A chance at economic diversity
by State Rep. Kent Roe

Data centers are generating a lot of conversation. Mostly positive conversation. I am 58 years old, and I remember a time when new technology scared me. I remember asking my dad, as a rattled kid, WILL THIS WORK? Whether it was pushing on a wrench, throwing a lever on a tractor, or the forever daunting electric fence shock test. Yep, it jolted me and amused my Grandpa sitting in the pickup watching. This experience was just another step in the never-ending test of trustworthiness. So, let’s step back and take a broader look at this situation: I trusted my dad; my dad trusted the technology; society accepted the technology; and we had a better world because of it.

Since then, technology has kept moving forward. When I was a kid, we had a party line telephone. Our ring was 2 short rings. We then had to hurry up with the conversation to free up the line for others. This line was on the Hayti line. I went to grade school in Hazel. That meant a long-distance call home from school if an adequate reason existed, which was a tall order when you’re a kid. It usually meant toughing it out and making the bus ride home. It’s amazing how many maladies cured themselves between the “emergency” and jumping off the bus at home.

We all know how quickly technology moves. My experiences with a party line to today’s instant communication, it is arguably all artificial. I’ll advance the notion that “artificial intelligence” has been around a long time. Society has decided to call this latest iteration “AI”. Like “xerox” meant to make a copy. And to produce a “facsimile” of a document was called a “fax”, “AI” now means artificial intelligence.

AI invokes technological advancements. Here we are today, still benefitting from humanity’s never-ending march into the future. Is it scary? It can be! As a child I was petrified of heights. As an adult visiting a chiropractor, I was apprehensive. As a bona-fide country boy rolling into Queens, New York in a semi-truck for the first time, yep, I was scared. There is plenty that frightens me today. I’d love to try sky diving, but up to this point I lack the courage.

South Dakotans are courageous individuals willing to take risks. Whether it was my grandpa risking my getting shocked from the hot-wire or my own gamble driving into completely foreign territory in the biggest city in the U.S. We are brave! We are willing to try new things and accept new concepts.

Much conversation has been raised regarding sales-tax for these data centers. I spent time in Pierre with the Department of Revenue, and I spent time with Bill Even & Joe Fiala from the Governor’s Office of Economic Development discussing taxation of these enterprises. I talked with Deuel County zoning, Sully County zoning, county commissioners from multiple counties, and legislators from other states. I visited with data center neighbors and school districts with data centers within their boundaries. I visited the enterprise in Ellendale, and I drove around the data center in Sully County. I have taken time to research & learn about these data centers.

We currently operate under rules adopted during the Daugaard administration. The Reinvestment Payment Program https://sdgoed.com/public-records/reinvestment-payment-program/  has been used by big thinkers since then to bring business, jobs and big opportunities to South Dakotans.

I have worked with Nick Philips from Applied Digital since early April of this year. He is a Subject Matter Expert (SME) on data centers. I have worked with subject matter experts (SME) in other fields. We rely on SME in medicine, law, food, transportation, etc. People become SME by being exactly that, Subject Matter Experts. I asked him to produce a document that would offer a summation of the enterprise from the industry, here that is:

South Dakota Data Centers Separating Facts From Fiction by Pat Powers on Scribd

Applied Digital offered tours of their site in Ellendale, N.D. I took advantage of their offer, as did many engaged legislators.

Several other states have already recognized the potential of the enterprise. Many have tax laws in place providing a favorable, inviting environment for pioneers. Here’s that link: https://www.naiop.org/research-and-publications/magazine/2024/Winter-2024-2025/development-ownership/an-overview-of-state-data-center-related-tax-incentives/

As a farm kid I was taught about diversification in farming. That’s what we had, a diversified farm. South Dakota has always had a diversified economy. Data centers offer another industry we can diversify into and would fit into both the local and state economy.

Patriotic Americans recognize the benefit of home-grown technology and the application of the fruits of that technology. We’re in a global race with China, Iran, and other bad actors in the AI world. Let’s help our United States of America remain as the undisputed champion of the free world.

