Governor Noem Announces Formation of South Dakota County Leaders Coalition and Endorsements From 27 County Commissioners

PRESS RELEASE – March 28, 2022

Pierre, SD – Today, Governor Noem’s campaign announced the creation of their coalition of South Dakota County Leaders. Along with the creation of this coalition, Governor Noem’s campaign released the initial list of county commissioners endorsing Governor Noem and forming this coalition. This follows the initial rounds of endorsements from state legislators and county sheriffs that have been previously announced. Governor Noem’s campaign will be growing this coalition throughout the campaign, adding additional current and former elected officials at the county and local levels across South Dakota that endorse and support her re-election campaign.

Governor Noem stated the following in making this announcement:

“The partnership between state and local government is crucial to an efficient and effective government. I’ve been proud to partner with our county leaders across South Dakota throughout my first term, and Lieutenant Governor Rhoden and I are proud to have their support in our re-election.”

Lincoln County Commissioner Joel Arends stated the following about the endorsements of himself and his fellow county commissioners:

“Governor Noem kept South Dakota open for business when other states around us were shutting down. Her leadership on local issues such as economic development, business expansion, and workforce development are key to strong counties and communities. Governor Noem has been a great supporter of our counties and I am proud to endorse her re-election for Governor of South Dakota.”

List of Endorsing Commissioners (Ordered by County)

Beadle – Denis Drake
Beadle – Doug Ramsell
Beadle – Rick Benson
Beadle – Tom Hansen
Brookings – Larry Jensen
Brookings – Mike Bartley
Brown – Doug Fjeldheim
Brown – Duane Sutton
Brown – Mike Wiese
Charles Mix – Colin Soukup
Clay – Travis Mockler
Codington – Lee Gabel
Codington – Myron Johnson
Codington – Brenda Hanten
Custer – Craig Hindle
Davison – John Claggett
Hughes – Randy Brown
Hughes – Tom Rounds
Lawrence – Bob Ewing
Lawrence – Brandon Flanagan
Lawrence – Randall Rosenau
Lawrence – Randy Deibert
Lawrence – Richard Sleep
Lincoln – Joel Arends
Lincoln – Tiffani Landeen
Pennington – Gary Drewes
Pennington – Lloyd LaCroix

For any local and county elected officials that would like to join Governor Noem’s South Dakota County Leaders coalition, contact Chris Hupke at Chris@KristiForGovernor.com.

Looking a little busy for the Primary season… and we still have a couple of days to go. 1 more day in person, and then waiting for the stragglers coming in via mail:

There are more petitions being filed than I can keep up with, having to work a day job and all, so I’ll post an update later.

Did see Marsha Symens withdrew from running for the Senate. So, something might be afoot there. Keep an eye on that District.

I wonder if the Democrats run Jay Williams because they know I’m going to have fun with it?

Well, after running for State Senate in 2020, and before, Jay Williams has filed petitions today to run for District 18 House.

“Laissez les bons temps rouler!”  Let the good times roll!

Taffy Howard, Challenger for Congress seems to be busy finding her own truth this morning. As she’s posted a video where she claims she “crushed” Dusty Johnson in signature collection.

So, Taffy claims that they’ve “turned in more than 4200 petitions, with more than 150 volunteers across the state. We handily beat Dusty on Signatures, now we’re going to handily beat him on election day.”

Unfortunately for Taffy, as my mother would have said, she’s full of beans. Because here are the figures from the Secretary of State:

Despite Taffy’s claims, according to the Secretary of State, her team collected and submitted 3478 signatures, and based on her validity sample, the Secretary of State estimated she had 2866 valid signatures.

What did the SOS have to say about her opponent, Dusty Johnson’s petitions? Did Taffy actually “crush him” as she claims?

Well, no. Not at all.  Because Dusty actually turned in 3582 signatures to Taffy’s 3478. For Taffy, who appears to be arithmetically challenged, that would be more than she turned in, according to the official record.

What’s more, Dusty is credited with a higher validity rate, 85.78% to Taffy’s 82.43%.

