Today, the below lawsuit was been filed in South Dakota Circuit Court, Sixth Judicial Circuit, Hughes County. This lawsuit challenges the constitutionality of Initiated Measure 22 on numerous grounds.
Initiated Measure 22 Lawsuit by Pat Powers on Scribd
Boom.
I’m hearing rumors from multiple sources on a lawsuit potentially being filed today against Initiated Measure 22 on the basis of an unconstitutional exercise of spending authority by the measure.
What I’m hearing is that around 20-25 legislators could be named as plaintiffs in this fight against funds being arbitrarily appropriated via a ballot measure. The question is whether they’ll be throwing only that portion of the measure out, or the whole thing entirely.
Watch dakotawarcollege.com as this story develops.
Delegation Disappointed by Secretary McDonald’s
Decision to Decline Hot Springs VA Tour and Meeting
WASHINGTON — U.S. Sens. John Thune (R-S.D.) and Mike Rounds (R-S.D.), a member of the Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee, and U.S. Rep. Kristi Noem (R-S.D.) wrote to U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Secretary Robert McDonald to express their disappointment and concern over McDonald’s decision to decline a December 2, 2016, tour and meeting at the Hot Springs VA. McDonald will instead travel to the facility on November 30, 2016, a day on which the VA knows Congress will be session, thus preventing Thune, Rounds, and Noem from joining him on that day. By declining the December 2 meeting, McDonald is not fulfilling his commitment to tour the facility with the delegation prior to making his decision on whether or not to shutter the Hot Springs VA.
“Given the magnitude of the changes the VA’s proposed consolidation would have on veteran care, we request that you not hastily issue a final decision in the waning days of President Obama’s administration,” the delegation wrote. “The uncertainty and distrust this process has sown in the veteran community can only be remedied by thoughtful and studied action. Furthermore, we also maintain that any reconfiguration sought by the VA should be made within the construct of a national realignment strategy for the Veterans Health Administration, as prescribed by law.”
On November 10, 2016, the VA issued its final environmental impact statement on the Black Hills Health Care system, the last formal procedural step prior to McDonald having to make a final decision on the facility’s future.
Full text of the letter is below, and a PDF of the letter that was sent to McDonald can be found here.
The Honorable Robert McDonald
Secretary of Veterans Affairs
Department of Veterans Affairs
810 Vermont Avenue, NW
Washington, D.C. 20420
Dear Secretary McDonald:
We write to express our extreme disappointment and concern that you are not fulfilling your commitment to join the South Dakota delegation in touring the Hot Springs hospital campus prior to making a final decision regarding the proposed consolidation of the Black Hills Health Care System.
In our discussions with you dating back to before your confirmation as the eighth Secretary of Veterans Affairs, we have made clear our expectation that our veterans be given fair and open consideration in this matter. However, in the nearly five years since the VA first made public its desire to consolidate the Black Hills Health Care System, the process has not been sufficiently transparent or responsive to criticisms from veteran stakeholders. Failure to hold a constructive discussion about the Hot Springs campus with the South Dakota congressional delegation and veteran stakeholders, to include addressing the continued discrepancies in the VA’s analysis, prior to issuing a final decision will all but confirm that a reduction in services at the Hot Springs VA has been a pre-determined outcome throughout this process. We are confident that the long-sought visit to the historic Hot Springs VA campus will be most productive if it includes meaningful engagement with the veteran community and the presence of the South Dakota delegation.
Given the magnitude of the changes the VA’s proposed consolidation would have on veteran care, we request that you not hastily issue a final decision in the waning days of President Obama’s administration. The uncertainty and distrust this process has sown in the veteran community can only be remedied by thoughtful and studied action. Furthermore, we also maintain that any reconfiguration sought by the VA should be made within the construct of a national realignment strategy for the Veterans Health Administration, as prescribed by law.
Thank you for your timely consideration of this urgent and important matter.
Sincerely,
###
This is golden. Apparently, a week or so after Republicans, Dems are finally shaking off the haze of their self-induced election malaise, and noticing that Initiated Measure 22 affected them as well.
As in “Oops. Maybe we shouldn’t have taken the blue pill.”
This would be damned hilarious, if it wasn’t part of a broader mess from a poorly written bill from out of state interests. Local Democrats just figured out that the goofy language of IM22 just cut them off from Political Action Committee Act Blue, which has funneled tens of thousands of dollars from across the country to South Dakota Democrats:
I raised $5,701.02 from 76 donors for my District 3 Senate campaign by using ActBlue to collect contributions online. That’s over a quarter of my campaign fund, with an average donation of about $75. Initiated Measure 22, the Anti-Corruption Act, just made raising that amount from relatively small donors on ActBlue illegal in South Dakota.
ActBlue acts as a political action committee, collecting donations through its website, then bundling those contributions into weekly checks for candidates using the system. ActBlue collects a small processing fee on each transaction, which it deducts before sending the balance to the candidate. The Secretary of State’s office directs candidates to report the total they receive in checks from ActBlue as a PAC contribution.
and..
