Noem Earns Seat on Key Tax Policy and Trade Panels

Washington, D.C. – Rep. Kristi Noem today earned seats on the Tax Policy and Trade subcommittees of the House Ways and Means Committee. As one of the only members of the committee with experience in agriculture, Noem will bring her background to bear, helping ensure tax and trade policies are fair and workable for rural America.

“South Dakota occupies just one of 435 seats in the House of Representatives, so making our perspective known requires a deliberate effort,” said Noem.  “A seat on the Tax Policy and Trade subcommittees of Ways and Means amplifies our voice and enables me to advance South Dakota priorities during the earliest stages of policy development.  I’m honored to give our small state a big voice. Let’s get to work.”

The House Ways and Means Committee is largely regarded as the most powerful committee in Congress, with jurisdiction over tax and trade policy, Social Security and Medicare, and various other economic growth policies. 

During the 114th Congress, Noem served on the committee’s Tax Policy, Human Resources, and Oversight subcommittees. 

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Time for A Real Strategy to Protect Americans from Cyber Threats
by U.S. Sen. Mike Rounds (R-S.D.)

It is alleged that in recent months, the Russian government conducted cyber hacks of the Democratic National Committee (DNC) server and attempted to hack the Republican National Committee (RNC) email system. 

In October 2016, the Department of Homeland Security and the Director of National Intelligence stated that the cyber hackers “intended to interfere with the U.S. election process” – a very serious charge. On Dec. 29, President Obama imposed sanctions against Russian intelligence services and kicked dozens of Russian diplomats out of the country in retaliation.

The DNC hack is a reminder to all Americans that the United States is not immune to damaging cyber-attacks from hostile foreign nations and other bad actors. We must update our national security policies to deter such attacks before a future debilitating attack occurs, possibly on civilian critical infrastructure. 

Imagine what would happen if a foreign actor interfered with the operations of a nuclear power plant, or shut down the communications that control aircraft operations, rail operations or water releases from large dams. Such an attack on our critical infrastructure could threaten our entire economy or – worse – lead to loss of life. Without an appropriate plan in place to stop or respond to these cyber-attacks, we put ourselves at increased risk for a catastrophic attack to occur.

As a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee (SASC), broadening our national defense policies to adequately address cyber-attacks on civilian critical infrastructure has been a priority of mine.  SASC Chairman John McCain (R-Ariz.) recently held a hearing to examine foreign cyber threats. He has also indicated that he will create a new subcommittee within SASC that is solely focused on cybersecurity.  

I am glad that Congress included a provision in the 2017 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) which would begin the process of defining when an act in cyber space constitutes an act of war. With language similar to my Cyber Act of War Act, which I cosponsored with Sen. Angus King (I-Maine), the NDAA will require the administration to determine when a cyber-attack on the United States requires a military response. This is vital because, while current policies permit the Pentagon to respond to a cyber-attack against military forces, our nation does not have a clear policy to govern our response to attacks on civilian infrastructure. The NDAA seeks to change that.

Defining when a cyber-attack requires a military response is but one in a series of steps we must take to deter our enemies from attacking the United States with this new, sophisticated form of aggression. We cannot know if the alleged hacks in 2016 would have been thwarted had the provisions of the Cyber Act of War Act already been in law. What we do know is that, absent a clear message to our adversaries as to when a cyber-attack may warrant a U.S. military response, we will not have done all we can to deter devastating attacks in the future.

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Thune Selected for Second Term as Commerce Chairman 

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Senate officially ratified U.S. Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.) as chairman of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation for the 115^th Congress. 

Sen. Thune issued the following statement on the selection:

“It is a great honor to be selected to serve for a second term as chairman of the Commerce Committee. I look forward to working with Ranking Member Bill Nelson and my colleagues on both sides of the aisle on issues at the forefront of innovation and competitiveness, consumer protection, science, transportation, and economic growth in my role as chairman.” 

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Off to a Great Start
By Sen. John Thune

This month not only marks the beginning of a new year, but also the start of a new Congress. With new beginnings come new opportunities, and the 115th Congress is already off to a great start. On day one, I reintroduced legislation that would help advance rural broadband services in South Dakota and around the country. Expanding access to these necessities of modern life is key for states like South Dakota, and by passing my MOBILE NOW bill, Congress could take a big step toward laying the groundwork for the future of the nationwide 5G network.

Also during the first week of the new Congress, I joined Sen. Rounds and Rep. Noem in reintroducing our bill that would expand the boundary of the Black Hills National Cemetery just outside of Sturgis. The bill was near the finish line in December, which is why we quickly reintroduced it this month. I’m confident we’ll soon be able to send it to the president for his signature, which will ensure our military heroes have a place to rest in peace for generations to come.

