I laughed out loud when I read this:

I think everyone saw Toby’s notes.

Is there someone who went to the Dakota Scout debate tonight with a tin can on a string? Wondering if I can hook in to your feed to improve the sound quality?

Is it really a debate if no one outside the theater can tell what the candidates are saying? The sound was largely indecipherable from Hansen and Rhoden.  Not much better from the other two, either.

The sound was good from the moderators.. but I didn’t tune in for just the questions. Like several who are texting and emailing, I might try the replay.

Update…

Go here: https://www.newscenter1.tv/watch-now

Much better sound across the board.

Another Update..

How many notes did Toby plan on writing on his hand?

 

Senator Tamara Grove is clearly feeling the heat from State Representative Rebecca Reimer’s challenge in her race, as this weekend, Grove took to social media to insinuate – without directly naming her – that Reimer was was not supportive of rural health care.

And Rebecca wasn’t going to hear any of that nonsense, as she was quick to fire back on social media, with receipts:

The original post from Grove was then edited on facebook… Which I would interpret to guess that Tamara is double checking things, because Rebecca is ready to bring it.

Check it out on Facebook.

UPDATE: I missed this earlier. An Army of colleagues current and past of Rebecca’s came out in droves to put down Grove’s claims of Reimer not supporting rural health:

That’s a pretty long list!

From Facebook, Toby Doeden might be endorsing Marty Jackley for Congress as he should, but Marty is not getting into it in the Governor’s race.

WOW. That was not something I was expecting.

The property tax plan that was passed by the South Dakota Legislature to reallocate some existing sales taxes, and to create new sales tax revenue to offset property tax is apparently not popular in the state. As in wildly unpopular by half or more, depending on your subgroup according to SD News Watch, via the Argus Leader:

The survey of 500 registered voters across party affiliation conducted April 7-9 by Mason-Dixon Polling and Strategy, found 49% of respondents opposed the swapping of lower property taxes in exchange for higher sales taxes, while 33% approved and 17% were undecided. The margin of error is plus-or-minus 4.5%.

and..

Republicans were close to evenly split, with 45% opposing the new legislation, 42% supporting the measure and 13% undecided.

A majority of Democrats and Independents disapproved of the new laws, at 56% and 51%, respectively.

Read the entire story here.

In the Governor’s race, that’s probably not good news for Governor Rhoden and Rep. Jon Hansen, who both have been touting the sales tax shift plan, while Dusty Johnson has been critical of it.

(Toby Doeden is still clinging to the claim he’s going to eliminate property taxes without having any plan besides magic tax-eliminating fairy dust.)

Noting the unrequested endorsement(s) from Doeden PAC, it can always be worse. Like that that other endorsement for Congress, from all around awful person Phil Jensen:

Phil must be part of the very, very small subset of South Dakotans who join Bialota in applying “stand your ground” laws to 12 year old on the playground. (Not that the jury ended up agreeing.)

In case you’ve forgotten about Gubernatorial wannabe and car dealer Toby Doeden’s Political Action Committee, Dakota First Action, which he loaned hundreds of thousands to try to dump experienced lawmakers, causing the mess of a legislature we have now, the group is back with the text blasts. And in a shocker, Toby Doeden has apparently endorsed himself:

Now, I don’t think there’s any need to give Marty static, because this is kind of modus operandi for Doeden’s PAC, where they will go in and endorse someone who nether wants it, nor asked for it.  Like in Brookings last election when Doeden’s toxic PAC jumped in – uninvited and unwanted – and the PAC attention caused them to lose.   But they try to tie themselves to people they believe might win.

Except this time.

Because Doeden’s PAC has come in and endorsed Doeden. Which, if you’re coming in with your own PAC, and endorsing yourself.. well, that’s a new and novel kind of self-love.

Keeping Taxpayers Top of Mind
By: Gov. Larry Rhoden
April 24, 2026

Every taxpayer dollar belongs to the people. It’s our job as elected leaders to spend the people’s money as efficiently as possible to keep South Dakota strong, safe, and free. In recent years, South Dakotans made one thing very clear that they wanted property tax cuts – and this session, we delivered the largest property tax cuts in South Dakota history.

Since session ended, though, there’s been a lot of misinformation about those property tax cuts. Recently, I celebrated Administrative Professionals Day by having some of my team over for breakfast. They answer countless phone calls, letters, and questions from South Dakotans. And they mentioned a recent uptick in questions about taxes. A lot of the calls were driven by misinformation that the Legislature raised sales taxes this session. So, I’m here to clear up the facts.

This session, most legislators agreed with me that South Dakotans deserve real, meaningful property tax relief. But there was a lot of division – about 50 different bills to address property taxes. So, we put the work in, and by the end of session we accomplished the largest property tax cut in South Dakota history. It wasn’t easy. It took grit, hard work, and good ‘ol fashioned negotiating. Here are the facts behind that tax cut:

Next year, the sales tax holiday is due to expire, meaning the state sales tax is set to go up by 0.3% next July. The Legislature tried to make that tax cut permanent and wasn’t successful, and some legislators were chomping at the bit to spend those new tax dollars. So instead, we redirected that into a statewide property tax cut for homeowners. And you’ll see that tax cut next year on taxes payable in 2027. That’s not a new sales tax increase – the tax was already going up, and we’re reinvesting it in a statewide property tax cut.

