As we’re rolling on the new year, it’s an opportunity for a note that that South Dakota War College has a few limited advertising opportunities available for reaching South Dakota’s opinion leaders as the 2022 election season moves along and candidates start campaigning.

In addition to regular advertising spots, our #2 and #3 advertising positions are open available to promote your business, organization, or cause.  If you want to get your group in front of our audience, South Dakota War College is a consistent must-read for South Dakota’s elected officials, and most all who actively participate in the political process in the state.

If someone is following the ballot measures, making laws, or keeping up on the issues or promoting legislation, they’re stopping here to check the temperature on South Dakota’s political climate.

South Dakota War College provides candidates, companies, and organizations a unique opportunity to direct a targeted message at South Dakota’s elected officials, the state’s politically active, and community opinion leaders. In addition to the politically active who read us on a daily basis, traffic is also driven to our website through organic searches, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and we’ve recently added Reddit as one of our regular crossposting areas.

Advertising on the Dakotwarcollege.com website is based on a first come, first serve basis for available positions.  Advertising slots on the right are 300 px wide up to 400 px tall, and may be either static image, animated .gif, or other, as long as the file size is within acceptable file parameters, does not impede the loading of the website, or interfere with existing code.  All ads run through-site, and are not rotated in their positions.

Information on ad prices, ad positions, and required ad commitments may be directed to the webmaster by clicking here.

And if If you hadn’t noticed, Summit Carbon Solutions on advertisers row has updated their ad to point out how they’re moving towards participation by landowners along the route. If you’re not familiar with the major midwest pipeline project, Summit Carbon Solutions proposed carbon capture and storage project will create jobs, generate new property tax revenue for local communities, support local suppliers, and strengthen the regional economy.  Please click on the ad, and visit their website as they work with South Dakota’s Ethanol producers and generate new revenues for our local communities. 

And don’t forget to check out advertisers including Governor Kristi Noem, US Senator John Thune, Dusty Johnson for US Congress, and the South Dakota Republican Party!

Augustana University just announced a program that my wife has been working on, where Augustana is rolling out an opportunity for students with disabilities to visit the campus to see first-hand a post-secondary educational setting, and to get a taste if attending the University would work for them:

“The camp is going to look a lot like that first freshman orientation week,” Lamb continued. “They’re going to get exposed to a crash course in ‘What is college?’ and ‘Is inclusive post-secondary education right for you?’”

The idea for the camp came from Dr. Michelle Powers, AU assistant professor of special education, as she scrolled through social media one day and saw an advertisement for camps being offered for students with developmental disabilities who plan to attend traditional universities.

“It got me thinking about Augie Access and all the Augustana events I’ve been part of where we welcome juniors and seniors to campus to really get the full experience,” Powers said. “And, I thought, ‘Wouldn’t it be great if we had an experience like that for students who might be thinking about Augie Access or another inclusive post-secondary program?’

“I’m also the parent of a child with a developmental disability,” Powers continued. “Thinking about taking my daughter and putting her in a campus environment — I want to know that it’s the right fit.”

and..

After this year’s camp, Powers and Lamb will present their assessment results to the council, which are based on the outcomes of the Augie Access Program — academics, employment, independent living and socialization. The grant supports 10 campers this year, but Powers and Lamb hope to expand the camp in the future.

Read the entire story here.

 

South Dakota Republican Party Selects Madison Sheahan as Executive Director  

PIERRE, SOUTH DAKOTA  – Today, Chairman John Wiik and the SDGOP Executive Board announced Madison Sheahan as Executive Director of the South Dakota Republican Party.

Madison will be taking over the day to day operation of the party, she will be tasked with growing the party into a professional and modern organization. She will be managing communications, grassroots and fundraising efforts for the party.

“I am excited for Madison to join our leadership team at the State Party.” said Chairman John Wiik “She played an instrumental role in the 2022 election cycle on Governor Kristi Noem’s team and will bring a new perspective as we begin to rebuild the party.”

