Governor Noem Signs Executive Order for Educational Flexibility

PIERRE, S.D. – Last Friday, Governor Kristi Noem signed an executive order to provide flexibility for South Dakota high school graduates pursuing South Dakota Opportunity Scholarships.

Executive Order 2020-31 suspends requirements for Opportunity Scholarship applicants who did not have the chance to take an ACT test this previous spring or summer due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Students will have the option to replace the ACT requirement with the equivalent or higher score from their SmarterBalanced test. For students attending college this fall, the SmarterBalanced test would have been taken in the spring of their junior year of high school.

To learn more about executive orders to fight the COVID-19 pandemic, please visit COVID.sd.gov.

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State Republican Party Chairman Dan Lederman is speaking with KWAT Radio today about the environment that the Delegates to the National Convention are choosing our next president in:

State Party Chairman Dan Lederman says great measures have been taken to keep people safe and healthy.

Lederman says the 10 remaining weeks before Election Day will further serve as a window of opportunity to show contrasts between President Trump and Joe Biden.

Read (and listen) to the entire story here.

I can tell you that from an overabundance of caution, they’ve severely cut the number of attendees to make sure everyone is safe.  And I’m speaking as one of those who were cut.

While it would have been nice to have gone, the important work is getting done, and the GOP is prepared to win the November election!

Neitzert Requests Board to Release All Information

SIOUX FALLS, SD: Today, Councilor Greg Neitzert requested the Sioux Falls Board of Ethics release all information regarding a politically motivated and coordinated attack against him.

“I’m only interested in improving public policy, not in petty politics. During my four years as a city councilor, I have served with the highest levels of integrity,” Neitzert said. “The allegation against me is unwarranted and has highlighted the need to clarify the existing vagueness in city ordinance and align it with state law.”

Neitzert continued: “Today, I sent a letter to the city’s Board of Ethics waiving the confidentiality protections provided by city ordinance. I also asked them to release all information regarding this complaint. It’s time for the Board to dismiss this politically motivated complaint.”

Earlier this month the city’s Board of Ethics recommended no sanctions against Councilor Neitzert as well as recommending clarification to its policies. Councilor Neitzert is ready to work with the Board and his council colleagues to improve the city’s policy, adding clarification and making sure the process cannot be abused in the future.

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So, State Representative Julie Frye-Mueller recently had the opportunity to speak glowingly about taking a trip funded by a group called “We Build the Wall” in her August 12 Legislative Column, as noted in area papers, this one from the Custer County Chronicle:

and…

Frye-Mueller also asked her constituents to “check out” this organization:

Apparently, someone was already in the process of checking them out:

Bannon and Kolfage were arrested Thursday, along with two other men, Andrew Badolato and Timothy Shea, on charges of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and conspiracy to commit money laundering. According to an indictment filed in the Southern District of New York, the four men allegedly solicited millions of dollars in donations from Trump supporters under the false promise that all of the money would go toward construction of a border wall. Instead, prosecutors charge, they each secretly siphoned off six-figure amounts for themselves.

and..

The 24-page indictment, which was unsealed Thursday, outlines a cynical scheme in which Bannon and the others allegedly sought to capitalize on Trump supporters’ desire to fund a border wall — a core tenet of Trump’s 2016 campaign — in order to enrich themselves.

Read that here.

So Rep. JFM was wined and dined, wrote a column extolling the virtues of the group that flew her out, only to have the group’s leaders arrested for fraud and money laundering less than a week after her column appeared.

Did I mention that it’s getting a little local attention as well?

Representative Julie Frye-Mueller assisted their scam when she accepted a free trip from them to go to the border and then came home and publicized the organization to help solicit more donations. President Donald Trump disavowed the organization and it’s project.

Read that here.

Maybe she should have passed up that free trip in an election year.

As a result of COVID, Are you going to be suffering from a lack of football this fall, as games are dropped here and there from the SDSU Schedule?

Well, take heart. This just popped up in my facebook feed, so there might be hope after all for some gridiron entertainment:

The Women’s Tackle Football League are coming to Brookings and are announcing tryouts this fall for “The South Dakota Pheasants” team, which is noted on the website.

