South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem gave an interview recently to the Christian Broadcasting Network that had some noteworthy points about COVID and the national mood of liberal cancel culture:

“Oh, definitely. It is today,” Noem replied. “At the beginning of this crisis back in March and April, I don’t think it was really politically motivated because these same Democrat governors that are on TV, tearing apart the president today, months ago, were singing his praises. I sat on conference calls where they were thanking him for all he was doing to help them to respond to their people. What I am saying, though, is that what I heard on those conference calls was fear. I was shocked and amazed by how fear controlled people, and how emotional that they were.”

The South Dakota governor said she believes we live in a country that is addicted to being offended but believes that God will find a way to bring Americans together.

Read the entire interview here.

Are you ready for another raucous City Council meeting?  And this time, be prepared to wear the blue as opponents to the citywide mask mandate are coming back to the city council meeting to voice their opposition to proposals for citywide shutdowns and what people can and can’t do in their own yards.

The Brookings City Council is meeting against this week to talk about masks on Tuesday, September 8th at 6PM, after the overwhelming opposition to the council’s overreaching proposals this past week. And after being somewhat taken off guard, the city is regrouping somewhat and moving the meeting to a larger venue, where people gathering to express their opposition to the proposals being brought are encouraged to wear blue.

I’m also being told that “The pro-mandate people and far left are telling each other to be dressed in green.”  If you’re going to be watching at home and wondering who is who.

The change.org petition to encourage “the city council not to adopt ANY NEW Covid restrictions and to stop extending current restrictions” is currently standing at around 2100 signatures, which you can find here.

Concerned about governmental overreach? Make sure you spread the word and share the image!

I had more than one person sharing photos with me yesterday of the South Dakota State Democrat Party State Fair Booth.

Why was it so remarkable that they have to send me images? Because it was one of the saddest sights they’d ever seen:

At 10 AM it had not only not opened, but someone trolled them by sticking a Trump sign on the building.

By 11, it appears that Dan Ahlers was getting around to opening the booth, as he was still clutching the trump sign.

Several hours later, by 6pm, there was still a tremendous lull in the non-action, as there were few Democrats around to even stare at each other, wondering why no one really had any interest.

Stay tuned.

UPDATE..

According to a reader, they were shut down again when he went by at about 5:45 this afternoon. Please note this large crowd of people that they missed.

Staying on Course to Advance Self-Driving Vehicles
By Sen. John Thune

Each year, more than 35,000 people die in automobile accidents on our nation’s roads. Approximately 90 percent of those accidents can be attributed to human error, which is why self-driving or automated vehicles (AVs) present an opportunity to make incredible gains in the safe movement of people and goods on our roads. South Dakotans are already familiar with automation, which has brought several economic, safety, and efficiency benefits to the agriculture sector, and I believe South Dakota also stands to benefit greatly from the deployment of AVs.

These vehicles have the potential to greatly improve mobility and quality of life for all Americans, especially the disabled and the elderly, whose mobility is often limited by a lack of viable transportation options. And this emerging technology will also allow planners to reimagine civic challenges and opportunities like parking and traffic flow, making roads safer and less congested.

Back in 2017, when I chaired the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, I introduced the American Vision for Safer Transportation Through Advancement of Revolutionary Technologies – or AV START Act – which, if enacted, would provide the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) with new tools to safely test and deploy AVs.

AVs will only be able to operate safely when the companies developing them are certain these vehicles can safely react to driving situations we all encounter each day. That is why AV testing is so critical. It ensures AVs are capable of safely navigating roadways and constantly changing traffic conditions. DOT recently launched the Automated Vehicle Transparency and Engagement for Safe Testing, or AV TEST Initiative, to facilitate greater awareness and engagement by industry, consumers, and the general public as AV testing becomes increasingly prevalent across the nation.

