Good Gosh, the Democrats are spending it faster than it can come in! Last month, they took in $24,270.18, and spent $20,895.95, leaving $14,736.77 cash on hand. This month? It was far, far worse.

Sddp March Fec

Starting at that $14,376.77 figure, they added only $16,231.69 to the total, down a full $8000 from the month before. But that didn’t slow down their spending, as it was up over the previous month’s burn rate by around $2500 – at $23,205.60, leaving them an anemic $7762 cash on hand.

In other words, their cash is so far in the dumps going into a major election cycle, they’re in Jay Williams territory.

No wonder South Dakota Democrats are bemoaning money in politics. They don’t have any!

Not that it’s keeping them warm at night.

Jim Hood, who has served for many session in Pierre as a Lobbyist, has announced his retirement as a lobbyist as recently noted by Bob Mercer.  But before he was a lobbyist, Jim was a State Representative and served as Speaker of the House of Representatives.

It’s noteworthy to me, as back before that, Representative Hood was the chair of the Judiciary Committee, which I where I met him as I was assigned as his legislative Intern for the 1988 Legislative session.

What can I tell you about my memories of my brief time working with him? I can honestly say that former Representative Hood is as genuine a person as you’d ever meet. A gentlemen from a time when politics were a bit more convivial than they seem to be in this day and age where elbows seem to be sharper, and people can be a bit more grouchy.  He acted with fairness, and treated everyone the same, whether they were a captain of industry, or an intern as green as the grass on the lawn.

Congratulations on your retirement Jim. And best wishes for a happy one, very much deserved.

Rounds Issues Statement Following Senate Passage of Bipartisan Energy Bill

Includes his easement disclosure amendment

 WASHINGTON—U.S. Senator Mike Rounds (R-S.D.), a member of the Senate Environment and Public Works (EPW) Committee, today issued the following statement on the Senate’s passage of the bipartisan Energy Policy Modernization Act, which included his easement disclosure amendment. The bill passed by a vote of 85-12.

“For the first time in nearly a decade, the Senate passed legislation to modernize and update our nation’s energy policies,” said Rounds. “The bipartisan bill will increase energy security and help keep energy costs low for South Dakota families.”

“Additionally, I’m pleased the bill includes my amendment to make sure landowners are aware of all the options available to them when choosing to place their land in a conservation easement. South Dakota’s landowners deserve to know that perpetual conservation easements aren’t their only option. My amendment will increase awareness for shorter, termed easements and result in greater access and conservation of land.”

Rounds’ amendment contains language to establish a federal education program through the U.S. Department of the Interior to allow landowners to learn all of the federal conservation options available to them when choosing to restrict future use of their land through a federal easement. The agency will be required to make landowners aware of this education program when approaching them about participating in a conservation program.

Additionally, the Black Hills National Cemetery Boundary Expansion Act, introduced by Rounds and Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.), was included as part of an amendment in the Energy Policy Modernization Act. It will facilitate a permanent land transfer of approximately 200 acres of Bureau of Land Management land to expand the Black Hills National Cemetery.

The bipartisan Brownfields Utilization, Investment and Local Development (BUILD) Act, also cosponsored by Rounds, was included in the Energy Policy Modernization Act. This legislation will provide funding for technical assistance grants to small communities and rural areas, expand the scope of eligible grant recipients to include non-profit community groups, and authorize funding for multi-purpose grants to tackle more complex sites.

Summary of Key Provisions of the Energy Policy Modernization Act

Efficiency – Energy efficiency provides significant benefits for consumers, the economy and the environment. The provisions in this title include agreements on everything from longer-term utility energy service contracts to the reauthorization of the weatherization and state energy programs. The efficiency of our homes, buildings and manufacturing facilities all stand to increase as a result of it.

Infrastructure – We depend on electrical transmission lines and other infrastructure to transport energy from where it is produced to where it is used. This title will help modernize our electrical grid, enhance cybersecurity safeguards, maintain the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, provide a streamlined process for natural gas export projects and solidify a qualified, well-trained workforce.

Supply – To provide for an energy supply that is increasingly abundant, affordable, clean, diverse and secure, this title focuses on the development of renewable energy, traditional resources, and non-fuel minerals alike. The responsible development of American resources – including hydropower geothermal, bioenergy and rare earth elements – will strengthen our economy, competitiveness and security for decades to come.

Accountability – Practical reforms are needed to advance innovation, protect electric reliability and assure proper stewardship of taxpayer dollars. Among the provisions in this title are the reauthorization of certain energy-related components of the America COMPETES Act, better interagency coordination of energy/water initiatives, and the repeal of numerous provisions within the U.S. Code that are outdated or redundant.

Conservation Reauthorization – The Committee is also responsible for oversight and stewardship of our public lands. The bipartisan legislation permanently reauthorizes the Land and Water Conservation Fund in a way that balances land acquisition with other conservation programs important to states and permanently reauthorizes the Historic Preservation Fund, both set to expire this fall. It also creates a new National Park Maintenance and Revitalization Fund, to address the maintenance backlog at some of our nation’s most treasured public places.

