Rounds setting up monthly meeting in Brookings 

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From the Brookings Register, it appears Mike Rounds’ staff is setting up monthly meetings for my little town on the prairie:

County commission director Stacy Steffensen sought direction from Brookings County commissioners Tuesday to a request for space for a traveling help desk for Sen. Mike Rounds.

This was brought up during Steffensen’s report to the board, not as an item to be voted on. The request came from a series of back-and-forth emails with T.J. Nelson, the constituent services representative to Rounds.

Nelson wanted to use a conference room for the help desk, which would meet on the first Tuesday of each month for an hour. These meetings would serve as a chance for constituents who are having issues with a federal agency to meet with representatives for Rounds.

Read it all here.

Attorney General Explanation Released for Initiated Measure Decriminalizing One Ounce or Less of Marijuana

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jackleyheader2Attorney General Explanation Released for Initiated Measure
Decriminalizing One Ounce or Less of Marijuana

PIERRE, S.D.- South Dakota Attorney General Marty Jackley announced today an Attorney General Explanation for an 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 (13,871) on the petitions by November 9, 2015, as certified by the Secretary of State, the measure will be placed on the ballot for the November 2016 general election.

1. An initiated measure to decriminalize the possession of one ounce or less of marijuana and marijuana paraphernalia

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.

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 below:

http://atg.sd.gov/LinkClick.aspx?fileticket=6-NsyQhltiM%3d&tabid=442

Thune Urges USDA to Allocate Additional SAFE CRP Acres for South Dakota

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thuneheadernewThune Urges USDA to Allocate Additional SAFE CRP Acres for South Dakota
State Acres for Wildlife Enhancement (SAFE) Will Protect Marginal Land
and Boost Pheasant Habitat

John_Thune,_official_portrait,_111th_CongressWASHINGTON, D.C. — U.S. Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.) urged the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to increase acreage allocations for SAFE, a continuous Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) initiative, to the maximum extent possible in South Dakota and other states with SAFE allocations at or near 100 percent enrolled. Boosting SAFE acres will help ensure the CRP does not fall substantially below the 2014 farm bill’s allowable acreage caps.

USDA developed the South Dakota Pheasants SAFE initiative to provide habitat for species of economic significance, like the ring-necked pheasant in South Dakota, which provides more than $220 million annually to the state’s economy. SAFE also provides farmers with an alternative to placing expensive inputs and growing crops on marginal lands.

“One of the most effective approaches to encourage additional CRP enrollment, in addition to a general CRP signup I requested and you announced would be held beginning December 1, would be for USDA to immediately increase SAFE allocations,” Thune wrote to Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack. “SAFE has been a popular and effective continuous signup CRP initiative in South Dakota as well as other states. I strongly encourage you to consider increasing SAFE allocations to the maximum extent possible in all states in which SAFE initiatives are at or near 100 percent enrolled.”

Full text of the letter can be found below:

Secretary Tom Vilsack
U.S. Department of Agriculture
1400 Independence Ave., SW
Washington, D.C. 20250

Dear Secretary Vilsack:

During the 30 years since authorization in the 1985 Farm Bill, the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) has evolved into a proven effective multi-purpose management tool for landowners, farm operators, and conservationists. CRP enrollment has been dropping, and without timely proactive action from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), the 2014 Farm Bill’s CRP enrollment acreage goals Congress intended for 2015 and future years will not be met.

Even though the 2014 Farm Bill lowered the CRP acreage cap to 26 million acres in 2015 and 25 million acres in 2016, with a current enrollment of 24.3 million acres, and with 1.9 million acres enrolled in CRP contracts that expire on September 30, I am very concerned that CRP enrollment will fall far below the allowable acreage cap.

One of the most effective approaches to encourage additional CRP enrollment, in addition to a general CRP signup I requested and you announced would be held beginning December 1, would be for USDA to immediately increase State Acres for Wildlife Enhancement (SAFE) allocations. SAFE has been a popular and effective continuous signup CRP initiative in South Dakota as well as other states. I strongly encourage you to consider increasing SAFE allocations to the maximum extent possible in all states in which SAFE initiatives are at or near 100 percent enrolled.

