From Facebook comes a new video from Congressman Dusty Johnson on Nancy Pelosi’s secret impeachment:

On facebook yesterday, someone was asking a fairly direct question regarding the Governor’s recent announcement that Sanford and Avera were bringing forth plans to provide ABA coverage in insurance policies in the individual market in 2020, helping to bridge the gap between now and when the coverage of ABA therapy is added as an essential health benefit in 2021.

Their question was what did Kristi have to do with it?   And as I pointed out, a lot.

Governor Noem’s administration was part of negotiating this (The Avera and Sanford offerings) with the carriers, and immediately before this, the Division of Ins under Gov Noem took the initiative to add ABA therapy to the state’s basic level of coverage, which is something that we parents who have been fighting this battle for several years now have been hoping for.

Adding it to the basic level of coverage was an extremely technical change, but it paved the way for getting it started, and I believe helped move the individual health carriers on board.

I wish ABA therapy could be covered by insurance for all kids w/autism, and we could cover everyone tomorrow, but having been involved in this fight and winning a law change for some group policies, among other things, these things do not change overnight. It’s a series of baby steps, taking the time to make our case at the legislature, and it’s moving in the right direction.

You can dislike the pace of change, and I wish it could happen far faster. But as a parent involved in this fight (and I wish I could do as much as Lisa Stanley who has been at session EVERY year on this), I’ll tell you that Governor Kristi Noem gets it, and has been very good to families affected by autism.

As an afterthought, I also noted another point which should be in the forefront of people’s minds as we work towards helping kids and formulate policy. particularly the capacity to deliver these services.  Because as we fill ABA therapy coverage gaps in insurance, we also need to be aware of the gaps in services.

As we work on moving forward in filling ABA coverage gaps for the future, people need to understand there is another very significant challenge that we face that has nothing to do with insurance companies, which is that there is a very limited universe of providers/therapists for ABA services in South Dakota, and as more kids need services and can access them, we’re quickly going to hit the wall on capacity.

(BCBAs right now in South Dakota have a $10,000 hiring bonus they are in such demand.)

That problem is going to take creative problem-solving that could conceivably involve organizations such as the healthcare side of Avera & Sanford. It’s good that they are taking part in helping to solve the ABA problem.

In fact, with healthcare systems embedded across the state, Avera and Sanford might be two of the most important partners that South Dakota families affected by Autism have as we move forward with ABA coverage, because there’s a service delivery issue that hasn’t been discussed much yet.

When my family started our adventure in attempting to secure ABA services after our group policy dropped coverage, and we fought that battle, we were often having to drive from Brookings to secure services in Sioux Falls because that’s where the program and people were.

Services are available in Brookings now, but as more and more people seek these types of treatment for kids with Autism Spectrum Disorder, actually being able to get the services is the next big problem that parents of children with Autism Spectrum Disorder face.

Who provides ABA services?

A board-certified behavior analyst (BCBA) provides ABA therapy services. To become a BCBA, the following is needed:

• Earn a master’s degree or PhD in psychology or behavior analysis
• Pass a national certification exam
• Seek a state license to practice (in some states)

ABA therapy programs also involve therapists, or registered behavior technicians (RBTs). These therapists are trained and supervised by the BCBA. They work directly with children and adults with autism to practice skills and work toward the individual goals written by the BCBA. You may hear them referred to by a few different names: behavioral therapists, line therapists, behavior tech, etc.

To learn more, see the Behavior Analyst Certification Board website.

Read that here.

These plans and programs are being designed by people with masters and doctorates in psychology or behavior analysis. They have therapists who deliver it, but even then these are not specialties that are often available in some mid-size communities in the state.  It’s gotten a little better, but especially for those living in rural communities, provider numbers and capacity are going to be big factors in receiving services.

As we fill in the insurance coverage gaps for ABA therapy, provider availability is going to be the next big challenge.

The pot legalization group “New Approach South Dakota” is claiming that they have collected the signatures to put their measure to the ballot:

Before we tell you what we have, we want to remind you all The work is NOT done. We are still circulating all the way up to the Rally at the Capitol on November 4th. Volunteers still have petitions, our business hosts still have petitions and we are still vending at events the next few weeks. You can still sign. We WANT you to sign still. We want every SD resident who supports medical access to sign the petition.

