MAGA Dream Team! 🇺🇸❤️ pic.twitter.com/gIiHM6lGCA

— GOP (@GOP) January 22, 2025

Wow.

Former Lawrence County Commission candidate Erica Douglas actually put this to print this morning, and is apparently upset that consideration for the rights of the disabled actually matter:

Erica is apparently upset that education for people with a disability might be a consideration for House Bill 1009, one of the education voucher bills. And apparently someone testifying against the bill for that reason this morning had the temerity to oppose her efforts at hand-counting ballots, because their efforts don’t take into account voting rights for the disabled.

Not only does she not apparently not care about the disabled.. but can’t even spell the word.  And she’s sick of people standing up for the rights of the disabled?

Again, Wow.

She could have been an elected official, responsible for the interests of citizens in Lawrence County. And apparently, doesn’t like the disabled and their advocates standing up for their place at the table.

Keep that in mind for the next time she runs, because that needs to be hung around her neck forever.

Senate Bill 12 was just heard in Senate State Affairs committee, and there was a core group of opponents who stood hard against fixing the loophole for wealthy donors, where someone say, such as George Soros, has a loophole where they don’t have to follow South Dakota’s campaign finance law and can loan a campaign committee unlimited funds such as $50,000, $100,000 or even a million dollars.

Senators Carl Perry, Tom Pischke, and Kevin Jensen were the opponents on the Senate State Affairs Committee to the campaign finance reform measure proposed by Senator Michael Rohl, with the rest of the committee voting “Do Pass,” after Carl Perry’s effort to submarine the measure.

Why would Sleepy Carl be so firmly against campaign finance reform? Well, I seem to recall Toby “Dumpster-Fire” Doeden‘s Dakota First Action PAC being very loud against the measure:

I also seem to recall that there’s a bit of a relationship there.

Well no wonder why this core group opposed it. They’re all the endorsed candidates of the South Dakota version of George Soros who has made no bones about using nearly unlimited funds to buy as many elections as he can, with Tom and Carl as the beneficiaries of his unlimited loan-ability.  (We’ll know if there’s more when the year-end reports are filed).

As noted earlier, he even has a lobbyist in Pierre to oppose anti-corruption election laws, giving Senator Perry crib notes on how he’s supposed to vote:

Thankfully, there were enough politicians who don’t owe Toby Doeden or his Political Action Committee any favor$ for buying mail pieces, billboards or text messages for them, that the measure sailed out of House State Affairs committee to the Senate floor.

But I’m sure Toby and his lackey will keep the pressure on to keep the loophole for the wealthy open to dump unlimited hundreds of thousands into state legislative campaigns.

Stay tuned.

 

South Dakota Retailers Elect President, Officers, Board Members

PIERRE, SD – Sarah Hustead of Wall Drug in Wall has been elected President of the South Dakota Retailers Association Board of Directors. Board members are responsible for setting general policies, establishing goals and objectives, and determining legislative positions for the influential statewide business organization, founded in 1897.

Having served on the board since 2016, Hustead officially received the gavel from outgoing President Kevin Nyberg of Sioux Falls during the association’s annual business conference on January 13 in Pierre.

“Since 1897, this organization has been the voice of retail and hospitality in South Dakota,” Hustead said. “I’m humbled to take on this historic role and grateful for the opportunity to serve our dedicated members who make our communities stronger every day.”

In addition to Hustead, three other business owners were named as officers: Jason Harms of Harms Oil Company as President-Elect, David Mickelson of Graham Tire as Secretary-Treasurer, and Kevin Nyberg of Nyberg’s Ace and Dakota Workwear in Sioux Falls and Watertown as Past-President.

Six first-term board members were elected to serve in 2025, including Nick Caton of Killian’s Food & Drink in Spearfish, Melissa Johnson of Oh My Cupcakes! in Sioux Falls, Erin Krueger of Freed’s Fine Furnishings in Rapid City, Rodney Messmer of Lynn’s Inc. in Rapid City, Michael Shoup of Oahe Pan in Pierre, and Rhonda Sprecher of Don’t Spill the Beans in Huron.
RF Buche of the GF Buche Food Company based in Wagner and Scott Cross of Lewis Drug in Sioux Falls were re-elected to the board.

“Our board consists of outstanding South Dakota business professionals, and our newest members are no exception,” said Executive Director Nathan Sanderson. “With their dedication and expertise, we will continue to provide our members with unmatched information, advocacy, and services.”