Pheasant hunting and related activities annually contribute more than $220 million to South Dakota’s economy and the decline of acres enrolled in CRP the past few years in the state has had a direct negative impact on our state’s pheasant population.

The South Dakota Pheasants SAFE initiative has resulted in increased CRP enrollment in the state; however, often the state’s SAFE allocation is oversubscribed.

The 2015 wheat harvest will begin shortly in South Dakota. With input costs increasing and market prices dramatically lower than in previous years, I would like to make sure that at this time after harvest when farmers and landowners explore more viable economic alternatives to producing crops on marginal land that adequate CRP SAFE acre availability will ensure that SAFE is an available option.

Please consider my request to take expeditious action to increase CRP SAFE allocations in South Dakota and all other states that need higher allocations.

Sincerely,

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Rounds Applauds Passage of his Native American Education Amendment

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RoundsPressHeader

Rounds Applauds Passage of his Native American Education Amendment

WASHINGTON—U.S. Sen. Mike Rounds (R-S.D.) today applauded the passage of an amendment he offered with U.S. Sen. Tom Udall (D-N.M.) to improve education of Native American students. The amendment to the Every Child Achieves Act, which is currently being debated on the Senate floor, addresses low graduation rates at tribal schools and seeks to improve the quality of education in Indian Country, especially in rural and high poverty areas.

“The fact that there are tribal schools in this country with graduation rates below 40 percent is unacceptable,” said Rounds. “A strong education system in Indian Country is crucial for Native American students. Our amendment lays a foundation to fix the systemic education problems facing students in Indian Country, not only in South Dakota but throughout the nation.  I am pleased that it received broad bipartisan support in the Senate.”

Rounds’ amendment to the Every Child Achieves Act directs the Department of the Interior and the Department of Education to conduct a study in rural and poverty areas of Indian Country to:

  • Identify federal barriers that restrict tribes from implementing common-sense regional policies instead of one-size fits all policies directed from Washington;
  • Identify recruitment and retention options for teachers and school administrators;
  • Identify the limitations in funding sources and flexibility for such schools; and
  • Provide strategies on how to increase high school graduation rates.

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Thune, Cardin Submit Business Income Tax Working Group Report to Finance Committee

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thuneheadernew

Thune, Cardin Submit Business Income Tax Working Group Report to Finance Committee

John_Thune,_official_portrait,_111th_CongressWASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Sens. John Thune (R-S.D.) and Ben Cardin (D-Md.), co-chairs of the Senate Finance Committee’s Business Income Tax Working Group, today submitted the working group’s report to the full committee. The report, developed with the input of the fourteen members of the working group, represents the culmination of a months-long examination of business tax issues in an effort to evaluate the challenges and opportunities posed by reforming America’s business income tax system.

Earlier this year, U.S. Sens. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) and Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), chairman and ranking member of the Senate Finance Committee, asked Thune and Cardin to lead the Finance Committee’s Business Income Tax Working Group. Additional working groups were tasked with examining an array of subjects, including the individual income tax, savings and investment, international tax, and community development and infrastructure.

“We accepted this request because we believe that American businesses deserve a better tax system than the current tax code,” said Thune and Cardin. “We view the working group process as a demonstration of the importance that the chairman and ranking member place on enacting tax reform, a goal that we share. We took on the challenge of co-chairing the working group knowing that progress toward real tax reform will not be fast or easy, but rather will entail thoughtful deliberation around a number of very complex and difficult decisions.”

The report includes several principles, considerations, options, and recommendations that are designed to modernize U.S. business taxation to help spur economic growth and job creation, address structural biases in the tax code, and promote American innovation.

In particular, the report:

  • Highlights the challenges related to business tax reform, including potential hurdles to corporate rate reduction.
  • Discusses the effect of reform on pass-through businesses, which make up a majority of U.S. small businesses
  • Addresses major structural issues and options for pro-growth reform, including corporate integration proposals and moving the U.S. tax system closer to a consumption-oriented base
  • Details proposals that promote American innovation, including a strengthened R&E credit, an innovation box, and technology- and source-neutral energy incentives
  • Discusses simplification and other administrative proposals that could help both businesses and charities

A copy of the full report can be found here.