The WTFL league itself has the SD Pheasants team noted on its roster, but, from a look at their facebook page, they may not be active at the moment due to COVID. As noted on the post, they’re planning on playing in the spring of 2021.

A Little Bit of Commonsense Goes a Long Way
By Sen. John Thune

“I’ve always thought that when we Americans get up in the morning, when we see bacon, eggs, toast, and milk on our breakfast table, we should give thanks that our farmers are survivors. You are the real miracle workers of the modern world – keepers of an incredible system based on faith, freedom, hard work, productivity, and profit – a system that feeds us and sustains millions of the world’s hungry.”

When President Reagan delivered that message to the American people in 1982, the U.S. agriculture economy was in the throes of a severe recession. South Dakota’s farmers and ranchers are familiar with adversity, and while today’s agriculture economy technically isn’t in a recession, technicalities don’t matter. Times are really tough, and an already sluggish agriculture economy has been accentuated by the hurdles of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Farm and ranch families know I’m in their corner, no matter the circumstances. While the farm bill is one of the best chances to enact meaningful and long-term policy changes, it only comes around every five years, at the earliest. Conditions in farm country can change on a dime, though, which means we don’t have the luxury of sitting around and waiting for the next farm bill to come around. I’m always learning from and listening to South Dakota’s agriculture community and acting when necessary.

In 2019, many producers throughout the Great Plains, including South Dakota, weren’t able to plant their fields due to extreme weather events. Given the reality of a late planting season, many producers turned to cover crops on their prevented plant acres, of which there were nearly 4 million acres in South Dakota alone. While it’s a good option for producers, a U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Risk Management Agency rule prohibited haying or grazing prevented plant acres prior to November 1 each year without a reduction in producers’ prevented plant payments.

Anyone who’s spent a fall or winter in South Dakota knows that by the time November rolls around, we’ve likely already encountered frost or snow – not exactly the kind of weather that’s conducive to growing crops outdoors. Having a single date for every corner of the country just doesn’t make sense. I’ve repeatedly delivered that message to USDA, and after working with them for several months last year, they moved up the haying and grazing date to September 1, which is far more manageable for our producers.

USDA’s administrative change only applied to 2019, but if the arbitrary, late-in-season date didn’t make sense last year, why does it make sense this year or any year going forward? On March 12, 2020, I introduced the Cover Crop Flexibility Act of 2020 to provide a permanent and common-sense solution to this problem. My bill would eliminate the arbitrary November 1 date restriction and allow producers to hay or graze cover crops on prevented plant acres outside of the primary nesting season, which ends August 1 each year in South Dakota.

Until Congress is able to act on my legislation, I asked USDA to simply extend the change they made in 2019 through the 2020 planting season. While we ran into a bit of resistance at first, we kept pressure on USDA leadership, who ultimately relented.

On August 17, USDA announced it would allow producers with excess moisture and flooding to hay, graze, or chop cover crops on prevented plant acres beginning September 1 in Beadle, Brown, Brule, Campbell, Clark, Codington, Day, Edmunds, Faulk, Hand, Hanson, Hyde, McPherson, Marshall, Potter, Roberts, Sanborn, Spink, and Walworth counties.

I’m glad producers were ultimately given a reprieve this year, but the fact that USDA has made this change two years in a row highlights the importance of passing my Cover Crop Flexibility Act. Commonsense should prevail on this issue, and I can assure South Dakota producers that I’ll be pushing for its passage to avoid similar obstacles next year and beyond.

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South Dakotans are Bolstering the American Food Supply Chain
By U.S. Sen. Mike Rounds (R-S.D.)
August 20, 2020

During the month of August, Congress traditionally takes an extended break from Washington to spend time at home to hear firsthand from their constituents, and this year is no different. It’s an opportunity for me to travel the state and hear directly from you about the issues you care about. While this year looks a little different – with many events like Dakotafest, county fairs and concerts being canceled, and others being held virtually– I’ve enjoyed the opportunity to visit with a number of South Dakotans in our first couple weeks of August.

Most recently, I was in the Wall area to meet with local ranchers to update them on legislation we’ve been working on to correct some of the ongoing issues plaguing the cattle market. I also stopped by a local meat processing facility and got to meet with Ken Charfauros, who has been the owner of Wall Meat Processing since 2017.

