Jackley: United States Supreme Court to Hear Same-Sex Marriage Cases

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United States Supreme Court to Hear Same-Sex Marriage Cases

PIERRE, S.D. – Attorney General Marty Jackley announced today that the United States Supreme Court has agreed to hear the same-sex marriage cases. “I am pleased that the Supreme Court has decided to take up the issue. There needs to be a national resolution. The question before the Court goes to the heart of the States and their citizens’ traditional role in defining marriage.”

In September of 2014, South Dakota joined with 19 other bi-partisan States requesting that the United States Supreme Court determine whether the U.S. Constitution requires States to adopt and recognize same-sex marriages.

It is anticipated that the Court will hear arguments in April with a final ruling being entered next summer, probably late June.

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Release: 2015-2016 Officers Announced for Pennington Co. GOP.

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From a release:

2015-2016 Officers Announced for Pennington Co. GOP.

penn_coOn Wednesday, January 7, 2015, the Pennington County Republicans disclosed the results of their biennial officer election. The new officers (all residents of Pennington County) are as follows:

Ben Treadwell – Chair
Patricia Johnson – Vice Chair
Heather Gosch – Secretary/Treasurer
Sandy Marlette – State Committeewoman
Jeff Marlette – State Committeeman

The Republican party’s by-laws dictate that only members of the county’s GOP Central Committee may vote for county officers. The five above were unanimously elected for the 2015 – 2016 term. Despite adverse weather, turnout for this election was greater than any internal election in the party’s recent memory, with more than eighty persons in attendance.

Release: Rounds Applauds Advancement of Powder River Training Complex Expansion

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Rounds Applauds Advancement of Powder River Training Complex Expansion

WASHINGTON – U.S. Sen. Mike Rounds (R-SD) made the following statement on the Air Force’s announcement that it has formalized its decision to expand the Powder River Training Complex:

“Today’s announcement is great news for our state, the federal budget, and our national security,” Rounds said. “The additional airspace the complex will provide to Ellsworth will greatly benefit the facility, strengthening the role the Air Force Base plays in national defense. Plus, it make sense fiscally – saving taxpayers millions of dollars annually. It’s good to have the FAA and Air Force work together on this effort and I look forward the FAA finalizing the expansion decision. I thank Sen. Thune and Rep. Noem on their work in previous sessions of Congress to see this important project advance and look forward to working with them to see it cross the finish line.”

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Annette Bosworth’s Latest fundraising plea. Marty Jackley runs DSS with his minions, Annette is 100% innocent, and other tall tales.

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Is it February yet? I’m not sure it can’t come too soon, so the Bosworth circus can finally pack their tents up and break camp.

I was mentioning ‘Bosworthian’ fundraising pleas yesterday, when I was talking about Rick Weiland’s latest cash beg. Coincidentally, today brings us an ACTUAL new Bosworth fundraising plea.

Although it was dated for December, my correspondent received in the last few days. And as you might expect, it’s a bit much:

New Boz Letter

“That 8-page letter made it into the hands of Attorney General Marty Jackley as well as several of the other establishment politicians in South Dakota.

Well, no kidding. When you send out thousands of letters, a few are going to come back to SD for episodes of eye-rolling.   And people wondering exactly when all this alleged “preacher interrogation” took place that she keeps bringing up.  And if you thought that claim continues to be a stretch……..:

The Department of Social Services, run by AG Marty Jackley, receives hundreds of millions of dollars in federal money to care for them .

Did I miss it when the Governor handed over the Department of Social Services to the Attorney General?  No? Then I guess the letter would be lying here.

Which has an effect of impeaching it’s testimony in other places, such as where it claims – I AM 100 PERCENT INNOCENT.

The problem with this claim is that Bosworth has publicly admitted the conduct for which she’s been charged with. I’m not sure how that makes her 100% innocent.  Or even 75%.

Anyway, according to the letter, you can donate $500, $1000, or $2500 to Annette’s legal fund.  And even better, the donation form has a place for you to put all your credit card information on the donation form, including the CVV number for your card.

Oddly enough, much like many of the claims she makes in the letter, I’m not sure that I would be comfortable with that.

Is this “The Better” LRC?

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(Editor’s Note: This column originally appeared my the daily original piece for the SDWC Daily Digest for 1/14/2015. Although I missed last night’s edition due to illness, it’s delivered daily for those who don’t monitor the blogs on a constant basis. If you’re not subscribing, you should be. Original content, a daily review, items of note and more.)

Is this “the better” LRC?

If you hadn’t heard, the South Dakota Legislative Research Council has taken a few hits in the last couple of years.