Outgoing board members were also recognized for their contributions: Steve Beck of Beck Motors in Pierre; Sean Dempsey of Dempsey’s Brewery Pub & Restaurant and Danger Von Dempsey’s in Watertown, Aberdeen and Brookings; Debra Jensen of Jensen Enterprises in Rapid City; and Susan Peterson of Buffalo Jump Off Ranch in Belle Fourche.
To view a complete list of South Dakota Retailers Association board members or to find out more about their efforts to foster a successful business climate in South Dakota, visit sdra.org/sdrabod.

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The South Dakota Retailers Association is one of the nation’s oldest and largest state retail organizations, operating as the South Dakota Restaurant, Grocers, and Hospitality associations. We believe in South Dakota businesses, offering information, advocacy, and money-saving services to over 4,000 members. Learn more online at sdra.org.

In recent months, affiliates of the South Dakota Canvassing group filed suit in two counties over petitions demanding County Commissions mandate that they approve petitions for hand-counting after these petitions were rejected by the respective county commissions. 

The first was slam-dunked in Lawrence County. This is the second of those decisions, issued this morning in Charles Mix County, also delivering a defeat to the hand-counting zealots on the basis of violating state or federal law.

Memorandum Decision Writ of Mandamus by Pat Powers on Scribd

Senator Mike Rounds’ WEEKLY ROUND[S] UP: January 6-20, 2025

Welcome to the first Weekly Round[s] Up of 2025! We’ve had a busy first couple weeks of the 119th Congress out here in DC. Preparation for President Trump’s second term is in full swing. While I started meeting with his nominees in December, we began hearing from those nominees in public hearings. Hosting these hearings early tees up the nomination so that we are ready to vote and get them in place now that President Trump is in office. In my committees, we’ve already voted to approve Pete Hegseth and John Ratcliffe, and they’ll now head to the full Senate. We’re hitting the ground running and ready for a busy few months as we work day in and day out to get President Trump’s chosen team confirmed, as well as accomplishing some of his major policy priorities early in his term. Here’s my Weekly Round[s] Up:

South Dakota meetings: I met with the South Dakota Wheat Growers Association; and Cammy Lantis and Leah Rinard with Lantis Enterprises. We also had many South Dakotans visiting Washington for the inauguration. I enjoyed getting to visit with them and welcome them to town at events hosted by my office over the weekend.

Met with South Dakotans from: Aberdeen, Box Elder, Brandon, Brookings, Chamberlain, Deadwood, Dimock, Estelline, Forbes Township, Midland, Milbank, New Underwood, Piedmont, Pierre, Rapid City, Sioux Falls, Spearfish, St. Lawrence, Tea, Vermillion, Wagner, Whitewood and Winner.

Cabinet nominee meetings:

• John Phelan, nominee to be Secretary of the Navy. His nomination will come before the Senate Armed Services Committee (SASC), which I serve on.
• Dan Driscoll, nominee to be Secretary of the Army. He will also go through SASC.
• Stephen Feinberg, nominee for Deputy Secretary of Defense who will come through SASC.
• Todd Blanche, nominee for Deputy Attorney General.

Other meetings: Brendan Carr, Commissioner at the Federal Communications Commission (FCC); Kirsten Hillman, Canada’s Ambassador to the United States; John Ketchum, CEO of NextEra Energy; Dario Amodei, CEO of Anthropic; Bill Anderson, CEO of Bayer’s Worldwide; and Nathan McCauley, CEO of Anchorage Digital.

I hosted a gathering with Senator Cynthia Lummis (R-Wyo.) honoring our seatmates, Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) and Senate Majority Whip John Barrasso (R-Wyo.), who are now in leadership positions within our conference. I also attended Senate Bible Study, hosted by Senator Steve Daines (R-Mont.), and Senate Prayer Breakfast, where we heard from Senate Chaplain Barry Black.

Inauguration Ceremonies: I stayed in Washington this past weekend attending the Inauguration of President Trump. This included breakfast with President Trump on Sunday morning and the Inauguration ceremony in the Capitol Rotunda on Monday. It was a great weekend celebrating our 47th (and 45th) President, and we’re ready for all the good things to come!

Hearings: We kicked off our nomination hearings with Pete Hegseth, nominee for Secretary of Defense, in the Senate Armed Services Committee. Mr. Hegseth did well in responding to questions from the committee members on his vision for the Department of Defense, including a focus on lethality. You can watch the clip of my questions here.

We also had the nomination hearing for John Ratcliffe, nominee to lead the Central Intelligence Agency, which you can watch a clip of here. In the Banking committee, we heard from Scott Turner, nominee to lead the Department of Housing and Urban Development. You can watch the Banking clip here.