Ken is a veteran of the Air Force. His last duty station was at Ellsworth Air Force Base before retiring after 30 years and 13 deployments post-9/11. While stationed at Ellsworth, he fell in love with the Black Hills and decided to make West River his home. From the moment he and his partner, Janet Niehaus, took over Wall Meat Processing, they sought ways to update the 50-plus year facility and help bring more local beef and pork to the area. Locally-raised meat products are sold right at Wall Meat Processing or can be found at the Red Rock Restaurant a few blocks down the street, a restaurant Ken and Janet also own.

Ken also helped start a program to bring locally-raised and processed beef to school lunch programs, which was launched a couple years ago. It’s an opportunity for our South Dakota students to get high-quality, nutritious meat while also opening up new opportunities for local ranchers. Today, 10 schools participate in the program, including schools in Wall, Kadoka, New Underwood and elsewhere. They’ve had a lot of success in the few years they’ve owned Wall Meat Processing, and during our visit they told me they hope to expand the facility in the near future.

It is processors like Ken who would benefit from legislation I’ve introduced that would pave the way for meat and poultry products that pass state inspection standards to be sold across state lines. It’s important to note that state meat inspection standards are required by law to be “at least equal” to federal inspection standards. This would help to open up new markets for South Dakota’s top quality meat and poultry products at a time when our food supply chain is under stress.

Additionally, South Dakota cattle producers are put at a competitive disadvantage due to unfair labeling requirements in our country. There is a loophole in our laws that allows for beef from overseas to be labeled as a “Product of the U.S.A.” if it undergoes any type of processing here. It’s just not right. It’s unfair to both our hardworking American producers as well as to consumers, who deserve transparency in what they’re buying. I’ve introduced a bill with Senator John Thune to close that loophole so we can make sure only beef that has been born, raised and slaughtered here can have a “Product of the U.S.A.” label. I’m also working on legislation requiring the U.S. Trade Representative to enter into negotiations that would allow for Mandatory Country of Origin Labeling to be reinstated without the threat of tariffs. These common sense proposals will help improve the prices our cattle producers can get for their products.

In order to establish a fair cattle market for producers, real, vigorous price discovery is also needed. I’ve introduced legislation with Senator Chuck Grassley of Iowa that would require a minimum of 50 percent of a meat packer’s weekly volume of beef slaughter be purchased on the open or spot market. Our legislation will provide much-needed transparency to the cattle industry to make sure producers are paid fairly for their product.

In the Senate, I’ll continue prioritizing ways to strengthen our food supply chain and support South Dakota producers. As I continue my August travels across the state, I look forward to meeting with more people like Ken, who run small businesses that are vital to their local economies, who are deeply involved in their communities, and who would benefit from less government intrusion and more common sense on federal policies.

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Local Services Matter
By Rep. Dusty Johnson
August 21, 2020

The last several months continue to serve as a reminder of services critical to all Americans. Two of those services have been on the forefront of my mind recently: The United States Postal Service and local newspapers.

Each are important for different reasons – the USPS plays a vital role in delivering medications and other essential goods, and our local newspapers work day in and day out to keep South Dakotans informed of what’s happening both locally and nationally.

In recent weeks, there has been a lot of discussion about the postal service. I want to make one thing clear – I’m a strong supporter of our post offices. I’ve signed onto legislation that would prevent any action to privatize the postal service and supported a resolution stating the USPS should take all appropriate measures to ensure a 6-day mail delivery service. Earlier, this year I voted in favor of a $10 billion loan to the USPS through the CARES Act.

The reality is, however, the postal service has been in trouble for a number of years, and has lost money for the last 13 years. Last year USPS lost almost $9 billion.Congress needs to prioritize ways to fix it, but I’m wary about any drastic changes in service so close to the presidential election and during a pandemic. I do support additional funds being given to the postal service, but it shouldn’t be a blank check, especially considering its revenues are up this year. Congress needs to do more than just throw money at the problem – that’s a cop out Congress utilizes far too often. I’m confident we can maintain a strong postal service even during a pandemic.