On top of that, we passed my bill to give the people in each county the option to cut property taxes further. Each county will have the option to replace some or all of their homeowner property taxes with a local half-cent sales tax. It’s not a mandate – it’s a choice. Local leaders and local voters will decide whether it’s the right opportunity for their community – and I’m a big fan of local control!

There was one other bill that promotes local control: HB 1245. I received countless messages of support on this bill from mayors, city councilors, and business leaders from all over the state. They wanted their communities to be able to avoid bonding for projects (and avoid future property tax increases) by instead passing a penny sales tax for up to five years – and only if 60% of the people in their community were supportive.

I was initially skeptical of this idea, but I studied the bill and all of its safeguards. I recognized that it could be a good tool to keep our communities Open for Opportunity. As Mayor TenHaken points out, if Sioux Falls had this local option years ago, the city could have saved over $50 million on the construction of the Denny Sanford Premier Center.

We do a lot of things right in South Dakota. We have the 2nd lowest taxes in America because we always keep taxpayers top of mind. So, if you’ve called our office or stopped in and asked questions, thank you. It is important for me to understand your concerns and your questions. I hope I have answered some of them for you.

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Driving Growth
April 24, 2006

BIG Update

Dr. Julie Callahan, the Chief Agriculture Negotiator in the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR), joined me and my colleagues for a discussion on how strong agriculture trade is vital to our country.

We all spoke about the need to continue developing strong trade agreements and our desire to keep USMCA strong. Together, the USMCA and NAFTA trade agreements are the most successful of all time. As our countries evaluate USMCA in hopes to renew the agreement, we hope to improve U.S. dairy producers’ access to Canadian markets and increase Mexico’s purchases of U.S. grain.

Dr. Callahan is also focused on ensuring American producers don’t face unfair trade practices by foreign countries for using terms like parmesan, chateau, and bologna on their products. I’m leading the SAFETY Act, which is included in the Farm Bill, to make sure American ag products have fair access in global markets.

Johnson meets with Dr. Julie Callahan

BIG Idea

South Dakota Auto Dealers Association held their annual convention this week in Sioux Falls. It was an honor to join to talk about our shared values in the automotive and transportation industries. We agree – the free market should decide what types of cars are sold – not the federal government. That’s why I worked to eliminate Biden-era rules that would have mandated all new vehicles to be electric by 2032.

I’m also leading an effort to allow states to use funds from unused federal electric vehicle programs for other highway and infrastructure projects like improving roads and bridges. South Dakota has $29 million that cannot be spent on other priority infrastructure needs. My bill would ensure states can use these funds for their most important projects, instead of fulfilling a political agenda.

BIG News

This week, I cosponsored an amendment that will allow E15 to be sold year-round. This is something corn growers have been wanting for years, which will give them a larger market for their grain. Year-round E15 will also boost domestic energy production and energy supply, helping drive down gas prices for consumers.

I’ve been working to get this policy signed into law for some time and I’m hopeful this amendment will be added to the Farm Bill, which the House plans to vote on next week.

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Cultivating Opportunity in the Trades
By Sen. John Thune

During National Apprenticeship Week, we celebrate the people who work in the trades and on factory floors as well as the next generation coming up to do this important work. To my knowledge, there’s no artificial intelligence that can lay a foundation for a house or chatbot that can fix a toilet. Skilled jobs are in-demand jobs, and they will continue to be in-demand for a long time to come. So we need to invest in these careers and support the next generation of workers going into the trades, manufacturing, and other skilled professions.

That’s exactly what Republicans did last year as part of our Working Families Tax Cuts bill. In addition to delivering significant tax relief for American workers, we made substantial investments in America’s skilled workforce – investments that will grow our skilled workforce, create jobs, and help strengthen our economy by strengthening American workers.

The new Workforce Pell program, which will begin this year, will provide a hand-up to individuals participating in shorter-term training programs for in-demand jobs in fields such as construction, manufacturing, and health care. Workforce Pell grants will also be available to workers who already have undergraduate degrees, providing an option for people to learn additional skills or switch careers as well as for those getting started after high school.

The Working Families Tax Cuts also expanded 529 education savings plans and allows them to be used for vocational training, among other things. And it doubled the annual withdrawal cap to $20,000 to provide even greater flexibility for South Dakotans to use their money to pursue the education that works for them.

Alongside investments in training, the Working Families Tax Cuts also included a number of pro-worker and pro-growth tax policies. No tax on overtime will allow those working in manufacturing and in the trades, among others, to keep more of the money they earn when they work extra hours. Pro-growth policies like full expensing for new factories and factory improvements will help manufacturers grow, innovate, and importantly, create good-paying jobs. And by making the 20 percent small business deduction permanent, this bill helps Main Street businesses grow by investing in their operations and employees.

Republicans are focused on creating new opportunities for Americans to get ahead, and education is a part of that. Ensuring American workers have the opportunity and support to pursue the education that fits their dreams for the future is just one part of those efforts. The opportunities exist, and we need to support Americans pursuing them. That’s what we’ve done with the Working Families Tax Cuts and will continue to do to help more hardworking people pursue and achieve their American Dream.

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