Votes taken: 5 – all of these votes were to move the Laken Riley Act forward. I voted yes on this legislation, which I was an original cosponsor of in both this Congress and the last Congress. This bill will require Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to arrest and detain immigrants who have committed certain crimes until they are deported.

My staff in South Dakota visited: Aberdeen, Brookings, Pierre, Sioux Falls, Volin, Wall, White River and Yankton.

Steps taken: Week 1: 55,645 steps or 27.7 miles

                       Week 2: 49,483 steps or 25.09 miles

Video of the week: I joined Newsmax following President Trump’s swearing in to discuss the ceremony as well as his executive orders:

Johnson Re-Introduces Bill Locking in Supreme Court Justices at Nine 

Washington, D.C. – Today, U.S. Representative Dusty Johnson (R-S.D.) re-introduced his Keep the Nine constitutional amendment to limit the number of justices on the U.S. Supreme Court to nine.

“Calls from the left to ‘pack the court’ are radical attempts to gain a political advantage,” said Johnson. “The Supreme Court is an essential part of protecting our republic and keeping our government free and fair. I introduce this amendment each Congress to protect the integrity of the Court.”

“Court packing will only create a politicized judiciary with judges chosen solely to accomplish specific political results. AFP is proud to support the House resolution to Keep the Nine because we must take proactive steps to protect the Court’s important role of serving as a critical check on the political branches. We applaud Representative Dusty Johnson and House Republicans for advancing this proposal that ensures our Constitution protects this vital institution,” said Casey Mattox, Senior Advisor to Americans for Prosperity.

“The Keep Nine Amendment is critical to the preservation of an independent Supreme Court that protects the rule of law and every one of our Constitutional rights,” said Paul Summers, Chair of The Keep Nine Coalition, former Attorney General of Tennessee.

“The National Federation of Republican Women strongly endorses the Keep Nine Amendment to safeguard our Supreme Court. Our nation has operated with nine justices for 150 years, ensuring judicial independence and protecting constitutional rights. By codifying this number in our Constitution, we prevent any political manipulation of the Court’s size,” said Julie Harris, President of National Federation of Republican Women.

Johnson’s House Joint Resolution has 72 cosponsors.

Read full bill text here.

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Listening to testimony against House Bill HB 1009, and Large Schools Lobbyist Diana Miller cited the State Constitution today. A passage I was not familiar with, but very current as it relates to a number of issues before the body.

    § 16.   Public support of sectarian instruction prohibited. No appropriation of lands, money or other property or credits to aid any sectarian school shall ever be made by the state, or any county or municipality within the state, nor shall the state or any county or municipality within the state accept any grant, conveyance, gift or bequest of lands, money or other property to be used for sectarian purposes, and no sectarian instruction shall be allowed in any school or institution aided or supported by the state.

Read that here.

I tend to believe that this would apply to several issues this legislative session. And I would venture that would also include Senator “California” Carley’s bill (SB51) to post the ten commandments in every classroom, as well as Rep. Al Novstrup’s bill to place volunteer chaplains (HB 1054) in public schools.

Interesting that these measures might flagrantly violate the South Dakota State Constitution.  And 136 years after it was written, our state’s constitutional framers deserve a shout out for being not just timely, but timeless.

I had received one, and had people sending them to me left and right.  Young Americans for Liberty lobbyist and goofball Anthony Miryzants was back at it again yesterday afternoon using text blasts to try to get people to contact their legislators to support his versions of school vouchers, HB1009. Except, it wasn’t a very friendly persuasion. Because they’re all badly written, and use photos as they would use in a hit piece:

First off, it pushes a message where they couldn’t even bother to remember to put the legislators name in all of the spots for their template:

The House Education Committee meets first thing this AM to vote on HB 1009, and your State Representative NAME is a key member of the committee.  It actually says NAME in all of the texts I was forwarded. And as one correspondent noted to me “I give it an F. Also — if they used a picture that bad of me….they’d never have my support.”

And this was not the exception, but the rule. Here’s one that came across to Brookings Residents:

Using a dark, blurry hit piece photo and telling me “Your State Representative NAME is a key member of the committee.”  In addition to misspelling her name. (2 L’s).

As yet another legislator who had the “State Representative NAME” hit piece text message go across their district quipped “I guess they don’t teach attention to detail at freedom caucus school.”  No. They missed that subject, as well as a number of other ones.

Guessing Anthony is going to mark this one down in the loss column. If not today, I doubt it makes it out of the House.