“It is an honor to be selected as the Executive Director of the South Dakota Republican Party.” said Madison Sheahan “I look forward to building a party that sets an example to the nation.”

Madison has previously worked as a State Director for Donald J. Trump for President in 2020, and has worked with the NRSC, RNC and Ohio Republican Party. Madison has a degree in Agribusiness, Public Management, Leadership and Policy with a specialty in leadership development from The Ohio State University, where she competed as a Varsity Athlete on the Women’s Rowing team.

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From Twitter, the Summit Carbon Pipeline has 100% of the easements they need to move forward in McCook County, and are quickly progressing in other counties:

Summit Carbon Solutions continues to partner with more and more Midwest landowners every day. In South Dakota, the company has secured easement agreements for 100% of the proposed route in McCook County and 90% of the route in Kingsbury.https://t.co/dfYtZMFO0e pic.twitter.com/eQ4tO2VjG0

— Summit Carbon (@summit_carbon) January 18, 2023

From my mailbox:

 

SDFRW announces resolution calling on the United States Congress to maintain the size of the Supreme Court at nine justices.

Our Founding Fathers created a government of three branches, each checking the other two, each checked by the other two. The Legislative was tasked with creating law, the Executive with executing law, the Judicial with interpreting law.

Unfortunately, the lines between branches have become muddled at times. The Supreme Court has legislated from the bench – going beyond merely interpreting laws to actually creating them. Consequently, politicos began seeking to control the Court’s makeup and thereby to control the Court itself.

After three justices were appointed during President Trump’s term, the Democrat Party screamed for an increase in the Supreme Court’s membership. By appointing a slew of Left-leaning justices, Democrats intended to dilute conservative votes and force rulings that further a liberal agenda.

On January 17, 2023, protesting such manipulation and gross distortion of our system of government, the South Dakota Federation of Republican Women’s executive committee passed a unanimous resolution asking Congress to maintain the size of the Supreme Court at nine justices.

From KEVN, former Republican Legislative candidate Bud May has had his sexual assault charge from late last year dropped, due to the witness not cooperating:

Former district 27 house candidate had his sexual assault charge dismissed in court Tuesday. https://t.co/HOXidA2QjU

— KEVN Black Hills FOX (@BlackHillsFOX) January 18, 2023

(Click on the link to read the entire story)

May is the son of current State Legislator Liz May.

**Update**

The case might not be done, according to the story in the Rapid City Journal:

The case will be dismissed without prejudice, which means it could be brought against May again should the woman decide to cooperate with prosecutors.

Read that here.

Carl Perry just dropped a bill, House Bill 1083, which modifies the amounts required for proof of financial responsibility for the future for motor vehicles.  In reading it, I can’t help but wonder if he bothered to discuss his master plan with anyone in the insurance industry. Because it seems … well, dumb for a few reasons.  The bill is as follows:

An Act to modify the amounts required for proof of financial responsibility for the future for motor vehicles.

Be it enacted by the Legislature of the State of South Dakota:

Section 1. That § 32-35-2 be AMENDED:

32-35-2. The term, proof of financial responsibility for the future, as used in this chapter, means proof of ability to respond in damages for liability, on account of accidents occurring after the effective date of the proof, arising out of the ownership, maintenance, or use of a vehicle of a type subject to registration under the laws of this state, in the amount of twenty‑five following amounts:

(1) Seventy-five thousand dollars because of bodily injury to or death of one person in any one accident;

(2) Subject to the limit for one person, in the amount of fiftyseventy-five thousand dollars because of bodily injury to or death of two or more persons in any one accident; and

(3) in the amount of twenty‑fiveSeventy-five thousand dollars because of injury to or destruction of property of others in any one accident.
Wherever used in this chapter, the terms, proof of financial responsibility, or, proof, are synonymous withhave the same meaning as given to the term, proof of financial responsibility for the future.

Read that here.

