Johnson, Dingell Reintroduce Bipartisan Legislation to Bolster the Voluntary Public Access and Habitat Incentive Program 

Washington, D.C. – Today, U.S. Representatives Dusty Johnson (R-S.D.) and Debbie Dingell (D-MI) reintroduced bipartisan, bicameral legislation, the Voluntary Public Access Improvement Act, to reauthorize and strengthen the Voluntary Public Access and Habitat Incentive Program (VPA-HIP) at the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The program provides grants to states and tribal governments to incentivize private landowners to voluntarily open their lands for public use while upholding private property rights. Senators Steve Daines (R-MT), Michael Bennet (D-CO), and Roger Marshall (R-KS) introduced companion legislation in the Senate.

“Encouraging conservation and public access to land through a voluntary program promotes personal freedom and agency, rather than the government’s heavy hand,” said Johnson. “This program’s success will protect outdoor recreation traditions for future generations of South Dakotans.”

“Outdoor recreation like fishing and hunting have always been central to Michigan’s culture and heritage, and continuing to expand access to land for public use is important to continuing these rich traditions,” said Dingell. “The Voluntary Public Access Improvement Act will expand outdoor recreation opportunities nationwide, improve access to the outdoors for all Americans, and bolster critical conservation efforts. I’m proud to reintroduce this bipartisan, bicameral effort to help people get outside and enjoy Michigan’s natural beauty.”

A lack of access to land is a common barrier to participation in outdoor recreational activities such as hunting, angling, and wildlife viewing. The VPA-HIP seeks to address this challenge by expanding public access to land for recreation purposes. The bill increases the program’s funding from $50 million to $150 million over 5 years, from fiscal years 2025 through 2029. This investment would stimulate local economies by supporting jobs in the outdoor recreation economy, specifically in our rural communities. Funding from this program is also utilized to provide assistance to landowners for wildlife habitat improvement and enhancement programs.

The bill is supported by the Congressional Sportsmen’s Foundation (CSF), the Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership, the American Sportfishing Association, Delta Waterfowl, Pheasants Forever & Quail Forever, the National Deer Association, the National Wildlife Federation, and Michigan United Conservation Clubs (MUCC).

“There are dozens of state programs throughout country that help open public hunting access on private lands, but one common thread is that VPA-HIP is the unsung hero that makes much of that access possible,” said Ariel Wiegard, Vice President of Government Affairs for Pheasants Forever and Quail Forever. “The economic returns for rural communities in VPA-HIP have been shown many times over, and increasing funding for the program is one of our top priorities in the next farm bill. Access is at the core of Pheasants Forever and Quail Forever’s mission, and we thank Representatives Dingell and Johnson and Senators Daines, Bennet, and Marshall for their leadership and support for this very successful program.”

“By reauthorizing and expanding the only federal program specifically designed to increase opportunities for hunters and anglers on private land, the Voluntary Public Access Improvement Act addresses the number one barrier to participation in our sporting traditions, lack of public access,” said Kaden McArthur, Director of Policy and Government Relations for Backcountry Hunters & Anglers. “We applaud the bipartisan leadership of Reps. Debbie Dingell and Dusty Johnson and Sens. Roger Marshall and Michael Bennet on legislation that would expand public recreation opportunities as well as enhance fish and wildlife habitat.”

Read bill text here.

I found this post on facebook regarding the librarian lock-up act, and it seems to give a hint as to what libraries will have to enact in response to House Bill 1239, if they are to stay open at all:

The anticipated response of “restrictions to all child library cards or requiring parental accompaniment at the Library” is quite telling.

Basically, if they can get librarians to work at all, they’re going to impose restrictions on materials and patrons – in effect, reinforcing that parents should be parents. Which they should have been in the first place before this idiotic bill was brought. You will likely see all child library cards go away, or they will flat out require parents to check out the material, so there is no chance that they run afoul of the liability they want to heap on library workers.

Unfortunately, this is the stupidity we’ve come to where as opposed to libraries being a repository of knowledge for the public to access, there are those who want to use the government to threaten to lock up people – including volunteers – whose jobs are to run a barcode under a scanner and to tell you that the book is due back in 30 days.

I would urge Senators to vote no on locking up librarians, and to reject HB 1239.