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Senate Passes Bipartisan Energy Bill, Thune Amendment to Aid Sanford Underground Research Facility

South Dakota is Proud to be Part of the Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment

WASHINGTON — U.S. Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.) today issued the following statement after the Senate passed the bipartisan Energy Policy Modernization Act (S. 2012), legislation that would modernize energy policy and help maximize development in this economic sector. Included in the final bill was a Thune provision to create a coordinating subcommittee within the National Science and Technology Council (NSTC) focused on high energy physics and a separate provision he introduced with Sen. Mike Rounds (R-S.D.) that would facilitate a permanent land transfer of Bureau of Land Management land to expand the Black Hills National Cemetery.

“It would be an understatement to say this energy bill would not have passed without Sen. Murkowski’s hard work,” said Thune. “She spent a great deal of time working with senators on both sides of the aisle to make sure this bill – the first energy bill in nearly a decade – passed the Senate with bipartisan support.

“I also want to thank Sen. Murkowski for working with me to ensure my amendment to create a special NSTC subcommittee on high energy physics was considered and adopted. This newly created coordinating subcommittee would be tasked with maximizing the efficiency and effectiveness of U.S. investment in high energy physics research and supporting a robust, internationally competitive high energy physics program, which we’re proud to be a part of in South Dakota.”

The subcommittee’s work would benefit underground science and engineering research, like the Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment that will be conducted at the Long-Baseline Neutrino Facility, which is being constructed at the Sanford Underground Research Facility in Lead, South Dakota, and the Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory in Batavia, Illinois.

The NSTC was created by executive order in 1993 to coordinate federal science and technology policy, and its membership consists of the president, vice president, director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP), cabinet secretaries, and other government officials involved in science and technology.

The Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, of which Thune is chairman, has jurisdiction over the NSTC and OSTP.

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 Senate Adopts Thune, Rounds Legislation to Authorize Permanent Land Transfer for Expansion of Black Hills National Cemetery

WASHINGTON — U.S. Sens. John Thune (R-S.D.) and Mike Rounds (R-S.D.) today applauded the Senate’s adoption of the Black Hills National Cemetery Boundary Expansion Act, legislation they introduced earlier this session that would facilitate a permanent land transfer of approximately 200 acres of Bureau of Land Management land to expand the Black Hills National Cemetery. The senators’ bill was adopted as part of a larger amendment to the bipartisan Energy Policy Modernization Act, which is under consideration in the Senate today.

“I fought hard to include this noncontroversial land transfer in the energy bill because the expansion of the Black Hills National Cemetery will help ensure we have a solemn resting place for our military heroes in the Black Hills for generations to come,” said Thune. “The process we have proposed has the support of state and federal agencies that would be involved in implementing the expansion plan, so the sooner this becomes law, the sooner this important project can get underway.”

“I’m pleased this measure was adopted by the Senate,” said Rounds. “This permanent land transfer will guarantee that generations of South Dakota veterans will be able to rest peacefully in the Black Hills National Cemetery.”

Under current law, the Federal Land Policy and Management Act limits transfers like this one to a lifespan of 20 years. The Black Hills National Cemetery Boundary Expansion Act would make this particular transfer permanent.

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Senate Passes Thune’s Bipartisan Aviation Bill, Including Major Security Reforms

“This bipartisan legislation takes several important steps to protect passengers’ safety and security and makes air travel a little easier along the way.”

WASHINGTON — U.S. Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.), chairman of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, today applauded the Senate’s passage of his bipartisan Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Reauthorization Act of 2016 (S. 2658), which makes important reforms to protect consumers and enhance airport security in South Dakota and throughout the United States.

“This bipartisan legislation takes several important steps to protect passengers’ safety and security and makes air travel a little easier along the way,” said Thune. “We worked hard to make consumer protections and airport security our top priorities in this bill, which is why it’s been called ‘one of the most passenger-friendly FAA reauthorization bills in a generation’ and includes one of the most comprehensive sets of aviation security reforms since President Obama took office. While passing this legislation in the Senate is an important step, we have more work to do. The traveling public will be best served once this bill makes its way to the president’s desk and is signed into law.”

Thune was the lead sponsor and bill manager of S. 2658, which passed the Senate by a vote of 95-3 and now heads to the House of Representatives for consideration. Click here for more information on S. 2658 and here for more information on Thune’s airport security measures that were included in the final bill.

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If you missed it, South Dakota Farmer’s Union spent time circulating petitions this past year to drastically alter our political system in South Dakota via initiated measure to removes the authority for redistricting from the Legislature and grant it to a redistricting commission.  Nevermind that might be of questionable constitutionality, but Doug Sombke of Farmer’s Union led the charge on it.

But now this person who wants to change the rules for everyone else in the state is facing criticism of his own over not exactly following the election rules for his own organization:

South Dakota Farmers Union members in the Aberdeen area are set to discuss a resolution circulating at the union’s district meetings that challenges the results of its most recent officer election and calls for a special convention to replace them.