Like most industries, local media hasn’t been immune from the financial impact of COVID-19. A slowdown of advertisements and subsequent layoffs continue to threaten our ability to maintain a free press. A free and vibrant press is a necessity for our democracy, which is why along with my Democrat colleague Rep. Collin Peterson, I introduced the Preserving Readership and Information of Newspapers for Tomorrow (PRINT) Act this week.

The PRINT Act would make the cost of print production of local print media eligible for the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) much like rent and salaries are included in the program as it is right now. Currently, local media is eligible for the PPP, but printing costs are not forgivable under the program guidelines. This bill will help alleviate some of the burden our print shops are facing.

As Congress continues to debate Coronavirus relief for communities and industries across our nation, we need to keep in mind that local services matter. I’ll continue to remind my colleagues of the importance of these services as I head back to Washington this week.

By the Numbers: South Dakota’s COVID-19 Response

By Governor Kristi Noem 
August 21, 2020

We’re coming up on six months since South Dakota started our fight against COVID-19. I’ve worked hard to provide South Dakotans with the best information possible to make the best decisions for themselves, their loved ones, and – in turn – their communities. And that’s something that I couldn’t do alone; it’s been a team effort since day one.

Nearly every state government agency has been involved in our efforts, but our Department of Health has been particularly stellar in the work that they’ve done. I also need to thank our three major healthcare systems: Avera, Monument, and Sanford. They’ve gone above and beyond and collaborated in ways I’ve never seen before, and the state is far better off for their efforts.

I’m proud of the work we’ve done together, and I wanted to share with you some stats that demonstrate what we’ve accomplished so far:

• We’ve identified over 10,000 cases of COVID-19 and notified over 30,000 close contacts.
• More than 120,000 people have tested negative for COVID-19.
• Our COVID-19 hotline has responded to over 36,000 calls. In addition, the Department of Health’s call center has received over 9,000 calls.
• The COVID.sd.gov website has received almost 7.3 million unique visits since it was launched on January 27^th.
• We’ve distributed over 500,000 N-95 respirators and over 1,000,000 surgical masks from the state stockpile to healthcare providers statewide.
• The Department of Health has hosted over 70 webinars for healthcare professionals, long-term care facilities, and laboratories.
• We’ve tested over 18,500 nursing home and assisted living center residents and staff, as well as almost 1,000 residents and staff of congregate living facilities as part of our mass-testing efforts.
• We’ve assisted all 9 tribes in the state in their mass testing efforts.
• The Department of Health and the Department of Education have hosted ten informational sessions for school superintendents and school nurses and have been hosting daily webinars for schools since August 10^th.
• We’ve provided technical assistance to 195 businesses in the state.
• The Department of Health has conducted 55 hotspot calls with local communities.
• The Department of Health has conducted 152 focused infection control surveys of nursing homes and assisted living centers.
• My office and the Department of Health have hosted over 110 media briefings.

Our fight isn’t over. We will continue to see cases in the months to come. We’ll keep our focus on taking smart steps and exercising personal responsibility to protect the most vulnerable among us. As I’ve told you many times, together, we will get through this. Together, we’re proving that we can.

In 1963 Martin Luther King Jr. famously declared “I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character.”

I can’t help but contrast that with an editorial appearing today at ArgusLeader.com

The Argus Leader is announcing today that it’s creating new newsroom positions, and announcing that hiring for those positions will be based on the color of people’s skin

To start, after a slew of promotions and beat changes, we are hiring for two reporter positions. That’s an immediate opportunity to diversify our ranks by adding journalists of color. It is also in line with the goal of our parent company, Gannett, to reach parity in staffing between each of its newsrooms and the communities they serve by 2025.

Read that here.

During the period of time I was growing up, equality has always been a noble goal and aspiration. At least it had until recent years, and we now seem to be abandoning the goal of people just being treated equally – looking past race, gender or other factors. We’re setting up such things as safe zones based on a classification, where people are actually being excluded in the name of equality.

That just doesn’t seem very equal.

Maybe it’s generational, and some of us just don’t get the new way of doing things. But, it seems that the Argus is announcing that it’s exactly about a person’s color. And they intend to treat people unequally, and it’s built into their intended hiring practices.

I can’t help but ask that as a nation, are we just giving up on Dr. King’s dream of equality, and a person being judged on the content of their character?

And now we’re just supposed to simply check boxes?