Gov. Rhoden Signs Eight Bills into Law

 PIERRE, S.D. –  Today, Governor Larry Rhoden signed the following eight bills into law:

• SB 33 makes appropriations for water and environmental purposes and declares an emergency;
• SB 47 clarifies eligibility for licensure as a video lottery operator;
• HB 1047 makes an appropriation to reimburse health care professionals who have complied with the requirements for rural recruitment assistance programs and declares an emergency;
• HB 1056 prohibits the preparation, sale, and distribution of certain kratom products and provides a penalty therefor;
• HB 1072 modernizes provisions relating to water development districts;
• HB 1074 modifies the individuals eligible to sign an affidavit of homelessness for purposes of obtaining a free copy of a birth certificate;
• HB 1075 modifies the persons eligible to sign an affidavit for proof of homelessness for purposes of waiving the fee for a nondriver identification card; and
• HB 1125 creates a share the road bicyclist safety emblem for use on an emblem specialty plate.

Governor Rhoden has signed 43 bills into law this legislative session.

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Thune: Energy Security is National Security

 “If Democrats acknowledge that we are rapidly approaching an energy crisis, they might have to actually consider the consequences of their energy plans.”

Click here to watch the video.

WASHINGTON — U.S. Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) today delivered the following remarks on the Senate floor

From Twitter:

I visited the Tieszen Memorial Home to meet the residents and chat about what is going on in Washington, DC. We talked about the urgent need to cut spending and we all agreed NOT to cut Social Security and Medicare. pic.twitter.com/H1yhGVSkKx

— Rep. Dusty Johnson (@RepDustyJohnson) February 18, 2025

Senator Mike Rounds WEEKLY ROUND[S] UP: February 17-23, 2025

Welcome back to another edition of the Weekly Round[s] Up. We had another week full of meetings, hearings and votes – 32 of them, to be exact. And while voting is a big part of our job in the Senate, we typically don’t take that many in one week! This was due to a process we call a “vote-a-rama,” in which we vote on a series of amendments to our budget resolution before it passes. While it took staying until nearly 5:00 AM on Friday, the Senate managed to pass our budget resolution which accomplishes President Trump’s priorities for his administration. We also confirmed three more nominees to serve as members of President Trump’s team, making a total of 19 cabinet members confirmed. More in my Weekly Round[s] Up:

 South Dakotans I met with: Representatives from the Manitou Group, which has equipment facilities in Madison and Yankton.

Other meetings: David Sampson, President and CEO of the American Property Casualty Insurance Association; Jakob Stausholm, CEO of Rio Tinto; Jensen Huang, CEO of NVIDIA; Laurent Bili, France’s Ambassador to the United States; Bob Buddecke with Honeywell; and Bob Frenzel, CEO of Xcel Energy. I attended our Senate Prayer Breakfast, where Minority Leader Chuck Schumer was our speaker this week. I also attended a breakfast with the Senate National Guard Caucus where we were able to sit down with National Guard state Adjutants General from across the country.

Hearings: I had one closed hearing this past week in the Select Committee on Intelligence.

 Classified briefings: I attended one classified briefing this past week related to my work on the Senate Armed Services Committee.

Votes taken: 32 – we were able to confirm three more nominees for President Trump this past week: Howard Lutnick to lead the Department of Commerce, Kelly Loeffler to lead the Small Business Administration and Kash Patel to lead the FBI.

As I mentioned, we also held a vote-a-rama on Thursday night into Friday morning. Two weeks ago, my colleagues on the Senate Budget Committee released our Senate version of a budget resolution. This legislation focuses on accomplishing President Trump’s priorities, including unleashing American energy, bolstering our national security and securing our border. Because this resolution isn’t able to be filibustered, Senate Democrats slowed down this legislation by debating on the Senate floor and offering amendments, which we voted on through the night for hours on end. Despite this process, we still passed the budget resolution, bringing us one step closer to accomplishing the President’s agenda.

Legislation introduced: I introduced legislation with my colleagues on the Senate Banking Committee which would ease burdens and shield small businesses from excessive legal red tape. The Protect Small Businesses from Excessive Paperwork Act of 2025 would extend the filing deadline for businesses to report beneficial ownership information until January 1, 2026. Read more on this legislation here.

I also reintroduced the Postal Processing Protection Act, legislation that would require the U.S. Postal Service to consider consequences for rural areas during its closure or downsizing review process in order to protect rural mail processing facilities. Read more about this legislation here.

My staff in South Dakota visited: Aberdeen.

Steps taken: 49,237 steps or 24.57 miles.