Members in three of the organization’s seven regional districts have voted in support of the resolution, which accuses the union’s president, Doug Sombke, of suppressing participation in the December election. Most recently, a majority at the regional meeting in Watertown Saturday approved the measure that said the union’s board violated the group’s bylaws by allowing members to vote though their counties weren’t in good standing with the organization.

and…

Following the most recent resolution approval Saturday, Michael O’Connor, one of those in charge of circulating the resolutions, said he hoped that the union’s top officers would step down. He said if that didn’t happen, he was prepared to call for support from members in regional and county meetings until the required 20 percent of members can call for a new convention.

“I hope they see that they could resign with a little integrity,” O’Connor said. “If they won’t do that we want to continue to go forward, no doubt about it.”

Read it all here.

So, the person questioning the integrity of the redistricting process is having his own integrity questioned in how he conducts elections?

Maybe he should have fixed his own roof first.

The Rapid City Journal is highlighting Lt. Governor Matt Michels for his new position in heading up a new state entity which will begin the arduous process of reviewing state contracts and grants for potential conflict of interest and to help improve public disclosure:

The Legislature established the new board in state law at the request of Gov. Dennis Daugaard.

and…

Michels said they saw a gap in state government’s handling of grants and other money awarded to non-state entities.

Daugaard assigned Michels to lead the project. Michels developed the model with the state Bureau of Finance and Management where he tapped decades of expertise within the staff.

The bureau is widely perceived as the hub of state budgeting. Michels saw the agency didn’t have legal authority regarding daily financial decisions in state departments and agencies, including the administration of grants.

The bureau, which is an arm of the governor, also didn’t have clear authority to deal with financial inconsistencies among the 30 or more state departments, bureaus, elected constitutional offices, state universities, court system and legislative branch.

It really was a good game yesterday. I’m ready to go back.  And I notice they won against the Angels again today! (That’s 3!)

There’s Not Much to Celebrate During Tax Season
By Sen. John Thune

Oh, the IRS. Everyone’s least favorite federal government agency, bulging at the seams with D.C. bureaucrats. Don’t get me wrong, there are a lot of good people working in federal government agencies throughout Washington, but the IRS is laden with tax collectors whose sole mission is to collect your hard-earned money to line the federal coffers, which doesn’t make anyone other than the tax collectors very happy.

For most Americans, though, it’s not necessarily paying their share that frustrates them, it’s that their share seems to grow each year and with diminishing returns. They feel like their money is being squandered and not spent as efficiently or effectively as possible. So, with tax season upon us, I thought it was a good opportunity to take a step back and try to put into perspective the burden the IRS places on American taxpayers each year and examine what we can or should do about it.

Six billion. That’s how many hours taxpayers spend each year trying to comply with Internal Revenue Code requirements, according to the National Taxpayer Advocate. Six billion, with a “b.” After some helpful math, the National Taxpayers Union Foundation (NTUF) determined that comes out to nearly 700,000 years or the equivalent of more than 150 million 40-hour workweeks. This is collective time spent each and every year for tax compliance.

Imagine the productivity that’s lost for American small business owners who constantly try to navigate the complexities of the tax code to ensure his or her business stays compliant. Or how about all of the headaches caused and time and money spent by families filling out tax returns every spring? According to the NTUF, compliance with the federal income tax cost the U.S. economy more than $200 billion in productivity just last year alone.

One of the first things we can do is probably the most obvious. The federal government could tighten its belt and spend less money, just like every family across the country must do from time to time. And it’s not only spending less that’s so important, but it’s spending more effectively that could make the most difference. Why in the world should the government be spending $1 million for monkeys running in hamster balls on a treadmill or $780,000 so the government can study college students and pizza addiction?

Another thing we could do is hold the tax collectors more accountable, which I’ve made a strong effort to do. In my opinion, it’s impossible to have too much accountability, especially when it comes to the IRS. So, last year, Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) and I introduced important legislation, the Taxpayer Bill of Rights Enhancement Act, that would create greater accountability for IRS bureaucrats and more protections for American taxpayers.

A number of provisions of our bill have already been enacted into law, such as requiring termination of any IRS employee taking official action for political purposes, prohibiting IRS employees from using personal email to conduct official business, and requiring the IRS to provide additional information to taxpayers whose rights have been violated by IRS employees. The other provisions of our bill, which I expect the Senate Finance Committee will soon consider, takes important steps toward restoring the IRS to an agency the American people expect and deserve. On top of that, in the coming years, Congress must work toward comprehensive tax reform, which would alleviate a large portion of the heavy tax burden.

While there’s not much to celebrate during tax season, there’s always a silver lining: you have 12 months until tax season arrives again. Until then, my promise to you is that I will continue to treat every dollar in Washington with the respect a hard-earned dollar deserves and guard it as if it was one of my own (and if you asked my wife Kimberley, you’d know how safe it is!).

NOTE: Click here for more information on Sen. Thune’s Taxpayer Bill of Rights Enhancement Act.

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