Taffy turned in far less than she claimed, certainly didn’t “crush” her opponent, and at least at first blush, in her campaign she seems to have an issue with following the 9th commandment as handed down to Moses.  (Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor).

Considering both of them have far more than needed, it’s more than a silly debate for Taffy to try to claim false momentum on. Once you turn in, you’re done, and it’s time to get to the business of campaigning.

Now if she can only show that her donations weren’t trending on a downward path.

 

Tax Day 2022 is knocking on the door. If you asked the South Dakotans who are diligently prepping their tax returns, I doubt the IRS is viewed favorably by few, if any of them. In fact, not that people sit at home and rank their favorite federal agencies, but if they did, my guess is that the tax-enforcing agency, which often looms large over the American people, would rank near the bottom. It has unfortunately gained a reputation for its overzealous authority and poor customer service – the inability to simply answer phone calls, for example – and last tax filing season was particularly miserable for taxpayers.

In addition to bad customer service, serious concerns have been raised about the agency’s inability to properly handle confidential taxpayer information. In fact, as recently as last year, the IRS faced a massive leak or hack of private taxpayer information – information that somehow ended up in the hands of ProPublica, an outfit that promotes progressive causes, which last June went on to publish taxpayers’ private information. Now, nearly one year later, neither the Treasury Department nor the IRS have provided any meaningful follow-up about the apparent data breach, nor has anyone been held accountable for this major breach of trust.

Rather than prioritizing accountability and efficiency, Democrats instead focused on massively expanding the IRS – both in the number of agents and the agency’s reach into private citizens’ lives. They wanted to require banks, credit unions, and other financial service providers to report to the IRS when a business or customer made total deposits or withdrawals that exceeded a certain amount – $600 if the president had his way. Essentially, anyone who has a job or has saved a bit of money could have been subject to a Washington bureaucrat snooping through his or her checking account. Clearly, these partisan proposals had little to do with improving taxpayer services or increasing agency accountability. Democrats’ main interest in handing the IRS a supersized budget increase – proposing to nearly double the agency’s size – was to help pay for their partisan tax-and-spending spree.

Fortunately, the Democrats’ partisan crusade has stalled – hopefully permanently. Any resources going to the IRS must be paired with serious reform, including measures to improve customer service, ensure that existing resources are being used efficiently, and promote smarter and more effective audits. I am a cosponsor of a bill, the Tax Gap Reform and IRS Enforcement Act, which would codify additional protections for taxpayers against IRS overreach. This legislation would help ensure that the IRS is not able to target taxpayers for their political and ideological beliefs, and it would prohibit the kind of bank reporting requirements that Democrats sought to impose in their “Build Back Better” spending spree. It would also take steps to improve taxpayer services, increase IRS expertise, and better develop the information we have on the tax gap – the difference between taxes owed and taxes paid.

South Dakota taxpayers hired me to be a good steward of their hard-earned money, and I am doing everything in my power to protect every single dollar that is sent to Washington. I hope we’ll be able to move away from Democrats’ intrusive and reckless Build Back Better proposals and toward bipartisan efforts to reform the IRS and ensure that taxpayers can reliably depend on the agency.

###

As you may know, this week is National Ag Week. Agriculture is the number one industry in South Dakota and the lifeblood of not only our state, but our country and our world.

Farmers, ranchers, and producers work hard every day, and almost never get a day off. They toil not to simply provide for their family, but to provide food and other basic materials to sustain human life—your life. It is often a thankless task and goes unnoticed by many—in 2020, 54% of young Americans reported they’ve never seen a cow in real life.

The farmers I know want the best for their animals and work to keep them safe and healthy. They know they must be good stewards of the land and environment because they are the ones who will be working on it for years to come. The average producer views farming and ranching as a way of life, not just a paycheck. That is especially clear now, when most farmers and producers are facing increased prices for feed, seed, fertilizer, and pesticides. Their income relies on market prices, and the market is incredibly volatile.

