Weekly Legislative Report
by State Rep. Tim Reisch

We’ve got five weeks down and four to go in this, the 100th session of the South Dakota Legislature. Several committees are having to reconvene following adjournment in the afternoons because their number of assigned bills is so high. Monday afternoon I was a member of two committees (State Affairs and Military & Veterans Affairs) that were meeting at the same time! This caused me to miss votes on three bills that were heard in State Affairs, but sometimes that’s unavoidable.

On Tuesday afternoon both sides of the prison construction bill (House Bill 1025) were given the opportunity to present their positions and field questions in a private caucus setting. In my opinion, Ryan Bruner from the governor’s office made the most compelling case for why the legislature should support the bill. The proposed prison facility is exactly what was recommended by an independent group of corrections experts that conducted a study of South Dakota’s prison system three years ago. During the 2024 legislative session, the Department of Corrections (DOC) was appropriated money to purchase the necessary land and to pay for design and engineering costs. This year’s bill would authorize the construction of the 1,500-bed facility south of Sioux Falls in Lincoln County. The total cost of the project including the land purchase, design, engineering and construction is $825 million.

On Wednesday, the prison construction bill was considered by the House State Affairs Committee. The SD Sheriffs’ Association and SD Chiefs of Police Association both testified in favor of building the new prison but didn’t want to take a position on the site the DOC had selected. The governor’s office and DOC personnel restated the arguments they’d effectively made the day before. Individuals who testified against the measure largely argued that it was being built in the wrong location or that the state was not following county zoning ordinances. No one argued that the 144-year-old penitentiary didn’t need to be replaced. I made it clear that I believed that the site selected by the DOC was a good location, and that we should authorize construction this year. Having previously served as Secretary of Corrections and having gone through the site selection process for a prison facility in Rapid City, I know first-hand that it is impossible to find a site that everyone is in favor of. Delaying the construction of the new prison for just one year is estimated to cost an additional $40 million or more.

The prison bill will next be considered by the House Appropriations Committee and then taken up by the whole House the next legislative day. Because it is a spending bill, it will require a 2/3rds margin to pass. We are very fortunate to have all the needed money set aside to pay for construction of this new facility, and I plan to vote in favor of it. If the measure fails to get the 2/3rds required for passage, legislators need to resist the temptation to spend those dollars on other pet projects. The cost for a new prison will continue to climb by an estimated 4% or more every year, and the need to replace the old penitentiary will not go away.

I enjoyed meeting with Madison Mayor Roy Lindsay, DSU President Jose-Marie Griffiths and Eric Hortness from the Madison Chamber of Commerce last week. I also enjoyed spending time with the Lake Preston and Sioux Valley senior high school classes while they were visiting the Capitol. If you want to get in touch with me during the session, my legislative email address is Tim.Reisch@sdlegislature.gov.

While legislators are looking to rob tens of millions of funding from South Dakota school districts, they seem to be ignoring teacher shortages, which do not seem to be getting any better in South Dakota.

In fact, the teacher shortage is getting so bad that as South Dakota News Watch is reporting, school districts are starting to outsource to countries where English may not even be the first language for teachers:

In all, 446 international teachers hold active certificates to teach in South Dakota schools, said Mary Stadick Smith, deputy secretary for the South Dakota Department of Education. The number of certificates issued to international teachers peaked in the 2023-24 school year, when 138 new certificates were issued, she said.

About 50 public school districts, roughly 25% of the state total, had foreign teachers on staff in 2024, the DOE said. The top three countries of origin are the Philippines, Columbia and Spain.

The DOE said the foreign instructors teach a variety of subjects and grade levels, and all must have valid visas and state certification as required by law.

and..

Vergara said his salary in the U.S., which is three or four times what he would earn as a teacher in the Philippines, allows him to send money back home, in particular to care for his brother who suffered a traumatic brain injury in an accident.

Read the entire story here.

So the same people who are reluctant to increase teacher pay, and want to strip millions of dollars from South Dakota school districts are the same people who are forcing school districts to look outside of the country to find people who will come into the state to work on an international visa because it’s 3 to 4 times the amount of money they can make in their own country.