Creating remedies for disease has consumed thinkers since time began. AI offers unrivaled assistance to researchers by helping them solve problems still too tough to crack.

In South Dakota we have a history of pioneering. Whether my ancestors in northeastern South Dakota, or the multi-generational ranches out west; their nerves of steel and patience of Job have led us to success in the past. Yes, there are broken dreams in our lives. As a child I dreamt of having a mini bike like my friends. I grew up and realized the immaturity of that desire. I learned the value of long-term planning and patience when plans didn’t roll out to reality. I learned the value of having a defined and reliable playing field. Let’s help ourselves. Let’s be diligent & prudent in our research. Let’s open our state to the next generation of pioneers. Let’s help our college and university students be first in line for tech jobs by proving we welcome progress.

These are modern pioneers looking for a place to settle. South Dakota can provide a good home for these entrepreneurs. Let’s make this happen.

From Rasmussen Reports, ignoring what the media is trying to portray, Americans are telling the pollster they like the job that former South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem is doing at DHS:

Voters have a much higher opinion of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) now that Kristi Noem is secretary of the department.

The latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone and online survey finds that 49% of Likely U.S. Voters say DHS is doing a good or excellent job of securing the U.S. border and preventing illegal immigration under Secretary Noem. That’s up from 29% in November 2023, when Alejandro Mayorkas was DHS secretary.

Read that here.

Toby Doeden took to Twitter in response to a South Dakotan asking what he was going to do about school closures. And we got a glimpse of what Doeden’s policy proposals on education are.  Except.. they aren’t really actual proposals.

It’s just a series of slogans he’s throwing out which make less and less sense when placed against a framework of South Dakota’s laws, the system of how we fund education, and well, plain old reality:

Doeden wants to “defund the system,” yet somehow “pay teachers their worth?”  How exactly does he intend to pay teachers at all if the system is “defunded?”  South Dakota’s educational funding system is not exactly something you can easily pin down.   Cheating somewhat, and using Google’s AI to help put our arms around it, this provides a relatively broad outline of what “the system” is that Doeden is telling voters he wants to defund:

This is not exactly a system you’re going to start tearing things out from . So, where does Toby plan to start hacking?   And don’t forget the demands of the South Dakota Constitution; Article 8 section 1:

Uniform system of free public schools. The stability of a republican form of government depending on the morality and intelligence of the people, it shall be the duty of the Legislature to establish and maintain a general and uniform system of public schools wherein tuition shall be without charge, and equally open to all; and to adopt all suitable means to secure to the people the advantages and opportunities of education. 

How exactly does Toby plan to “defund the system” in light of the Constitution plainly demanding that “the Legislature.. establish and maintain a general and uniform system of public schools.”  School funding has been quibbled over and tweaked over the course of 125 years after this was drawn up, yet Doeden claims he can somehow “defund the system?”

But it’s not just his ridiculous slogan barfing on education – it seems that literally every proposal he tosses out there has no real thought or intelligence behind it, as opposed to being complete pablum for people who don’t get into details. When pressed, I’ve heard him say that he wants to run things like a CEO and people under him will figure it out, or something evasive to that effect.

I don’t recall that Governor Bill Janklow ever told voters that the people under him would figure it out, do you?  When Governor Mike Rounds had a plan to enable Homestake to be turned into a world class research facility – he knew exactly how they could solve the liability problems that plagued earlier efforts. Dennis Daugaard had a command of finance that helped him understand that we needed to keep South Dakota’s bond ratings high to help weather the recession he was facing.

The point being, in none of these instances did you ever get the impression that they were throwing out platitudes and just didn’t have a clue what they were talking about? Yet in almost every instance of what we’re getting from Toby, once you start drilling down, his slogans fall apart like being at the dentist with a rotted tooth where the shiny gold part was the only thing holding it together.

It’s literally a campaign of hucksterism, even moreso than we typically get from those running for office. It’s all randomly generated slogans and no policy. You have to ask yourself  – who is advising him on education or anything? Rep’s Manhart & Schaefbaur, and Sen. Carl Perry? Or Better yet, Senator “California” Carley?