This week, I had the privilege of meeting some of our producers when I toured the Kasemeister Creamery in Frankfort. I learned about the ingenuity that drives the process of ensuring quality dairy products. I also had the opportunity to talk to farmers across the state when I joined a town hall with producers to discuss the important role U.S. agricultural exports have in supporting the rural economy. Ag exports topped $177 billion last year, and this number only keeps increasing. American farmers are feeding the world.

Farmers deserve our support because they support us.  If the volatility in the economy for the past two years has impacted you in any way—you can bet it has impacted our farmers and producers just as much, if not more. Their dedication to agriculture and unwavering steadfastness to produce our basic needs cannot be overlooked.

Next time you see one, remember to thank a farmer.

###

As I’m at my desk getting ready to chase down a Notary on Sunday Morning, because I can’t notarize my own signature as circulator, I’m recycling this 2020 post because someone is going to unnecessarily screw it up because they listened to someone at the hyvee desk or post office who didn’t know better.

DON’T SEND PETITIONS CERTIFIED MAIL. REGISTERED MAIL ONLY.

—

We’re coming down to the wire this week for election petitions, which means it’s time for me to be a scold to candidates in order to help save them from a grave error if they find themselves mailing in their petitions.

If you can’t drive yourself to Pierre before Tuesday at 5pm, we’re at the point where if you mail your election petitions into the Secretary of State (Secretary of State, Attn: Elections, 500 E. Capitol, Pierre, SD 57501), there’s the possibility they might not show up by the deadline on Tuesday.  No matter what any clerk at a postal desk tries to talk you into, there’s only ONE proper way to mail those petitions into the Secretary of State’s office, and I can’t admonish candidates strongly enough.

Send those petitions in via REGISTERED mail, not certified.

There’s a good reason for it. It’s the law.  As I noted two (now four) years ago, under South Dakota Election law, the definitions expressly note that “Registered mail,” does not include certified mail;”  and more specifically:

12-6-4.   Petition required to place candidate’s name on primary ballot–Place of filing. Except as provided by § 12-5-4 and as may be otherwise provided in chapter 12-9, no candidate for any office to be filled, or nomination to be made, at the primary election, other than a presidential election, may have that person’s name printed upon the official primary election ballot of that person’s party, unless a petition has been filed on that person’s behalf not prior to January first, and not later than the last Tuesday of March at five p.m. prior to the date of the primary election. If the petition is mailed by registered mail by the last Tuesday of March at five p.m. prior to the primary election, the petition shall be considered filed.

Read the law for yourself here.

Why registered mail? Registered mail has a clear chain of custody that is recorded by the post office before being sent and at each point along its route to safeguard against loss, theft, or damage. Every year there are people who let themselves get talked into sending it certified by someone who doesn’t know South Dakota Election Law.. and they find themselves out of luck.

And keep your eyes on South Dakota War College for coverage of the legislative campaigns.  The roller coaster ride is just beginning.

Gov. Noem Signs Remaining Bills into Law

PIERRE, S.D. – Governor Kristi Noem has signed all remaining bills into law.

• SB 79 clarifies cross-references regarding powers of attorney.
• SB 107 provides for the remote witnessing of certain legal instruments.
• SB 152 provides for ticket-in, ticket-out video lottery.
• HB 1096 revises provisions regarding livestock identification.
• HB 1117 revises a certain provision regarding standard nonforfeiture amounts for individual deferred annuities.
• HB 1152 establishes rights regarding the disposition of a person’s remains.
• HB 1156 revises provisions regarding weed removal along highways.
• HB 1176 grants immunity from certain liabilities for camping activities.
• HB 1289 updates provisions regarding self-service storage.

Governor Noem has signed 246 bills into law and vetoed four this legislative session. No further bills are awaiting executive action by the Governor.

###

Gov. Noem Vetoes Three Bills

PIERRE, S.D. – Today, Governor Kristi Noem vetoed three bills: Senate Bill 151, House Bill 1223, and House Bill 1281.

You can find Governor Noem’s veto message for Senate Bill 151 here.

You can find Governor Noem’s veto message for House Bill 1223 here.

You can find Governor Noem’s veto message for House Bill 1281 here.

Governor Noem has signed 237 bills into law and vetoed four this legislative session.

###