 17 POET plants, capture 4.7 million metric tons of CO2 

AMES AND SIOUX FALLS (Monday, January 29) — In a major step forward for the future of agriculture and biofuels, POET and Summit Carbon Solutions (Summit) announced a groundbreaking partnership connecting the world’s largest biofuel producer with the world’s largest carbon capture and storage project. This collaboration brings together two entities—both founded upon creating new agricultural markets and supporting rural communities—to capture the value of the biogenic CO2 from the bioethanol production process.

The partnership strategically expands the carbon opportunity across the Midwest by incorporating POET’s 12 facilities in Iowa and five facilities in South Dakota into the Summit project. This addition will facilitate the capture, transportation, and permanent storage of 4.7 million metric tons of CO2 annually from the 17 POET bioprocessing plants.

“POET is excited to partner with Summit Carbon Solutions on this historic project,” said Jeff Broin, POET Founder and CEO. “As the world seeks low-carbon energy solutions, carbon capture ensures that ag-based biofuels will remain competitive for decades to come. This is a tremendous opportunity to bring value to farmers, bioethanol producers, and rural communities and counties in participating states, and I believe it will unleash even more opportunities for ag and bioprocessing in the future.”

“Today marks a historic day for American agriculture and biofuels,” said Bruce Rastetter, Founder and Executive Chairman of Summit Agricultural Group. “POET is the largest bioethanol producer in the world, and their partnership with Summit Carbon Solutions ensures that decarbonizing bioethanol will lead to exciting new market opportunities for producers, rural economies, and American energy security.”

“Our partnership with POET is creating new economic opportunities in agriculture,” said Lee Blank, CEO of Summit Carbon Solutions. “This initiative is aimed at enhancing the financial profitability of our farmers, contributing to higher land values, and ensuring a more prosperous future for farm families and communities. Our focus is on tangible benefits that directly support the backbone of our nation’s agricultural industry.”

The timeline for the addition of these plants is strategically planned. The plants in South Dakota will be included in the upcoming state application, ensuring a streamlined integration into Summit’s existing project framework. Meanwhile, for the plants in Iowa, separate applications will be filed, acknowledging the unique requirements and opportunities in each state. This structured approach allows Summit to efficiently expand our project scope while adhering to local regulations and needs.

About Summit Carbon Solutions

Summit Carbon Solutions is driving the future of agriculture by expanding economic opportunities for ethanol producers, strengthening the marketplace for Midwest-based farmers, and creating jobs. In developing the largest carbon capture and storage project in the world, the company seeks to connect industrial facilities via strategic infrastructure to store carbon dioxide safely and permanently in the Midwest United States. For more information, visit: www.SummitCarbonSolutions.com.

About POET

POET’s vision is to create a world in sync with nature. As the world’s largest producer of biofuel and a global leader in sustainable bioproducts, POET creates plant-based alternatives to fossil fuels that unleash the regenerative power of agriculture and cultivate opportunities for America’s farm families. Founded in 1987 and headquartered in Sioux Falls, POET operates 34 bioprocessing facilities across eight states and employs more than 2,400 team members. With a suite of bioproducts that includes high-quality animal feed, corn oil, green asphalt rejuvenator, purified alcohol, and renewable CO2, POET nurtures an unceasing commitment to innovation and advances powerful, practical solutions to some of the world’s most pressing challenges. Today, POET holds more than 100 patents worldwide and continues to break new ground in biotechnology, yielding lower-carbon, more efficient renewable energy and bioproducts.

A rap song with a conservative message is at the top of the charts this weekend, having hit #1 on iTunes. As noted in The Hill:

Rapper Nicki Minaj congratulated conservative commentator Ben Shapiro on his featured rap song with Tom MacDonald dubbed “Facts,” which reached the number-one spot on the U.S. iTunes chart. 

and..

The song by Shapiro and MacDonald, whom Rolling Stone characterized as a “far-right troll rapper,” also reached the number-one spot on the hip-hop/rap chart.

“I just want to thank God, @IAMTOMMACDONALD, and my parents, who paid for 15 years of classical violin lessons so I could become the #1 rapper in America,” Shapiro wrote on X on Friday in celebration.

Read the entire story here.