If the goal of the Anti-Corruption Act is transparency, then we should require candidates to report the individual donors using ActBlue as a service provider. Otherwise, the Anti-Corruption Act will severely curtail the ability of South Dakota candidates to use an online fundraising tool that helps them compete against candidates enjoying big-money donations from larger corporate PACs.
Of course, the looney left wants to have their cake and eat it too, trying to refer to ActBlue as a mere fundraising tool like paypal or as noted “a service provider.”
BUZZZZZZZ! Wrong answer.
Unfortunately, Dems don’t get to have their cake and eat it too, because ActBlue is federally registered as a PAC, no matter how much the goofy flower children of the left want to characterize their money-collective as something other than what it is:
ActBlue is a United States political action committee established in June 2004 that enables anyone to raise money on the Internet for the Democratic Party candidates of their choice. It is independent of the Democratic Party itself and does not endorse individual candidates.
Read that here. Or if Wikipedia isn’t a good enough source, try this, as noted by Opensecrets.org:
Launched in 2004, ActBlue bills itself as “the online clearinghouse for Democratic action.” As a federally registered political action committee, it serves as a conduit for online contributions to Democratic candidates and committees.
and..
The group also maintains a 527 political organization registered with the Internal Revenue Service for non-federal political activities, and ActBlue has registered as a political committee in more than 20 states for its state-level activities. It does not lobby the federal government.
Or, don’t take my word for it. But you can go look at their latest FEC Report here.
Initiated Measure 22 is nothing but a big mess for anyone who participates in politics. And it’s time to send that unwanted out-of-state guest away.
In case you’re as curious as I was, here’s more information on the new ballot measure. It’s being sponsored by the Committee to Ensure Student Privacy, chaired by Jack Heyd of Box Elder, SD.
Ballot Measure 2018 – Same Sex Bathroom Initiated Meaasure by Pat Powers on Scribd
Heyd had recently sent a letter to the editor in the primary election:
And had some other issues he was in the paper for last year, declaring Chapter 7 Bankruptcy in 2015 but otherwise, he’s not well known statewide in political circles. Although, you’ve got to start somewhere, and this may be his entrance into statewide politics.
Stay tuned for more on this ballot measure which is sure to stir controversy.
Attorney General Explanation Released for Initiated Measure Regarding Same-Sex School Facilities
PIERRE, S.D.- South Dakota Attorney General Marty Jackley announced today an Attorney General Explanation for a proposed initiated measure has been filed with the Secretary of State. This statement will appear on petitions that will be circulated by the sponsor of the measure. If the sponsor obtains a sufficient number of signatures on the petitions by November 2017, as certified by the Secretary of State, the measure will be placed on the ballot for the November 2018 general election.
The measure is entitled “An initiated measure requiring students to use rooms designated for the same biological sex, and requiring public schools to provide a reasonable accommodation for students whose gender identity is not the same as their biological sex.”
Under South Dakota law, the Attorney General is responsible for preparing explanations for proposed initiated measures, referred laws, and South Dakota Constitutional Amendments. Specifically, the explanation includes a title, an objective, clear and simple summary of the purpose and effect of the proposed measure and a description of the legal consequences. The Attorney General Explanation is not a statement either for or against the proposed measure.
To view the Attorney General Explanation for the measure, as well as the final form of the measure submitted to this office, please click on the link.
Attorney Generals Statement for Initiated Measure – Same Sex School Facilities by Pat Powers on Scribd
The leadership team who put the Democrats farther in the hole than they already were have announced that they’re going to conduct an ages-old SD Dem tradition and hold an apology tour to revisit their sins and gather new ideas.
From: “South Dakota Democratic Party”
Date: November 21, 2016 at 5:03:58 PM CST
Subject: Moving South Dakota Forward Listening Tour
Reply-To: info@sddp.orgAfter a tough election cycle, we’d like to hear from you about what issues are important to you and your community and how we as a Party can come together, move forward, and have a better election cycle in 2018.
To that end, SDDP staff would like to invite you attend one of the meetings of the Moving South Dakota Forward Listening Tour. We’ll be making stops around South Dakota in the next couple of weeks and hope as many people as possible can join us!
Of course, they’re holding these meetings and will follow up by ignoring any suggestions that they act like a political party, instead devoting their time to ballot measures, as they have for the past several elections, while their numbers dwindle.
I had a call from Betty Olson this AM who noted that former State Senator William “Bill” Johnson from Harding County who represented that area from 1989-1998 has passed away.
Its been a tough year – Betty indicated that LRC informed her that 15 former legislators have passed away in the last year.
I’ve been told that Funeral arrangements are pending.
These pictures (allegedly) of South Dakota pheasant hunters are making the rounds on reddit and other parts of the Internet.