The next time that South Dakota legislators listen to a harebrained proposal from State Senator John “California” Carley, they would be well advised to not just take his word for it. Because in his most recent legislative proposal –SB190– he didn’t exactly tell them the truth:

Schools and counties both receive property tax revenue. Carley said the credits would only apply to the school portion of taxes.

The bill would cost school districts a combined $14 million to $21 million per year in lost revenue, according to Carley, who attributed the estimate to a fiscal note prepared by the Legislative Research Council. The fiscal note was not yet publicly available Tuesday morning.

Read that here.

So, Carley claimed that the fiscal note said $14 to $21 Million.

Well, no, according to the South Dakota Legislative Research Council.

Try upping Carley’s figures a bit. To an incredible $34 Million to over $126 Million that his plan would have stripped from South Dakota public school budgets!

Who on earth would have voted for this bill if they were told up front that they were voting to strip an unbelievable $126 million from their local public schools?

Senators, the next time California Carley puts a legislative measure in front of you with a price tag attached to it – you had better check his math first.

Gov. Rhoden Announces Expansion of Highway Patrol in Sioux Falls  

PIERRE, S.D. –  Today, Governor Larry Rhoden announced a major force expansion of the South Dakota Highway Patrol in the Sioux Falls area. This public safety enhancement was announced at a press conference at the Sioux Falls Public Safety Campus.  

“This squad will support local law enforcement to fight crime and keep our communities safe,” said Governor Larry Rhoden. “As Governor of South Dakota, it is my duty to protect the people of this great state. This new squad is long overdue, and I am confident that it will lead to a brighter future.”  

The new squad, which will be comprised of one Sergeant and eight Troopers, will be paid for by the State Highway Fund.   

The is the first time in 25 years that a force expansion of the Highway Patrol in Sioux Falls has occurred. Over the last 15 years, the Sioux Falls Police Department has added an additional 50 positions. In that same timeframe, the Minnehaha County Sheriff’s Office force has nearly doubled, and the Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office’s force has more than doubled.  

“We greatly appreciate Governor Rhoden’s partnership and the State’s continued commitment to prioritize these investments to keep our communities safe and thriving,” said Sioux Falls Mayor Paul TenHaken. “As Sioux Falls and our surrounding communities continue to grow, collaborative investments in public safety must grow with it.”  

Governor Rhoden was joined by Mayor Paul TenHaken, Sioux Falls Police Chief Jon Thum, Minnehaha County State’s Attorney Daniel Haggar, Minnehaha County Chief Deputy Sheriff Jeff Gromer, Secretary of Public Safety Bob Perry, and Colonel Casey Collins of the South Dakota Highway Patrol.    

You can find a picture of Governor Rhoden announcing the expansion here. 

 ### 

Just as a postscript to my picture earlier in the week, I’m finding that in the 93 years that Inaugural pins have been made in connection with South Dakota’s Gubernatorial Inaugural Ball, the most recent pin for Governor Larry Rhoden is actually the largest Inaugural Pin ever produced:

The large 1987 Mickelson and 1973 Kneip pins are both 3 1/2 inch pins, and the Rhoden pin, aside from being a throwback to the large round buttons, comes in at a non-standard size 4 inch pin.

And our new Governor continues the tradition started in 1999 where the first lady/gentleman appears on the badge with the Governor.

The South Dakota Republican Party has sent out a big update out to Central Committee members this morning around 7:40.  So, of course I had it in my hands around 7:45.

What’s the update regarding? The 2025 Winter Meeting where new officers will be chosen, along with the meeting agenda, as well as a report from long-time Treasurer Brett Koenecke, who with law partner Justin Bell tag-teamed the Treasurer’s office for over a decade to – as Brett put it – “to keep us off the front page of the Argus Leader with respect to our business and fundraising and spending.”

First off – here’s the Invite & agenda:

Next is the very interesting letter from Brett to the party in discharge of his duties, which sheds light on what monies the party currently has in their federal account:

“The federal account is subject to federal rules, is all our money, and has $51,762.87 in it. The federal account contains two noteworthy contributions. One is from the trust of a New Jersey man who was killed in a motorcycle accident, the other is our share of joint fundraising with the president. The first is 10,000 and the second is 42,000 and change..“

Literally, every dime that’s currently in the federal account comes from unusual sources that the party won’t see in coming months, and there’s currently a little over $35k in the state account.  Likely enough to keep the lights on at a low level this year, but little more.