While Congress is often slow to react to new technologies, I remain committed to working in a bipartisan manner to ensure a strong legislative framework is put in place to promote the safe deployment of these vehicles. Any AV legislation should preserve the traditional roles of federal and state regulators, build on DOT’s current efforts to update regulatory requirements that were not written with AVs in mind, and continue to expand AV testing and data collection.

I’m optimistic the AV TEST Initiative will encourage the development of advanced solutions to improve vehicle safety, while providing necessary data to inform safe and nationally consistent rules for AVs. Importantly, this initiative will promote engagement by industry stakeholders and the public in the development of AV testing guidelines at the federal level.

This engagement is critical for acceptance of AVs by the general public and to ensure that we can all feel safe around AVs undergoing roadway testing. I’m glad that DOT launched this important initiative, and I look forward to continuing my efforts to harness the safety, quality of life, and economic benefits of this critical emerging technology.

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Feds Continue to Miss the Mark on Livestock Policy
By U.S. Sen. Mike Rounds (R-S.D.)

I read a quote from my local sale barn operator Bryan Hanson, the other day: “You used to be able to survive on a 100 head operation; now you have to have a full-time job and run 100 cows.”

Anyone that knows Bryan or has read his market report knows that he doesn’t pull punches. I’ve known his dad, Dennis, for many years, and I’ve enjoyed that same no-nonsense style from him as well. But I’d take Bryan’s statement one step further – I’d actually contend that without another full time job, you couldn’t afford to run 100 cows. That’s a pretty sad situation if you stop and consider South Dakota’s rich ranching heritage.

We have been working with other members of the Senate on a number of different livestock reform proposals. We need to build coalitions to move these proposals forward. That means gaining support from Members of Congress, as well as administration officials and outside groups. For example, on March 19 I sent a letter to the Department of Justice calling for an investigation into price fixing in the cattle market. At the time, I was joined by three other senators. Less than two months later, we had the support of 18 senators as well as President Trump and 11 attorneys general.

We’ve worked hand-in-hand with Senators Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) and Jon Tester (D-Mont.), who have led the charge to push commonsense cattle market legislation forward. I’m thankful for their leadership. However, despite the bipartisan support for meaningful reforms, even stalwarts like them have been completely jammed up by the bureaucracy and the national lobby associations that continue to protect the status quo.

In the last several weeks, we demanded (and were denied) a vote on the New Markets for State-Inspected Meat and Poultry Act, bipartisan legislation that I authored with Senator Angus King (I-Maine) – and that has 11 other Senate cosponsors. Basically, this proposal would allow smaller meat processors to inject competition into the marketplace by allowing facilities with a state-inspected certification the ability to sell products across state lines.  A locker in Hudson can sell to a resident of Lemmon, hundreds of miles away, but they can’t sell across the Iowa border, just 25 miles away.  Additionally, the state inspection certification is equal or stronger than federal certification. The current system doesn’t make any sense.

Today, we are actually giving an unfair and unnecessary advantage to the large, sometimes foreign-owned meat processing facilities. Large facilities typically pursue licensing through the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) federal meat inspection process, which gives them a certification allowing them to sell across state lines.

Recently, we saw firsthand how strong our opposition is. Apparently, their stranglehold on certain members of Congress is so tight that they wouldn’t even allow a vote. Frankly, the deck is stacked in their favor and we need to find the force to tip it over.

The dysfunction in Washington, D.C., is maddening. Even commonsense proposals like this don’t get a fair shake. However, the dysfunction isn’t confined to Congress. The bureaucracy is entrenched and hard to move. These bureaucrats, who have never been to a sale barn or stepped foot on a ranch, have the audacity to claim to know better than our producers and processors.

It’s going to take a groundswell of support and a commitment to the cause to make progress. That’s the honest truth. It’s also going to take a unified effort.

I’ve been left to wonder: if the swamp will fight so hard about something so commonsense as state inspected locker plants – imagine how hard they’ll fight greater market transparency, Product of the U.S.A. labeling and Mandatory Country Of Origin Labeling (MCOOL).