The first thing that jumped out to me was the limit.. Seventy-five?  During my years as an SD Division of Insurance employee, and throughout my time (now six-years) as a property insurance claims manager, I have never seen a policy with 75/75 limits. It’s a weird amount, and nobody currently writes it. Everyone has policies with $25,000/$50,000 limits (25/50 for short.) 50/100 limits, and 100/300.  No one out there has 75/75. Which means that every company offering covering auto insurance in the state will now have to draw up and file new rates and forms. Every company. Could they even get those filed and approved with the DOI by July 1?

The Bodily Injury/Death limit for two or more people is capped at 75K, the same limit as one person. This is just poorly drafted, and makes even less sense.   If insurance coverage for one person for “bodily injury to or death of one person” was inadequate at 25k, so we needed to raise it to 75k, why would we have the same limit for two or more people at 75k.. which is $37.5k each.  If we would have to have such a drastic increase from $25k to $75k for one person, why is the multiple-person coverage increase from the $25k each that’s currently in existing law just a pittance?  It’s a proposal designed for for single passenger injury accidents, but not so great for anyone driving with anyone in their car.

If we continue to have problems with uninsured motorists at 25/50 coverage, what is tripling the amount of coverage (along with a significant increase of cost) going to do? Obviously, make it more expensive, so even more people decide to skip the coverage.  And here’s the figure to look at, because South Dakota actually doesn’t do a bad job here.

According to the Insurance Research Council, in 2019, South Dakota had 7.4% of our motorists estimated to be uninsured, placing us at a rank of of being the 41st in the nation for uninsured drivers.   According to this study, on a percentage basis, we are in the top ten of the least uninsured drivers at this time.  Why would we want to put insurance farther out of reach?

Even worse, what does this bill propose to do to us?  Perry’s bill to take South Dakota to 75/75/75 would actually move our minimum liability limits to being the highest in the country.  Higher than California (15/30). Higher than Massachusetts (20/40). Higher than Texas (30/60). And even higher for one-person accidents than Alaska (50/100). You can review the chart of state minimums (current as of 10/22) here.

Sorry, but House Bill 1083 is just an awful idea. The only things that this measure would do would be to raise rates for all consumers, make it tougher to get insurance, and actually raise the number of uninsured motorists in the state.

As an old insurance agent once told me, if we could legislate responsibility, then we would have no drunk drivers, unintended pregnancies, or need for a Division of Child Support.

But legislators seem to think they can do so with auto insurance, so here we are.

Referring back to the Convention of States group that vowed to spend millions in South Dakota this next election to beat incumbents, I notice a bill has been introduced calling for a convention of states to amend the constitution..

House Joint Resolution 5002: Applying to the United States Congress under Article V of the United States Constitution to call for a convention for proposing an amendment establishing congressional term limits.

Read that here.

We’ll see how far that goes in the Senate.

As promised last month, House and Senate Leadership filed a legislative measure to prevent outgoing legislators from taking a Hawaiian vacation on the taxpayer’s dime, after outgoing Speaker of the House Spencer Gosch did just that, and signed off on trips to Hawaii for himself after losing the primary and for State Rep. Jamie Smith who was running as a Democrat for Governor after both knew they would not be returning to the State House this January.

Senate Bill 68 provides that “The executive board shall decide whether to approve out-of-state travel and costs incurred by a member during the second year of the member’s legislative term, if the member is not eligible for reelection to the next legislative term.”

 

Flags at Half-Staff at State Capitol in Honor of Former Senator Richard M. Kelly

PIERRE, S.D. – Today, Governor Kristi Noem ordered that flags be flown at half-staff at the State Capitol from sunrise until sunset on Wednesday, January 18, in honor of former state Senator Richard M. Kelly. He served in the South Dakota State Senate from 2002-2006.

Funeral services for former Sen. Kelly will take place at 11am on Wednesday, January 18, at First Baptist Church, 1401 S. Covell Avenue, Sioux Falls, SD 57105.

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