Here’s where the challenges start.   As noted in the letter, the party is on it’s last month for it’s Aristotle fundraising software, where records are kept, so the new group will have to decide whether to keep that software. Then there’s the services of the accounting firm. Then there’s the very important services of the Minneapolis Lawyer specializing in FEC reporting (Reid LeBeau. Reid was a long time- SD TAR/CR and super good guy. I’m sure this was done partially as a labor of love for the SDGOP.)

Speaking of attorneys, the end of Koenecke/Bell as party officers will also likely mark the end of some extremely discounted legal advice from these gentlemen in Pierre which helped the Republican party #1 dominate when it came to legal challenges the party faced, and #2 helped them avoid unforced errors.

I know when I would work on mail pieces for the SDGOP, as well as candidates working through the party, there were times when there was an obligatory “blessing of the mail piece” where things you thought were proper would go into hard stop because of FEC Rules that might not normally apply on what the party can say in print at the state level, but are quite detailed at the federal level, as well as whether the disclaimer needed to be state compliant or federally compliant. It might seem nitpicky, but that immediate knowledge and attention to detail matters. That’s what has kept the party off the FEC radar.

After a decade (or 2) of that kind of on-call legal expertise being at the party’s disposal for literally no-charge, this will be a very significant institutional loss. And the SDGOP will be entering a new era where they’ll likely be doing a lot of guess work, or having to cut a check when they have to get serious about someone needing assurance on what the rules are.

There are so many challenges that the SDGOP faces in the coming months. And of even greater concern, it’s not the challenges they know about. It’s the challenges they don’t know about that will likely trip them up.

 

Senator John “California” Carley had another bad proposal completely smashed today by the South Dakota State Senate, as his proposal to strip funds from neighborhood schools for private religious academies was defeated on more than a 2-1 vote on the Senate floor:

“The primary goal of this bill is to give schooling options for families by offering financial coverage for their nonpublic or alternative education,” said Sen. John Carley, the bill’s prime sponsor, who touts the measure as a way to provide “school choice” without sending state funds directly to families for homeschool or private school tuition.

and..

The Legislative Research Council, however, predicted SB 190 could result in tax discounts totaling between $14 million and $21 million annually.

Read it all here.

This is good reminder to voters that they really need to pay attention to the people they send to Pierre.

Because some of them come with agendas. And they are not there to represent their local constituents.

Gov. Rhoden Unveils Plan to Address Property Tax Burden

PIERRE, S.D. –  Today, Governor Larry Rhoden announced his plan to address the property tax burden on owner-occupied property in South Dakota: SB 216A. He made the announcement at his weekly legislative press conference, and he was joined by the ten members of the property tax working group from both the South Dakota House and Senate.

“This bill is a strong solution to the property tax burden that so many South Dakota homeowners experience,” said Governor Larry Rhoden. “This was the first ‘Governor’s Bill’ to be introduced in 2 or 3 years, and I’m very proud to have it as a Governor’s Bill.”

SB 216A addresses the property tax burden on homeowners in the following ways:

• Limits the increase in owner-occupied assessments to 3% countywide for the next 5 tax years;
• Caps the amount taxing districts and school capital outlay budgets can increase as a result of new construction – local government budgets don’t need to grow just because a homeowner makes a small improvement to their property; and
• Increases the maximum income limits for the assessment freeze program to $55,000 for single member homes and $65,000 for multi-member homes – the bill also increases the maximum eligible home value to $500,000.

“I want to thank all of the legislators who participated for the great discussions. Every single member of the working group is supportive of this proposal and is ready to move forward,” continued Governor Rhoden.

###

Thune Leads Effort to Permanently Repeal the Death Tax
45 senators cosponsor legislation to end the punishing, burdensome tax 

WASHINGTON — U.S. Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) today led 45 of his Senate colleagues, including Sen. Mike Crapo (R-Idaho), chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, in reintroducing legislation that would permanently repeal the federal estate tax, commonly known as the death tax. The Death Tax Repeal Act would end this purely punitive tax that can hit family-run farms, ranches, and businesses as the result of the owner’s death.