As an industry we need to reach out to consumers and leaders from other states. Consumers are being misled under the current system and there is an entire army of opponents desperately trying to keep it that way.  If the COVID-19 pandemic didn’t teach us anything else, it should have taught Americans that the source of their food matters and dependence on foreign countries is dangerous.

We need to expand the tent, stay the course and push together. We’re in this fight together.

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Teaching Today
By Rep. Dusty Johnson

Over the last week, many schools across South Dakota resumed classes – both in-person and online. This marks the beginning of a sense of normalcy many of our kids are experiencing for the first time in several months.

Although there’s nothing normal about wearing masks or attending classes virtually, this is our reality for the time being and thankfully our students and teachers are making the best of it. Our kids are just thankful to see their friends and teachers.

Leading up to the start of the school year, I made it a point to visit several schools across the state of South Dakota. As a member of the House Education and Labor Committee, hearing from our teachers firsthand allows me to better do my job and bring back a “boots on the ground” perspective to my Congressional colleagues.

Last week, I visited Meadowbrook Elementary in Rapid City. Rapid City schools are kicking off the year with a unique in-person paired with virtual learning approach. This pandemic has forced everyone to become more innovative and collaborative – Meadowbrook’s teachers are no exception. The teachers there are teaming up to prepare lesson plans and share recorded materials, each is focused on a different subject to share the workload and ensure students aren’t receiving repeat lessons. Regardless of how one feels about decisions being made by individual school boards and administrators, it is clear that South Dakota is blessed with hard-working and dedicated teachers who are trying to make the best of a difficult situation.

I’m encouraged that schools in South Dakota are taking the necessary steps to protect our kids and our teachers. But there’s more to be done. As Congress continues to debate an additional COVID-19 relief package specifically for our schools, I’ve been hearing from teachers in South Dakota that are buying their own personal protective equipment (PPE).

Under normal circumstances, teachers often cover some classroom costs out of pocket. Add a pandemic into the mix and there’s bound to be additional costs for our educators. Currently, teachers can deduct up to $250 of supplementary classroom materials and equipment on their tax filing. PPE costs are not listed as eligible for this deduction. Which is why this week, Senator Tillis and I urged Secretary Mnuchin to allow purchases made for COVID-19 prevention be a deductible expense. I’m confident this easy fix can be made for our teachers.

I’m headed to Brookings to tour SDSU and also up to Watertown to visit with Lake Area Tech on Friday. I’ll continue to bring South Dakota’s message of personal responsibility and unique innovation back to Washington.

The Consequences of Lockdowns
By Governor Kristi Noem 

You’ve heard me say many times that South Dakota never closed. We allowed South Dakotans to make the best decisions for themselves, their families, their businesses, and their communities. But we were unique in this path; other states made different choices. In fact, in some places businesses have been closed for the past six months. How are small business owners supposed to make ends meet in states that have locked down their economies for six months straight?

This isn’t a hypothetical question to me. As a former small business owner, I’ve personally dealt with the struggles of keeping a business afloat. When my dad passed away, I had to take charge of our family’s farming operation. We struggled to balance paying our IRS bill with payroll and all the other expenses that are a regular part of running a small business. If we’d been forced to shut down for six months in the middle of it all, our business would not have made it.

That’s exactly what we’re seeing play out across the country. As a result of extended lockdowns, countless businesses are closing. In July, Yelp announced that more than 72,000 businesses on the site had closed for good since the start of the pandemic, and that was more a month ago. Retailers and restaurants have been hit especially hard.

These businesses are more than just storefronts – they’re people’s livelihoods. They put food on the table, not only for for small business owners, but also for their employees. Without businesses to employ these workers, states that have been shut down will struggle to recover even after they reopen.