Because if that’s who he’s got, he’d be better off taking everything they tell him – and casting this utter void of intelligent thought away. Because not having any idea of what he’s talking about is going to kill his campaign quicker than anything, no matter what he spends.

From Fox News, Congressman Dusty Johnson has introduced a measure to make sure our Military Academy sports teams are  separated by biological sex:

A key House Republican is introducing a bill to keep military academy sports teams separated based on biological sex, with the backing of activist Riley Gaines.

In an interview with Fox News Digital, Rep. Dusty Johnson, R-S.D., said it was important for Congress to act because it holds jurisdiction over those military schools.

“There are important physiological differences between men and women. I think most everybody knows that. And this bill makes sure that our military service academies, that we’ve got a fair playing field,” Johnson said.

Read the entire story here.

As takes place every summer, Team Dusty is out on the ground in literally every parade in South Dakota as they were once again this weekend:

If you’re interested in walking a parade with the Dusty crew, reach out to info@dustyjohnson.com, and they’ll get you hooked up with an orange shirt and a location!

State Representative Brandei Shaefbaur is in Aberdeen this weekend flustered and having a conniption fit that Aberdeen police won’t relate a well-person check they were doing to Rapid City ex-news anchor Shad Olson’s claim that they were really trying to catch someone he claimed had threatened to firebomb a Toby Doeden speech:

Schaefbauer said she doesn’t know if the threat she was told about was personal or politically motivated. She said she didn’t know about the details about how it might have been reported, but she saw police officers enter the building, walk around it and check out the scene. She’s upset that Olson has been portrayed as a liar.

McNeil said police were searching for somebody during the time of the event and were in the vicinity of the event center. There were concerns about the person’s mental and emotional health after a welfare check was requested, he said, but it was not related to the Doeden event.

Read that the Aberdeen Insider.

So, Brandei didn’t know really anything (a common thing, I know) about what the police were actually doing. BUT, she’s upset that Olson has been portrayed as a liar.  Representative Brandei Shaefbaur – defendress of Shad Olson’s impinged honor because of accusations in the media that he did not know of what he was speaking.

Of course, when she defends him now, and as she was thanking him after she had him testify on her legislation this last session..

..both times she has a tendency to completely ignore the fact Shad was arrested and Shad ultimately pled no contest to charges that he assaulted his girlfriend in February of 2024.  Maybe it would be nice if Rep. Schaefbaur cared more about women reporting they were picked up by the neck than the honor of the people who get arrested and plead “no contest” for that kind of thing.

But, that doesn’t seem to fit into Brandei’s legislative agenda.  Good thing for Aberdeen residents to remember in 2026.

Looking like the turnout for the SDGOP Golf tournament was a bit light yesterday. Especially considering they’re splitting the take with the Miller VFW.

LEGISLATIVE LEADERSHIP ISSUES RESPONSE ON LEGISLATOR SHOOTINGS IN MINNESOTA

PIERRE – The leadership of the South Dakota House of Representatives and South Dakota Senate issued the following response today on the shootings of two Minnesota legislators early this morning:

“As leaders of the South Dakota House of Representatives and the South Dakota Senate, we are heartbroken by the senseless act of political violence against our fellow lawmakers and neighbors in Minnesota. We stand together to strongly condemn this attack, which has deeply shaken the Minnesota Legislature.

We mourn the tragic loss of Speaker Emerita Melissa Hortman and her husband Mark. Our deepest condolences go out to their loved ones, colleagues, and the people of Minnesota.

We are also keeping Senator John Hoffman and his wife, Yvette, in our prayers as they fight for their lives. We stand with their family and community during this deeply painful time.

In this moment of grief, we also pray for peace, compassion, and a renewed commitment to civility in Minnesota and across our country.”

The statement was signed by Representatives Jon Hansen, Speaker of the House; Scott Odenbach, Majority Leader and Erin Healy, Minority Leader; and Senators Chris Karr, President Pro Tempore; Jim Mehlhaff, Majority Leader and Liz Larson, Minority Leader.

View the official statement here.

