From the Argus Leader, the Board of Regents is telling the legislative planning commission that College is becoming out of reach because of it’s expense:

While the Board has worked to make college more affordable and more accessible for lower income students, there is still work to be done, Michael Rush, executive director of the South Dakota Board of Regents said.

Rush said there is a perception among South Dakota students that college carries too high a price tag. He said though the number of students enrolling in post-secondary institutions has increased over several years, the numbers aren’t as high as he’d like.

and…

Partly to blame for that shying away from postsecondary education is the price tag. South Dakota public colleges have the second highest tuition rates in the region for residents. Of South Dakota’s neighboring states, the only state with a higher tuition price tag is Minnesota.

Read that her.

College is getting expensive? Well, it’s not cheap to build a fiefdom. Maybe it’s just me, but personally, I’m of the opinion that the BOR has done much of this to themselves.

I recall several years ago, instead of having everything processed in Pierre like the rest of state government, they formed their own accounting & payment system to the tune of several million dollars. We have how many universities in how many locations at this point?

The Board of Regents has long been considered the 4th Branch of government, and has managed to get by with little oversight in comparison to the rest of state government. If their mission is to provide a college education to those who qualify academically, coming back and saying they need more money for scholarships so people can afford it is putting the cart before the horse.

Before they come to the taxpayer’s well, what they need to do is to look how they can internally cut costs, and make decisions as to what are needs and what are wants.

I hold out the example in looking at colleges over the past few years with my kids. SDSU built a rock wall for student use. Next thing you know, USD built one, and boasted how theirs was a foot higher than SDSU’s. Yes, really.

Yes, I’m sure much of that is paid by student fees, as coming from my kids and my wife as she finishes up her doctorate. But, that example is a general pervasive attitude. There is no thought on “how can we college more affordable by reducing expenses?” It’s a question of “how much can we get away with raising student fees?”

Why is it inconceivable to go to a single university system? Or perhaps a study on how can we can consolidate some of the smaller ones into the larger ones? Or perhaps shift the accounting system back under State Government.

If they want to make college more affordable, that’s where the Board of Regents needs to start. Long before they work on ways where they can continue to charge students more.

Today’s headline at Argusleader.com is blaring “Hawks says she can beat Noem.”

Yes, please try not to laugh. We probably can place that notion right along other flights of fancy such as bigfoot, unicorns, and alien abduction. Yes, there are people who believe in those too. But any proof remains to be seen.

Her bid is one seen by many as a long shot in a state where all 13 statewide offices are held by Republicans. But Hawks said despite South Dakota’s overwhelming Republican majority and her current lack of campaign dollars, she believes she can beat incumbent U.S. Rep. Kristi Noem, R-South Dakota, next November.

“I won my legislative race the last two sessions, I won my legislative race in 2012 in a Republican district. I won my second race in a Republican district with an extremely low Democratic turn out,” Hawks said. “I was elected by Republicans in my district.”

Read it here.

Yes, she did win her legislative race in the last 2 elections (not sessions). In 2012, she won by 82 votes. In 2014, she won by 8 votes.  Not exactly trending as a strong contender. She’s trending by the skin of her teeth.  And let’s not forget this little minor factoid:

But Noem, now in her third term will be challenging to beat at the ballot box. The Republican won in 61 of 66 counties in 2014. And her campaign spokesman, Justin Brasell, said Noem currently has $1.2 million on hand. Noem hasn’t started worrying about next November just yet, Brasell said.

Read that here.

At best, Hawks is down by $1.195 million in fundraising, assuming she’s put 5k of her own cash into it.

Considering she’s one of the state’s only 2 or three Democrats who will admit they’re in favor of a state income tax, AND she’s openly supporting Planned Parenthood, despite the fact that it looks like they’re chopping up and selling aborted fetuses… … I’d just reiterate that any hope of her winning resides in the realm of imagination with bigfoot and unicorns.

Where any such ridiculous notions of her winning statewide election against Congresswoman Kristi Noem belong.

From the Argus:

Heather Hitterdal, communications specialist for the city of Sioux Falls, said Friday that Mayor Mike Huether sent formal invitations to Obama and Buffett, but neither is able to attend because of prior commitments.

“We would have liked to welcomed them to our city,” Hitterdal said, “It never hurts to try.”

Read it here.

For someone running for Governor in two years, I’m surprised that Huether is trying to snuggle up to Obama. Considering South Dakota battles Utah for the title of “State where Obama is the least popular.”

If you have some free time on Thursday, and you’re in the Sioux Falls area, you should make it a point to take in the Family Heritage Alliance Luncheon. Dale Bartscher sent a nice note today extending this invitation to SDWC readers:

I would like to personally invite you and your faithful readers to the Family Heritage Alliance’s ‘Sioux Falls Area FHA Luncheon’ this coming Thursday, September 3, at the Linwood Wesleyan Church on 57th Street at 11:45 a.m. This buffet lunch/program, for the cost of a donation, will conclude by 1:00 p.m. Simply go to www.FamilyHeritageAlliance.org for more information and/or to register your attendance.

I believe you will find our keynote speaker – John Paulton – inspiring! John, formally a long-time resident of Sioux Falls, now serves at CitizenLink – the public policy partner to Focus On The Family in Colorado Springs, CO. His message to us will be a TIMELY one as we face a culture which is growing increasingly hostile to our faith, families and freedoms. We’ll also hear from Sandy Brockhouse of John Witherspoon College, located in Rapid City, along with representatives from the offices of Senator Thune, Senator Rounds and Representative Noem.