A full list of co-chairs and members of the working groups can be found here.

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Noem Drives Forward Amendment to Protect D.C. Booth Fish Hatchery

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noem press header

Noem Drives Forward Amendment to Protect D.C. Booth Fish Hatchery

kristi noem headshot May 21 2014 Washington, D.C. – Rep. Kristi Noem offered an amendment to the Department of Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act late last night to prohibit funds from being used to close the D.C. Booth Fish Hatchery, effectively protecting the Spearfish facility from closure through FY2016 if enacted.  The House unanimously adopted the amendment and is expected to vote on passage later this week.

“As one of the oldest fisheries in the country, the D.C. Booth Fish Hatchery is a critical piece of living history. It’s disappointing to think we may lose it because of irresponsible bureaucratic decisions,” said Noem.  “While I will continue driving efforts to find a permanent solution for D.C. Booth, I’m hopeful this amendment will pave the way and ensure the economic and educational benefits offered by D.C. Booth are preserved long into the future.”

More than 155,000 people visit the D.C. Booth Fish Hatchery in Spearfish each year. The facility currently houses 175,000 artifacts that are open and accessible to the public and researchers from across the country.  Nonetheless, the Fish and Wildlife Service has submitted a proposal to move a portion of the D.C. Booth Fish Hatchery Archives located at the Spearfish facility to the National Conservation Training Center in Shepherdstown, West Virginia.

“D.C. Booth is a very unique hatchery in the fact that it houses the National Fish Hatchery System archive and serves as America’s gathering place for things related to our nation’s rich fisheries past,” said April Gregory, Executive Director of the Booth Society.  “We are incredibly grateful to Rep. Noem for recognizing this rich history and continuing to work to preserve our mission and facility for an additional year and into the future.”

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$15/hr Minimum Wage unsustainable, despite it’s passage in cities.

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I just caught an interesting article from the American Enterprise Institute that should give business owners as well as taxpayers pause. There have been several leftward city councils who have passed a $15/hour minimum wage such as San Francisco, Seattle, and most recently Los Angeles.

The problem with a $15/Hour minimum wage? It’s impossible to sustain:

Every political season, Democrats argue for higher minimum wages. Republicans respond by citing all of the evidence that higher minimum wages are harmful. Democratic voters get charged up and swing voters conclude that Republicans are heartless. It is the gift that keeps on giving for Democrats, but the curse that keeps on afflicting those below the poverty line who lose their jobs because of it.

Though Hillary Clinton has made it clear that she is going to play this game, much of the action is coming from around the country, where America’s progressive mayors have taken this form of government price-setting to new heights. In Los Angeles, Mayor Eric Garcetti recently signed legislation that would raise the minimum wage in the city to $15 by 2020. And this move in Los Angeles comes on the heels of Seattle’s and San Francisco’s adoption of the same policy.

The evidence is clear about whether raising the minimum wage is an effective way to help poor people: It is not.

and..

As the chart shows, if every dollar of U.S. corporate profits were allocated to America’s employees, the effect would be to add a bit more than $7 to the average wage. The chart adds interesting perspective to the new policy in Los Angeles. The difference between the $15 Los Angeles target and the federal minimum wage of $7.25 is $7.75. At $7.57, the current value of the expropriationsubsidy is slightly lower. Mayor Garcetti’s minimum wage legislation has, it seems, taken economic populism to its logical extreme—and beyond.

Read it all here.

“if every dollar of U.S. corporate profits were allocated to America’s employees, the effect would be to add a bit more than $7 to the average wage” versus “The difference between the $15 Los Angeles target and the federal minimum wage of $7.25 is $7.75.”

On a national basis, a $15 Minimum wage doesn’t just remove all traces of corporate profits, it creates a deficit of $.75 an hour.  The simple economics of it don’t work.