Today though we want you all to take a moment and take this in. We currently have 32,203 signatures in hand.

Read that here.

That being said, it seems that the explosion in signature collection isn’t from initial efforts, but has come mainly from the out-of-state petition group Fieldworks who was brought in by an outside group under a slightly separate banner to collect signatures.

Claiming 32k signatures in hand, it provides a significant cushion for the group. But…. it remains to be seen how the accuracy rate will come out as from the Secretary of State’s sampling.  Previously, New Approach had poor signature collection accuracy on a percentage basis, but even at their previous 62%, they might have enough of a cushion to survive the certification process. If they pass that, then the petition could face a challenge in court.

Any court challenge would mostly depend on a group with deeper pockets with the ability to fund the fight stepping up to the plate.  Surviving challenges to the petition itself, the measure would then face voters in a state that has not been interested in legalizing pot for medical purposes in the past.

Given the amount of cash pouring into the state to get it on the ballot, I don’t suspect the out-of-state promoters will abandon the fight, even as poorly written as the measure has been drafted.

This might be the only measure on the ballot this year, so anticipate you’re going to be hearing about legalizing pot for some time to come.

Stay tuned.

Former Democrat state legislative candidate and momentary Democrat/Socialist Congressional wannabe Ellee Spawn apparently is no longer be a wanted person in the eyes of Minnehaha County.

As a check of Minnehaha County’s “Gotwarrants.org” this AM shows the warrants that stood against her for a long, long time, which were evident as late as mid-September, aren’t there anymore.

Republican legislative candidate Joseph Sopko had his warrant for non-support of a minor child cleared up within a day or so of being noted. But Spawn? Her warrants were out for quite a while during her wishful run for Congress.  I’d been told they may have contributed to her early fundraiser in Pierre falling apart.

Which is a good reminder to candidates. Before you set yourself out there to be a representative of the people and start campaigning, take a moment and research yourself before you start researching your opponents.

Dusty Johnson is quickly approaching having 1/2 million cash on hand for the 2020 election cycle, according to the latest FEC Report:

FriendsofDJ_3q2019 by Pat Powers on Scribd

Johnson is reporting that over the last quarter, he raised $282,168.28, spent $87,963.72 and while he started the quarter with $234,861.10, he was able to bank most of it, ending the fundraising quarter with it with $429,065.66!

Johnson is set to face the victor between Democrats Whitney Raver and Brian Wirth, both of whom announced in the last couple of weeks of August. Neither has filed a report yet, which means they might not have hit the threshold for raising or spending funds. (Which should say something right there.)

Rounds 3q 2019 FEC by Pat Powers on Scribd

Filing shortly after his Republican competition for US Senate today, incumbent Senator Mike Rounds added a healthy amount to his total in the third fundraising quarter of this year.

Noem Administration Receives Nearly $2 Million in Grants for School Security 

PIERRE, S.D. – Governor Kristi Noem today announced that South Dakota received three grants totaling almost $2 million to help South Dakota school districts prevent and address threats of violence.

The South Dakota Department of Public Safety (DPS) received the grants from the Bureau of Justice Assistance’s STOP School Violence Program. The program is part of the U.S. Department of Justice.

“Our number one priority is the safety of the next generation,” said Noem. “These grants will be incredibly beneficial in our schools and better equip us to provide resources and training in the areas of violence prevention and threat recognition. While we hope our schools never experience violence, it is important we equip them with the resources they need to enhance safety and prepare teachers and students to recognize potential threats.”

There are three different grants:

1. $998,000 – This grant will allow the state to establish a School Safety Resource Center. The center can help distribute best practices for school safety, requests for training for threat recognition, training in establishment of threat adjudication teams, and requests for physical security assessments for K-12 school building.
2. $500,000 – This grant will focus on establishing prevention and mental health training programs in conjunction with mental health professionals.
3. $500,000 – This grant will focus on technology and threat assessment solutions for safe schools programs.

DPS Cabinet Secretary Craig Price said the programs will be administered by the state Office of Homeland Security and new staff members will be hired to oversee the programs. He said implementation of the grants will start soon.