Here in South Dakota, because we didn’t shut down our state, the recovery story is far stronger. According to the Minneapolis Federal Reserve, South Dakota had the fewest low-income job losses of any state in our region, and as of the end of June, we’d already recovered nearly all of those losses. Our weekly initial unemployment claims continue to drop. This is positive news coming into the Labor Day weekend.

Our tourism industry is rebounding strongly as well. South Dakota is the third best state in the country for domestic tourism bookings compared to the start of the pandemic. Interest in visiting South Dakota has surged, meaning we’ll continue to see friendly faces visiting our state in the weeks, months, and years to come.

We’re hearing from lots of folks interested in not only visiting South Dakota, but moving here full-time. If business owners are sick and tired of the lockdowns in other states, I want them to know that they have another option. They can come to South Dakota. We respect our people’s rights, and we won’t shut businesses down. We’re open for opportunity, and on my watch, we always will be.

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Update on Jean Rounds

ROCHESTER, MINN – U.S. Sen. Mike Rounds (R-S.D.) and his wife, Jean, today provided the following update on Jean’s cancer treatment:

This week, Mike and Jean traveled to the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn., for a scheduled 90-day checkup. After several days of testing, a malignancy was found in the same spot that Jean’s sarcoma was located. As a result, Friday morning she will undergo a surgical procedure, known as an ablation, to remove the malignancy.

“As any family who has gone through a cancer diagnosis knows, post-treatment checkups are critical,” said Mike and Jean. “While this is not the news we had hoped for, we are thankful the doctors discovered the malignancy at an early stage. Jean’s doctors are confident tomorrow’s procedure will be a success.”

“We continue to be grateful for the support and prayers of so many throughout this difficult time. Please keep the prayers coming!”

In May of 2019, Jean was diagnosed with a malignant, high-grade, aggressive tumor near her sciatic nerve—a sarcoma. She underwent six rounds of chemo, surgery to remove the remaining portion of her tumor, and radiation treatment, which was completed in February.

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Brookings residents minced few words last evening, during an emergency City Council last night in a room swarmed by hundreds of people who have had about enough of the mandates from City COVID proposals that had finally gone too far:

Brookings city councilors voted Wednesday night to move forward conversation on adding a mask mandate to an existing ordinance aimed at curbing the spread of the coronavirus.

The council dropped additional proposals it was considering — including limiting social gatherings and regulating when alcohol could be sold — after hundreds turned up to object to further restrictions tied to the ongoing pandemic.

Read it all here

One speaker towards the end wanted to know “who was responsible” for bringing the proposal, with the City Manager Paul Briseno admitting that he had culled the practices in the proposal from those proposed in other university towns such as in Kansas and Nebraska. Apparently Briseno had yet to learn that while Brookings might literally be the most liberal community in the state, South Dakotans in general have a pretty strong resentment of being told what to do.

And he found out that while the community will put up with a lot, when you tell them what they can do in their private residences, they don’t like it much.

**Bonus points to the College Republicans who took it upon themselves to go down to the area and register voters, asking them if they were tired of Government Overreach. They did a good job of reading the moment!

Governor Noem Signs Executive Order Forming Complete Census Committee

PIERRE, S.D. – Yesterday, Governor Kristi Noem signed an executive order forming the South Dakota Complete Census Committee. The 2020 Census concludes on September 30, 2020, and the purpose of the committee is to raise awareness among South Dakotans before that deadline.

Executive Order 2020-32 establishes the committee and authorizes it to ensure that South Dakota residents are appropriately counted in the 2020 Census. The Governor will appoint committee members from the following entities: the Governor’s Office, the Department of Education, the Department of Social Services, the Department of Tribal Affairs, and the Secretary of State. The committee will also include the following legislators or their designees: the President pro tempore of the Senate, the Minority Leader of the Senate, the Speaker of the House, and the Minority Leader of the House. The Governor shall appoint a chair or co-chairs, and the committee shall organize within fourteen days after the initial appointments of at least eight members to the committee.

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

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