Regionally, it has the potential of shifting a significant number of portable jobs that can be done elsewhere out of those areas. If such a thing came to pass nationally, I think we have the potential to see job automation and job exporting at a level never considered.

And that’s a bit of the problem with South Dakota’s open-ended minimum wage law. There’s no cap. The sky is the limit.

If our open-ended state minimum wage law survives the inevitable court challenge that will come the first time the inflationary increase kicks in, state business owners – the ones who give the jobs to people – are going to have to make some hard decisions over what’s affordable to do in the course of business, and what isn’t.

Was Roberts’ Obamacare decision better than we might have thought?

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Since it was issued, Justice Roberts’ court opinion on Obamacare has been roiled and vilified by those on the right.

But in today’s on-line magazine “the Hill,” some are arguing that the decision might not be as bad as we think, and the decision may actually hold the promise of reigning in the bureaucracy in a way not previously contemplated:

Several noted scholars of administrative law (see here and here) have noted that Roberts has signaled a general movement away from Chevron and judicial deference to regulatory agencies. If courts do not defer to agencies, then it will be easier for those looking to overturn agency regulations to find a receptive ear in court. Industries looking to overturn future regulations will be sure to cite King v. Burwell in their briefs and argue that the issue they are contesting is of deep significance.

Whether this approach will be successful hinges on how many issues the courts decide are of “deep economic and political significance.” Administrative law experts say that Roberts breathed life into the “major questions” doctrine previously used by the Supreme Court to deny Food and Drug Administration (FDA) authority to regulate tobacco. Clearly, many regulatory questions are not major and do not rise to this level of significance and so the long-term impact may be limited to a small number of cases. But some regulations do rise to this level.

The most obvious regulations coming down the road that have economy-wide significance are the pending EPA regulations regarding climate change. These regulations will also inevitably end up before the Supreme Court sometime around 2018. The major questions doctrine may very well be used as the Supreme Court evaluates the EPA’s final regulations on climate change.

Read it all here.

So, while it may have legalized Obamacare, the court may have thrown down the gauntlet and signaled that they’re going to body-slam the EPA’s regulations on climate change.

What do you think?

Meade County Commissioner under attack for expressing his views

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According to the Rapid City Journal, Meade County commissioner Alan Aker is under a bit of attack by those who dwell on-line after expressing that the recent Supreme Court ruling would cause states to get out of the marriage business. (State Legislators have also noted they were going to bring bills to that effect in SD).

Meade County Commissioner Alan Aker has faced an outpouring of anger and criticism, including a petition to remove him from office, after he used his county Facebook account to predict dire consequences from the U.S. Supreme Court’s recent ruling allowing gay marriage.

The court’s 5-4 decision was announced on Friday, June 26; later that morning, Aker’s Facebook post included his prediction that states will begin to eliminate civil marriage.

“You haven’t gained marriage ‘equality,'” he wrote, “I predict you have ended marriage as a civil institution. One by one, states will remove it from statutes. It will be an exclusively religious institution.”

and..

Reader comments on the post include criticism that Aker misused a public official page, acted unprofessionally and put his own views above those of his constituents.

Aker has this disclaimer on his Meade County Facebook page: “This page written and paid for by Alan Aker, not Meade County. Commissioner Alan Aker does not speak for the Meade County Commission or other Meade County officials.”

Read it here.

Since this, on-line petitions have come out, demanding that he be removed from office.

I’m not sure how he’s “misused a public official page” that he put up and maintains himself. I think that tends to show the ignorance of the people signing up for the lynch mob.

The thing that’s troubling is that the protest illustrates a ratcheting up of the rhetoric, and seems to imply that Aker is somehow mystically barred from having and expressing opinions contrary to those who support the ruling.  The 14th Amendment may have trumped the first amendment in that instance, but that’s not to say that future rulings are going to go that way when the first wave of “religious protection acts” start hitting the court.

I’d say a little peace and empathy on both sides might go a long way while we sort this out as a nation, but that might be asking a bit much.