Standing for Faith, Family and Freedom,
Dale Bartscher, Executive Director
Family Heritage Alliance

Thanking our VSOs
By Senator Mike Rounds
Aug. 28, 2015

In my first eight months working as a member of the Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee, I’m beginning to learn just how complicated it can be for our veterans to work with the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to obtain promised benefits and utilize the agency’s wide range of services. While trying to navigate the VA and its benefits, there are a number of resources veterans can tap into for help. Veterans Service Officers, who are employed by counties and tribes in South Dakota, are but one group of individuals committed to providing information, assistance, counseling and referrals to veterans to help them navigate the VA and address a wide array of issues unique to our vets.

Veterans Service Officers, or VSOs, often play a necessary and crucial role in improving the lives of South Dakota veterans and their families. These VSOs are trained by the South Dakota Department of Veterans Affairs (SDDVA) to provide assistance to veterans, dependents and survivors.  Their expertise and dedication to VA issues has improved the lives of countless South Dakota veterans throughout the years.

I recently had an opportunity to meet with a group of VSOs and staff from the SDDVA at a gathering in Pierre. Many VSOs share my frustrations with the problems plaguing the VA that are preventing our veterans from receiving the timely, quality care they have been promised. Yet every day, our VSOs work tirelessly to push through the VA red tape and make certain that South Dakota veterans receive the care they deserve.

In recent years, the Department of Veterans Affairs has rightly earned a reputation of poor service and poor use of taxpayer dollars. While there are many great physicians and nurses at the VA caring for our veterans, I have heard too many firsthand accounts of mismanagement during committee hearings and through the many calls to my office from South Dakotans struggling to work with VA bureaucrats. Given the many challenges with the VA, advocating for our veterans at the local level is more important than ever.

Our veterans and their families make incredible sacrifices to defend our country and keep us safe. County and tribal VSOs and the South Dakota Department of Veterans Affairs have a direct and positive impact in making certain they are properly cared for when their mission is complete. I’m very proud of the work our VSOs do to assist and guide our nation’s heroes.  For more information about VSOs or to find your local officer for assistance, you can call the SDDVA at (605) 773-3269 or visit www.vetaffairs.sd.gov.

I will continue my work on the Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee to hold the VA fully accountable to these selfless and brave men and women across the country. Nevertheless, I remain grateful to organizations and individuals – especially South Dakota Veterans Service Officers – who work quietly and tirelessly every day on behalf of our vets.

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Examples Of Stewardship
A column by Gov. Dennis Daugaard:

It was President Grover Cleveland who said “a public office is a public trust.” The man who served as the United States’ 22^nd and 24^th president knew Americans expect their elected officials to do what is morally right and to be good stewards of taxpayer dollars. Still today, Americans believe that public servants should carefully and responsibly manage the things entrusted to their care.

Since first being elected five years ago, I have abided by this principle. With the help of state employees and legislators, South Dakota has a number of recent examples of good stewardship to share.

One example is the investment we are making in our roads. Our motor fuels tax had lost half of its purchasing power since it was last increased in 1999, and we saw that if we did not act, our roads and bridges would deteriorate. Time wasn’t on our side. Even though many of us in South Dakota generally oppose tax increases, we realized the longer we waited to act, the more costly it would be to repair our roads. So we came to a compromise that generated significant new revenue for construction costs without placing an unreasonable burden on our citizens. After months of discussions and studying the issue, the state Legislature passed a bill to raise $85 million in new revenue for our roads and bridges at both the state and local levels.

Another way we have been good stewards is by maintaining our buildings and better managing our properties. For instance, we recently made investments in our State Capitol Building. When we learned that the glass floor in the Capitol Rotunda and the stained glass throughout the building were both at risk of collapse, we spent money in the short-term to preserve the beauty of our Capitol Building and make improvements that will last for a century or more. Montana waited too long. They were forced to replace their Capitol glass floor, based on the same design as ours, with common ceramic tile.

Stewardship in our state has also meant responsibly managing our finances.  In 2011, South Dakota was facing a structural deficit. We cut state spending by 10 percent for every agency and office of state government. My staff and cabinet secretaries took a 10 percent pay cut and I cut my own salary by 15 percent. It wasn’t pleasant. But making difficult choices, we balanced our state budget and placed South Dakota on a firm financial footing. For four consecutive years now we have ended our fiscal year with a surplus.

Since emerging from recession many states are balancing their budgets again. But far too many of those other states have long-term liabilities – unfunded pension obligations and large general obligation liabilities. In South Dakota we have neither of those things. Our state’s pension is in sound condition for present and future retirees. We are one of only a very few states in the nation that can say that.

Good stewardship does not always mean not spending. We exercised frugality in 2014, when we received an unexpected windfall of $33 million. We used that money to retire bonds early and to pay cash, rather than borrowing, for a new veterans’ home. We were able to increase spending on education and Medicaid more quickly because of the savings we enjoyed from those decisions.

Efforts of good stewardship may not always grab headlines. Stories of reinforcing the floor in the state Capitol and responsibly managing the state’s pension system don’t usually end up on the front page of the newspaper. But it’s this kind of stewardship that makes good government and it’s what the people rightly expect of their elected officials.

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