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I’m sure you’ve noticed as I have that loading times at dakotawarcollege.com could be better. I’m afraid that’s symptomatic of the software that runs my server coming to the end of life where it’s no longer supported, which is going to force me to do a major update/upgrade which I am not looking forward to.  It’s been probably better than 10 years that it’s running on this same back-end software.

And, in it’s 20th year, the site is actually ..busy. The fact we have the nation’s Senate Majority Leader, a former Governor who is very visible in the Trump administration, and we’re inching towards the biggest election in more than a decade.. That means we’re getting plenty of traffic.

At the same time,  the SDWC website is holding nearly 15,000 posts – over a decade’s worth – that are on-line and over 160,000 comments. Load times are also symptomatic of the fact that there is frankly a lot of data, causing it to groan a bit. Taking that all together, I think I need to shake the dust bunnies out of the website. I did a great purge some years back for the same reasons, and I don’t think I can avoid it much longer.

That will be coming up, so if you notice SDWC down for a bit sometime in the coming weeks, that’s why.

I’m not going anywhere. Just scraping some barnacles off to get the state’s oldest active political blog ready for another 20 years.

Peace & Prosperity
By: Gov. Larry Rhoden
June 13, 2025

There’s a beat-up old book sitting on my desk at the State Capitol. It’s full of pictures that were taken by my dad. Long after he passed, we found an old camera hidden amongst his old possessions. We got the film developed, and lo and behold – the photos were all from his service in World War II. They started with his service in the Battle of the Bulge and continue through the end of the war in Europe.

My dad helped liberate the notorious Mauthausen Concentration Camp, and the book includes those photos as well. The pictures are difficult to look at because of the horrific things that were done there, and my dad didn’t talk about it much.

I recently went on a trade mission to Israel, and I joined a wreath-laying ceremony at Yad Vashem, the World Holocaust Remembrance Center. While I was there, they showed me portions of the memorial specific to the Mauthausen Concentration Camp. By remembering and honoring the dead, we can ensure that atrocities like the Holocaust never happen again. And we can work together to build a more peaceful and more prosperous world.

I don’t use the word “awesome” very much. Americans use it far too often and far too frivolously. It’s supposed to mean “inspiring awe or admiration,” but to most Americans, it just means “yeah, that’s pretty good.” But let me tell you, Israel is truly an awesome place. The history is awesome, that of both God and of man. Beyond that, the nation of Israel is taking incredible actions to maintain the peace and prosperity of their people.

Israel is a nation beset by enemies on all sides. In just these last few days, conflict has broken out between them and Iran as Israel moves to defend themselves, and we are praying for the safety of their people. Yet theirs is a land where freedom rules, where anyone can be who they set out to be. Jews, Muslims, and Christians live side by side and have all the same opportunities.

Israel even has the highest birth rate in the developed world – kind of like South Dakota has the highest birth rate in America! With freedom comes happiness and the hope of building a better life.

While I was in Israel, I met with key leaders like President Isaac Herzog, Speaker of the Knesset Amir Ohana, and Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar. Those meetings were an important part of strengthening our relationship and working together for our mutual peace and prosperity. By working together with Israel, one of our greatest allies, we will keep South Dakota Open for Opportunity for generations to come.

I also spent an evening with the U.S. Ambassador to Israel, Mike Huckabee. He hosted our trade delegation for a reception at this house. Ambassador Huckabee used to be Governor of Arkansas, so he understands what it means to advance opportunities for his home state. Ambassador Huckabee has stood for freedom his entire career and appreciates what a strong Israel means for America’s own peace and prosperity. I was grateful for his kindness and counsel.

Our time was very well spent to support South Dakota’s economy! Our trade delegation was made up of South Dakota defense and agriculture businesses that are actively seeking sales in the Israeli market, and previous such missions have paid tremendous dividends. As President & CEO of South Dakota Trade Jesse Fonkert said, “Businesses are generating real opportunities that have already produced millions in sales and a robust pipeline for even more expansion.”

That’s how we continue expanding peace and prosperity – by working together, strengthening relationships, honoring the past, and looking to the future with hope for all the opportunities in front of us.

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