In recent years it had employees accused of sharing confidential legislative drafts with other legislators. It saw long-time hands & managers retire and be replaced, and had a decade-long veteran executive director resign after a critical review commissioned by the National Conference of State Legislatures which recommended sweeping changes, some of which were implemented.

A new Executive Director, Jason Hancock, was brought in in late summer/early fall from the Idaho Department of Education, where Hancock served as Deputy Director, and many claimed that this would right the ship from the problems that the LRC had in recent years.

However, for a ship that is supposed to be on a corrected course, the LRC seems to be somewhat limping along as it finds it’s way. For the past decade of on-line bill filing, pre-filed measures were available beginning in mid-December on the LRC’s web site. This year? They finally appeared a day or so before session.

In previous years, as measures had been introduced and filed by members, they had been promptly filed and placed on-line for public review. But the new LRC? We’ve ended two days of the legislation session, and nearly no new  measures (besides those pre-filed) are yet to appear on the LRC’s web site.   One Legislator I spoke with today echoed the lament, and noted that their performance was slower than any other year they’d ever seen. (And that’s saying it in a far nicer manner than they did.)

When it had been brought up by this and other web sites earlier, Capitol news stringer Bob Mercer was quick to rush to their defense, and claimed the LRC was “proceeding with caution.”

The LRC’s cautious speed might work for Bob, but for Legislators and the public, we were told this was going to be a better LRC.

We’re still waiting to see it.

Release: Powder River Decision a Victory for Ellsworth and the Air Force, Says Noem

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Powder River Decision a Victory for Ellsworth and the Air Force, Says Noem

Washington, D.C. – Rep. Kristi Noem today applauded the U.S. Air Force’s final Record of Decision on the Powder River Training Complex as a positive step toward finalizing the proposed expansion of air space.

“Nothing can replace the value of air time for our airmen,” said Noem.  “Proper training and readiness are critical to our airmen’s safety and success in the field.  With the expansion of air space at Powder River, Ellsworth Air Force Base and the U.S. Air Force will have critical access to one of the largest training complexes in the country.  I have worked with the Air Force and monitored the progress of the Powder River Training Complex expansion since coming to Congress.  The Record of Decision released today clears an important hurdle for the U.S. Air Force and moves us one step closer to finalizing this mission-critical project.”

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Release: Following Thune Backing, Air Force Finalizes Critical Training Airspace Expansion

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Following Thune Backing, Air Force Finalizes Critical Training Airspace Expansion

-Approval of PRTC increases national security while saving taxpayers money-

John_Thune_official_photoWASHINGTON, D.C.—Following nearly nine years of collaboration between U.S. Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.) and the Air Force to expand the military training airspace over South Dakota, North Dakota, Montana, and Wyoming, known as the Powder River Training Complex (PRTC), Thune today applauded the Air Force’s announcement that it finalized its Record of Decision (ROD) to approve the PRTC. Now that the Air Force has completed its portion of the process, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) will complete its review before the training airspace can be utilized.

“It is rare to have an opportunity to increase national security while saving taxpayer dollars, but that’s precisely what this project does,” said Thune. “After nearly nine years working with the Air Force on this important expansion project, I’m pleased we’ve entered the final step to ensuring our Air Force pilots and personnel have the adequate airspace to perform the critical training they need in conditions that more closely resemble combat missions. I’m proud of the vital role Ellsworth continues to play in protecting and preserving America’s freedom at home and abroad and look forward to the FAA finalizing the PRTC expansion.”

The PRTC expansion will provide Air Force pilots and personnel with expanded airspace to perform the critical training they need in conditions that more closely resemble combat missions. The expansion will also allow for large force exercises where multiple aircraft and crews can train together simulating a combat environment without live fire exercises.

The new Powder River Training Complex will be divided into four quadrants, with each of these quadrants divided into low-, medium-, and high-altitude sections. With the exception of Large Force Exercises, which will be for only 10 days per year, only a few quadrants will be in use during the week, and only for a few hours each day. The airspace will continue to be open for civilian and commercial use when it is not being used for training exercises.

The PRTC expansion not only marks the largest expansion of Special Use Airspace in America’s history, but also represents an important cost-saving initiative. The expanded airspace will save Ellsworth Air Force Base up to $23 million per year and is the first time the FAA and Air Force have worked jointly on such an effort, setting a precedent for further cost-saving cooperation down the road and addressing stakeholder concerns up front.

Ellsworth Air Force Base has a $350 million impact on South Dakota’s economy and is the state’s second largest employer.

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