Video of the week: I joined Stuart Varney on Fox Business to discuss the reconciliation process:

Wonder why your homeowner and auto insurance always seems to go up? Caught an interesting article this morning on what we’re going to be facing for insurance at the next time of renewal. Expect your homeowner and auto rates to jump around 9%.  But keep in mind, it could have been worse.

The U.S. property/casualty industry took another underwriting loss in 2024, but results improved thanks to rate increases and changes in risk selection.

A report from industry rating agency AM Best this week said U.S. P/C insurers posted an underwriting loss of $2.6 billion in 2024 – a large improvement over the underwriting loss of $24.6 billion recorded in 2023. The estimated combined ratio for 2024 was 98.9 compared to 101.9 for 2023.

and..

The personal lines segment will be a driver of expected improvement, AM Best said. In 2024, personal lines posted a net underwriting loss of $11.9 billion compared to a loss of $36.7 billion in 2023. Rate increases in auto and home insurance, the combined ratio for auto was 98.7 (from 104.9 in 2023) and homeowners was 105.7 (from 110.9 in 2023).

AM Best said personal lines premium increased 12.9% in 2024, and is projecting to increase 9% this year. “Insurers are focusing on achieving the rate increases necessary to address their calculated rate needs, particularly for the lines of coverage such as private passenger auto and homeowners multiperil,” the agency said, adding that insurers are “prepared to withdraw from a given state entirely if needed increases are not approved.”

Read that here.

The industry’s predictions on what auto claims would be in 2024 (98.7) helped offset being a little off on homeowner claims (105.7), with both numbers much closer to what they predicted than the prior year.  The biggest thing for consumers of homeowner and auto insurance to be aware of is that insurers are “prepared to withdraw from a given state entirely if needed increases are not approved.”  Basically, insurance companies aren’t afraid to withdraw from a market if they can’t charge enough for the risk they’re signing on to assume. That’s why people can be challenged to find homeowners insurance in California due to wildfire. And, massive hailstorms in western South Dakota don’t help our situation.

It’s literally a game of predictive modeling, trying to predict the unpredictable. When those ratios are around 100, they were spot on with what the predictions were, and that what they charged for insurance will cover the claims and costs.  If not.. well, that’s when rates go up, or insurers pull out of the market entirely.

Just something to keep in mind the next time you get that insurance bill.

Unlike the House of Representatives who heard the Lock-up Librarians Act – House Bill 1239 – in House Education, upon receipt of the measure, the Senate has assigned the bill to the Senate Judiciary Committee because, it has nothing to do with education, and everything to do with throwing librarians in jail for up to a year for a criminal act if there’s something in a book that someone objects to!

The bill will be before Senators Wheeler, Hulse, Blanc, Duhamel, Grove, Mehlhaff, and Pischke in the coming days, so please contact your state senators and encourage them to kill this idiotic bill that’s a massive overreach of government, and deliver a message that there are processes already in place to address the material, and we don’t need new laws to throw Librarians, teachers and museum workers in jail.

You can find their contacts here.

Ryan Gaddy, a Republican who unsuccessfully tried to run as Libertarian for PUC in 2014, and unsuccessfully tried to organize a decriminalization effort for marijuana in 2015, has allegedly threatened a legislator out in Idaho according to news reports:

Ryan Gaddy was arrested in the early hours of the morning and booked into Kootenai County Jail for making official and executive threats, pending a $250,000 bond.

And..

“Not sure how many 5 gallon gas cans I can fit in the car, but today could have very explosive results. Jordan Redman…this…is gonna be hilarious!” a post on Gaddy’s facebook said.

Gaddy was arrested in Shoshone County in late 2024 after a standoff with law enforcement according to the Coeur d’Alene Press.

Read the entire story here.

That’s not terribly smart.

Gov. Rhoden Signs Pro-Second Amendment Bill into Law

 PIERRE, S.D. –  Today, Governor Larry Rhoden signed SB 81, which prohibits the use of a firearms code for transactions involving firearms, accessories, components, and ammunition and to provide a civil penalty therefor.

“I am proud to protect our Second Amendment rights with the signing of this bill,” said Governor Larry Rhoden. “South Dakota has seen strong growth of our firearm industry, and this bill will help that continue. I am grateful that both the bankers and the firearm industry came together on this issue.”

A private signing ceremony was held this morning and included representatives from South Dakota’s growing firearms industry, South Dakota’s banking industry, the National Rifle Association, and prime sponsors of the bill. You can find a picture of Governor Rhoden signing SB 81 here.

Governor Rhoden has signed 35 bills into law this legislative session.

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