“Family farms and ranches play a vital role in our economy and are the lifeblood of rural communities in South Dakota,” said Thune. “Losing even one of them to the death tax is one too many. It’s time to put an end to this punishing, burdensome tax once and for all so that family farms, ranches and small businesses can grow and thrive without costly estate planning or massive tax burdens that can threaten their viability.”

“Small businesses are the lifeblood of Idaho’s economy, and family farmers, ranchers and entrepreneurs have often worked lifetimes to grow their businesses,” said Crapo. “The death tax can be a devastating blow to American families who want to pass down their farm or small business to the next generation. It’s time to permanently provide relief from this unfair tax.”

“South Dakota’s farmers and ranchers should not have to worry that their business will die with them because of the death tax,” said Scott VanderWal, president of the South Dakota Farm Bureau. “I thank Senator Thune for leading this important legislation in Congress and for his unwavering commitment to protect agricultural producers from this crippling tax burden and costly estate planning expenses.”

“Mom and pop business owners often spend a lifetime building a viable business that they can pass on to the next generation, but the estate tax presents a very real obstacle,” said Nathan Sanderson, executive director of the South Dakota Retailers Association. “Repealing the estate tax will provide peace of mind for hard-working families who want nothing more than to continue serving their communities for generations to come.”

The legislation is cosponsored by U.S. Sens. Jim Banks (R-Ind.), John Barrasso (R-Wyo.), Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.), John Boozman (R-Ark.), Katie Britt (R-Ala.), Ted Budd (R-N.C.), Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.), John Cornyn (R-Texas), Tom Cotton (R-Ark.), Kevin Cramer (R-N.D.), Mike Crapo (R-Idaho), Ted Cruz (R-Texas), John Curtis (R-Utah), Steve Daines (R-Mont.), Joni Ernst (R-Iowa), Deb Fischer (R-Neb.), Lindsay Graham (R-S.C.), Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), Bill Hagerty (R-Tenn.), Josh Hawley (R-Mo.), John Hoeven (R-N.D.), Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-Miss.), Ron Johnson (R-Wis.), Jim Justice (R-W.Va.), John Kennedy (R-La.), James Lankford (R-Okla.), Mike Lee (R-Utah), Cynthia Lummis (R-Wyo.), Roger Marshall (R-Kan.), Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), Dave McCormick (R-Pa.), Jerry Moran (R-Kan.), Bernie Moreno (R-Ohio), Markwayne Mullin (R-Okla.), Pete Ricketts (R-Neb.), Jim Risch (R-Idaho), Mike Rounds (R-S.D.), Eric Schmitt (R-Mo.), Rick Scott (R-Fla.), Tim Scott (R-S.C.), Tim Sheehy (R-Mont.), Thom Tillis (R-N.C.), Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.), Roger Wicker (R-Miss.), and Todd Young (R-Ind.). Companion legislation was introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives by Rep. Randy Feenstra (R-Iowa).

Thune, who has made death tax repeal a priority for a long time, led the Senate’s attempt to repeal the estate tax while Congress considered the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) in 2017. Although the final version of the TCJA did not repeal the death tax, the law effectively doubled the individual estate and gift tax exclusion to $10 million (approximately $13.9 million in 2025 dollars) through 2025, which prevents more families and generationally-owned businesses from being affected by this tax. The increased exclusion expires at the end of 2025, which increases uncertainty and planning costs for family-owned businesses, farms, and ranches.

Thune’s bill is supported by more than 190 members of the Family Business Coalition and more than 105 members of the Family Business Estate Tax Coalition, which includes the National Federation of Independent Business, the National Restaurant Association, the National Association of Home Builders, and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.

###

The South Dakota Republican Party has filed their February FEC report covering the month of January 2025. And…

Feb 2025 Sdgop Fec by Pat Powers on Scribd

That headline is not a typo. They raised $2.38 (in interest). And that’s it. Less than $2.50 in income against $9.8k in expenses, leaving them $57.5k cash on hand in the federal account.

They probably spent hundreds more in preparing and filing this report then they raised.

This is why I harp on raising money as being one of the big 2 jobs of the party. When the county parties abandon their duties to help with those expenses, and they make the atmosphere toxic for the party to act on its own, it does not bode well.