While a great deal of attention is often paid to what happens on the Senate floor or in front of TV cameras and reporters, a lot of our most important work takes place behind the scenes in the various committees on which we serve. I’m glad that for the 115th Congress, I’ll again serve on the Commerce, Finance, and Agriculture Committees – three important committees that will help deliver positive results for South Dakotans.

The current farm bill expires in September 2018, but in my opinion, it’s never too early to start working on the next one. My role on the Senate Agriculture Committee means the countless suggestions I’ve received from South Dakota farmers and ranchers will also have the attention of my colleagues on the committee. I will continue to fight for South Dakota’s top industry and make sure our stakeholders’ voices are heard. This isn’t my first rodeo either. The 2018 farm bill will be the fourth farm bill I’ve helped draft during my time in Congress.

Comprehensive tax reform is another major agenda item we intend to tackle this year, and it’s long overdue. The federal tax code is too large, too complicated, and too outdated. So outdated that neither of my daughters had yet been born when Congress last took a serious a look at reforming our tax code more than thirty years ago. For perspective, I’m now a grandfather. As a member of the Finance Committee, I look forward to playing a key role in our fight to simplify and modernize the tax code so that it helps, instead of hinders, economic growth and job creation in this country. I also hope this provides me with an opportunity to finally kill the death tax, something I’ve spent years trying to do.

This year I’ll be returning to the top spot on the powerful Senate Commerce Committee. The committee has already made some significant security and accountability reforms to our air, rail, and highway transportation systems, but we’ve got more work to do in 2017. I’ll also be working with committee members this year to develop forward-looking technology proposals – like my MOBILE NOW bill, for example – that will hopefully help make life safer and more efficient for the American people.

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Ending the Reign of Regulators
By Rep. Kristi Noem

Expectations are high for the 115th Congress, which was sworn in the first week of January, but I’m optimistic that we’ve matched those expectations with an aggressive, commonsense agenda. More importantly, there has been no hesitation in getting to work on that agenda.

Less than 100 hours from the time I took the Oath of Office for the fourth time, the House of Representatives passed the REINS Act, a bill I cosponsored to stop the overreach of federal regulators.

Under the Obama administration, regulatory agencies have grown at a considerable rate. Their budgets alone have spiked 16 percent since 2008 while their staffs have increased in size by 13 percent. The impact of this expansion has rippled throughout our economy, crashing into each of our wallets like a tidal wave.

Almost 25 percent of a new home’s cost is due to regulatory bureaucracy, and by 2025, Obama-era vehicle standards are expected to raise the cost of a new car by almost $3,000. The prices of microwaves, light bulbs, air conditioners, and dishwashers have also gone up significantly because of federal regulators.

From a broader perspective, all these regulations drain much-needed resources from our economy. In 2015, regulations cost the American economy nearly $2 trillion in lost productivity and growth. To put it another way: if our regulatory system were a country, it would have the world’s ninth largest economy – right behind India.

For years, we have battled the Obama administration on the issue of red tape. After putting pressure on the Department of Labor, we were able to get them to back down from regulating small family farms. I also introduced legislation to prohibit the EPA from proposing or finalizing new farm dust standards, which helped prompt the agency to abandon efforts to further regulate the type of dust farmers and ranchers kicked up. And when OSHA proposed to ban kids from doing certain farm activities when they were hired to work on relatives’ farms, we pushed back and they backed down.

With proposals like the controversial “Waters of the U.S.” – or WOTUS – rule coming down, it is clear we need a stricter way to hold regulators accountable. That’s where the REINS Act comes into play.

If enacted, any regulation with an economic impact of over $100 million would have to be approved by Congress through an up-or-down vote. If this law would have been in effect under Obama, more than 500 regulations would have been subject to a vote in Congress.

More than two-thirds of the House, including me, has never had the opportunity to serve under a Republican president. I understand the expectations are high, but so are mine. While it’s just one checkmark on a long list of reforms I’d like to see made, passing the REINS Act in the opening hours of this new Congress gives me optimism for what we can accomplish.

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Good News from the State’s Financial Report
A column by Gov. Dennis Daugaard: 

This past week the state budget office issued South Dakota’s Comprehensive Annual Financial Report, or what those of us within state government sometimes refer to as “the CAFR.” The Bureau of Finance and Management made the report public on the Friday before New Year’s Day.

Just like a business, each year South Dakota prepares audited financial statements. These statements are required by law, and are used to qualify us to receive federal funds. The report is also reviewed by agencies which evaluate our state’s credit worthiness.

The annual report includes our state government’s complete financial statements. Also contained in the report is information about the state’s economic conditions and outlook, the profile of the government, major initiatives, and a financial analysis of the state’s funds. The report is then submitted to the Department of Legislative Audit for review.