“Our goal is to provide the tools for K-12 schools to implement preventive measures in their districts,” said Price. “These grants will help schools not only in the areas of threat recognition, but also working with schools to implement a wholesale approach to school safety.”

The grant money cannot be used to purchase weapons, equipment, or fund salaries for School Resource Officers.

South Dakota agencies that supported DPS with submitting the state’s grant proposal included the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Agency, SD Attorney General’s Office’s Division of Criminal Investigation; SD Department of Social Services’ Division of Behavioral Health, SD Department of Education, Associated School Boards of South Dakota, School Administrators of South Dakota, SD Parent Teacher’s Association, SD Association of School Resource Officers, SD Sheriff’s Association, SD Police Chiefs Association and Vermillion Police Department.

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Thune 2019 Oct 3q FEC by Pat Powers on Scribd

In the last quarter, US Senator John Thune raised $273,360.27, spent $122,991.95, and is reporting $12,525,824.68 in the bank for his next election.

I might also mention he’s in among the top ten most popular US Senators in the nation.

His next election in 2022 is a ways off, but if any democrats would consider challenging him, at this point you might consider them foolish.

And that’s about all that needs to be said.

Scyller Borglum, Republican candidate for US Senate has filed her first FEC report.

Scyller Borglum October FEC by Pat Powers on Scribd

The Report notes $10,155.48 raised, $12,300.97 spent, a $12,000 loan to the campaign, with $9754.51 cash on hand.

Compared to her potential opponent US Senator Mike Rounds, who has been raising $600k+/quarter with 1.4 Million cash on hand, that’s a divide she has to bridge, and the air war hasn’t even had a glimmer of starting yet.

The cash has largely come from out of state in addition to her personal loan. By far her biggest expense has been her campaign staffer, Ashley Granby, who received around $8800 of the $12k spent, for facebook marketing, website creation, and her management fees.  I’ve received 3 press releases from Ashley in the quarter, so I’m assuming this is for a lot of setting up the campaign.

I don’t think Scyller lacks for willingness or ability to campaign, as she’s been doing plenty of traveling and social media.  However, a campaign is not just ideas. It’s an organization with a lot of moving parts to support the candidate in their role, with petitioning coming right around the corner in January.

From the report, it looks as if both her circle of donors and workers needs to be more robust. Scyller needs to expand her organization, whether paid or volunteer, and be ready to go on January 1.

There’s still lots of time in this race, but the next quarter is traditionally a tough one with the holiday season. We’ll find out how it’s going when the year-end report hits.

More to come!

Well the irony is so thick you can cut it with a knife.

Cory Heidelberger, Democrat Socialist who has advocated for an artificially inflated higher wage found out the hard way that the labor pool isn’t subject to his whim – it’s actually based on supply and demand as Cory’s latest petition effort fell flat on it’s face because of “a labor shortage.”

I have ended the People Power Petition Drive. Weekend before last, I surveyed my circulators to find out how many initiative petition signatures they had in hand. I had just over 6,000 in my file box; the tally from circulators who responded was not quite another thousand.

and…

Circulating was also hampered by the tight labor market. Our petition strategy depended on being able to complement volunteer circulators with a few paid circulators who could be required to produce a predictable quota of signatures. I encountered the same workforce shortage that other South Dakota employers have noted for years: pretty much everyone with employable skills seems to be employed. $15 an hour was not enough to draw out the small corps of reliable, paid, full-time circulators I was looking for, and I didn’t have the budget to raise wages.

Even if paid circulators had been available, managing them requires another level of staff at multiple sites—at least in Sioux Falls and Rapid City—to hold paid circulators accountable daily, count signatures, check residency, and issue payment. Such accountability staff requires much higher salaries, offices, and other overhead.

Read that here.

Sounds like Cory found that as an employer, wages drive a huge part of the equation, and that market forces are the primary driver behind what people are paid, no matter what anyone attempts to legislate.

It probably didn’t help he had a product that was a difficult sell, at best, especially when it was designed to restrict information and rights from South Dakota voters.

A good plug for workforce development as has regularly been promoted by Republican administrations, eh?