The report for Fiscal Year 2016 shows that the state is in a strong financial position. For the 30^th consecutive year, Legislative Audit issued an unqualified “clean” audit opinion, meaning the CAFR is materially accurate.

This marks the earliest CAFR release in 20 years. When I first came into office, we were finishing this report in June – almost a full year after the close of a fiscal year. The hardworking staff at Finance and Management made it their goal to do better, and each year since then, they’ve been issuing the CAFR more quickly. They’ve now cut the timing in half. By moving the date up six months, this marks the earliest CAFR release in 20 years.

It’s important to complete this report promptly. The report helps inform budgetary decisions and is one way our state is meeting rating agencies’ expectations. It is also a tool for the citizens who must hold state government accountable for its management of taxpayer dollars.

Improving our state’s financial practices is one of my highest priorities, and I am proud of the progress we have made in the last six years. South Dakota has obtained AAA ratings from all three major rating agencies. We have built and maintained a rainy-day fund that is ten percent of our general fund budget. We have been conservative in estimating revenues and expenses. When we have one-time money to spend, we have used it to repay debt early, secure an existing asset, endow an ongoing expense or create a new asset.

South Dakotans must responsibly manage their money in order to stay in business and take care of their families. They expect their government to do the same. Our just-issued CAFR validates that South Dakota’s state finances are in solid condition.

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A report from a reader just popped in:

Matt Michels is on South Dakota public radio right now. He said he is considering running for governor and will make a decision at the end of session. He said people are encouraging to him since Mickelson pulled out.

That’s an interesting development.

In the program, which you can listen to here, the Lt. Governor indicates that he’ll likely make a decision after the end of session.

From KSFY, we learned something new today:

Officials have identified an animal found in preparation to be eaten inside a Huron garage on New Year’s Day.

and..

The department said officers responded to a call of something burning inside a garage on the southeast side of Huron on Jan. 1. When officers arrived, they found two people burning a hog and another unidentifiable animal to be consumed.

Officers and Animal Control took what they believed was some type of canine. It was transferred to the SDSU lab on Wednesday for a forensic exam.

Read it here.

Apparently, Only SDSU can eat them up. And that’s just in sports.

There has been some interesting discussion under the post I did about how the goofy liberal views of a couple of law professors might flavor how legislators look at the request to put 1.2 million into the school to keep things running at our state’s law school in the face of enrollment cuts and poor bar passage rates.

One commenter noted “At any institution of higher education there will be differing viewpoints, and we should encourage differing viewpoints.”

Myself, and others certainly agree.

In particular, incoming State Senator Jim Bolin, a retired teacher agrees. He agrees very much.

And as I discussed with him yesterday, he’s going to bring back a proposal that narrowly missed passage in 2006 when liberals (Republicans and Democrats) in the State Senate teamed up to kill a bill that had already passed the House to ensure that differing viewpoints were welcome in our institutions of higher learning:

2006’s House Bill 1222 had strong support in the State House – which passed it 42-26, but narrowly failed in the Senate on a 15-18 split.  The idea at the time was that the Board of Regents would report to the legislature on an annual basis the steps the institutions are taking to ensure intellectual diversity.

As opposed to being fed a steady diet of any one philosophical viewpoint, Universities would actually need to pay heed to the viewpoints of others, and report to the legislature on their efforts to not marginalize them.

At the time, Regents – via their Executive Director Tad Perry – opposed this report on the free exchange of ideas. But now, coming at a time when students are fed a steady and unabating diet of liberalism from the classroom podium, they are attacked for their views, and self-proclaimed Social Justice Warriors are stifiling free speech, it’s very much a current topic.

And with Bolin’s planned reintroduction of the measure, one well worth the time that legislators would ask of the universities to ensure that free speech on campus is not infringed upon, and along those lines what they’re doing towards those efforts.

Our tax dollars go towards our institutions of higher learning. A simple report asking about what Universities do to ensure free speech is a pretty minor thing to ask in return.

Unless they somehow have a problem with it. Free speech, that is.

In case you’re interested, my story about the Aberdeen American News ignoring a criminal’s refugee status had a big mention in a follow-up article on the World Net Daily web site.

Powers said this is a legitimate question for South Dakotans.

“With the only mention of the attempted molestation of a disabled woman by the refugee, newly placed in the community, coming hours after an article critical of their non-coverage of the crime, it’s hard to categorize the WND outrage as just more fake news on Facebook,” Powers wrote.

“The fact that the Aberdeen American News still omitted facts of the story after being publicly excoriated for it only gives credence to accusations that news coverage of crimes being committed by refugees in the community are possibly being shielded from public view.”

‘If this had been a crime against a Muslim …’

Commenters on Facebook and on Powers’ blog were upset.

“If this had been a crime against a Muslim, it would have been all over the front page locally and nationally and cited as a hate crime,” posted one commenter on the blog.

You can read it all here.