This last weekend, Governor Larry Rhoden and Lt. Governor Tony Venhuizen were in the news explaining how the South Dakota Legislature can ignore the commitments they made to fund education by ignoring the laws they had passed earlier to help education funding keep pace with inflation:

(Governor Larry Rhoden said) “The same people that made the laws can suspend them, if you will,” he said. “And there’s times that it’s been necessary to do so.”

Lawmakers created the mandatory increase law in 1995, with an effective date in 1997. It required annual increases of 3% or inflation, whichever is less — an amount described as the “index factor.”

and..

Lt. Gov. Tony Venhuizen said the index factor now serves more as a “guideline or a goal.”

“One Legislature can’t bind a future Legislature by statute,” Venhuizen said.

and..

(Former Senator Lee Schoenbeck said)  “Now these people in the Legislature will have to decide if they have the courage to pay their bills.”

Read the entire story here.

What are your thoughts on the legislature failing to provide the inflationary increase they themselves had written into law? It’s not as if the cost of everything hasn’t increased during the same period of time they’ve failed to keep pace with the funding.

Don Haggar launches campaign for South Dakota Public Utilities Commission. Departs from Americans for Prosperity.

Sioux Falls, SD – January 5, 2026 “After eight incredible years at Americans for Prosperity, I’m stepping away to run for the South Dakota Public Utilities Commission,” said Don Haggar. “The policy victories we’ve achieved together—from tax relief and healthcare reforms to protecting free speech and running historic door-knocking campaigns that helped flip Senate seats to the Republican Party have made a real difference in people’s lives. I’m proud of what we’ve accomplished and grateful to have worked alongside so many passionate advocates. Now, I’m excited to bring that same commitment to fighting for affordable energy, reliable infrastructure, and consumer-focused regulation to the Public Utilities Commission.”

During his tenure at AFP, first as South Dakota State Director and later as Regional Vice President, Don Haggar led transformative policy victories and historic grassroots campaigns that advanced economic freedom, lowered costs for families, and expanded opportunity across the state and region.

Key accomplishments in South Dakota included working on support of streamlining elections by moving all municipal, county, and school board elections to either the primary or general election dates, enhancing voter participation. In healthcare, Don Haggar championed association health insurance plans that saved small family farms tens of thousands of dollars in health insurance costs, scope of practice expansions for certified registered nurse (CRNs), physician assistants (PAs), and dental professionals, and direct primary care legislation that promoted affordable, patient-centered options.

Education reforms under Don Haggar’s leadership expanded the insurance premium tax credit scholarship program twice, opened high school activities to home-schooled children, and implemented campus free speech protections. Economic wins included cutting the state sales tax from 4.5% to 4.2%, passing innovative regulatory sandbox legislation to foster entrepreneurship, and successfully defeating a ballot measure that would have restricted free speech.

As Regional Vice President, Don Haggar directed massive grassroots electoral efforts, including leading teams in Ohio and Montana that each knocked over one million doors to mobilize voters and help elect Republicans to U.S. Senate seats formerly held by Democrats..

SECRETARY OF STATE MONAE L. JOHNSON ANNOUNCES CANDIDATES MAY BEGIN CIRCULATING PETITIONS FOR THE 2026 PRIMARY ELECTION

PIERRE, S.D. – The South Dakota Secretary of State’s Office reminds individuals interested in running for public office in the 2026 primary election that candidate petitions may begin circulating on January 1, 2026.

Candidates seeking placement on the 2026 primary ballot must file their completed nominating petitions with the Secretary of State’s Office no later than March 31, 2026, by 5:00 p.m. CT.

Petition forms and filing requirements are available on the Secretary of State’s website at sdsos.gov. Candidates are encouraged to review the requirements carefully to ensure compliance with South Dakota election laws.

Greg Jamison Announcement

Sioux Falls, S.D. Greg Jamison to announce his future on serving Sioux Falls. The announcement will take place at the Falls Overlook Cafe on Wednesday January 7th at 6:30 pm.

What: Greg Jamison Announcement
When: Wednesday, January 7th at 6:30 pm
Where: Falls Overlook Cafe 825 N. Weber Ave, Sioux Falls, SD 57103

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Update..  It looks like at least behind the scenes that the cat is out of the bag.

I usually save the looney stuff for a slow Friday afternoon, but I came across this in my junk folder.

So, apparently Mike Zitterich, who has declared that he is a candidate for Sioux Falls City Council, seems to be leaning hard into sovereign citizen and conspiracy territory in a missive he sent out on December 27.

Where in part he declares that birth certificates are permission slips to put kids in foster care, and that he hasn’t paid income tax in 15 years, and if you join him, he believes you can collapse the federal reserve bank and end the IRS. In part..:

Oh my..

Candidates, in your campaigns for office this year, I think the last thing I would be declaring to the world is that you haven’t filed a 1040 or paid income taxes in more than 15 years.

Somehow, I don’t think such declarations traditionally end well.

A reader shared an interesting study they did this weekend, and thought it might be worthwhile to share with Dakotawarcollege.com readers. They took a good hard look at the freedom caucus’ legislative record. And if you take a good hard look, it’s not so good.

I was wondering how effective the eight Freedom Caucus members were in getting their prime-sponsored bills passed into law compared to all other Republicans. So I did an analysis. No ideology – just looking at data. The difference is stark:

Legislative Effectiveness — Republicans Only – 2025 South Dakota Legislative Session:

Purpose – To compare legislative effectiveness of Republican Freedom Caucus legislators to all other Republican legislators using a single, objective metric: how often a legislator’s own bills (prime-sponsored) became law. This memo evaluates outcomes only and does not assess ideology, rhetoric, or intent.

Method:
• Legislature: 105 members
• Republicans: 95
• Freedom Caucus Republicans analyzed: 8
• Non–Freedom-Caucus Republicans: 87

Metric:
• Prime sponsor only
• “Win” = bill signed into law
• Excludes resolutions, commemorations, and cosponsorships

Freedom Caucus Members — Prime Sponsor Results

Member	Prime Bills	Signed	Win %
John Carley	12	2	16.7%
Phil Jensen	6	0	0.0%
Logan Manhart	4	2	50.0%
Tina Mulally	6	1	16.7%
Aaron Aylward	10	2	20.0%
Heather Baxter	9	1	11.1%
Dylan Jordan	6	0	0.0%
Tony Randolph	6	0	0.0%

Freedom Caucus totals:
• Prime bills: 59
• Signed into law: 8
• Win rate: 13.6%
• Bills passed per member: 1.0

Prime-Sponsor Performance — Republicans Only

Group	Members	Prime Bills	Signed	Win %	Bills Passed per Member
Freedom Caucus Republicans	8	59	8	13.6%	1.0
Non-FC Republicans	87	371	180	48.5%	2.07

Key Takeaways
• Freedom Caucus Republicans passed about one out of every seven bills they sponsored.
• Non-Freedom Caucus Republicans passed nearly half of the bills they sponsored.

Bottom Line:
In the 2025 session, Freedom Caucus Republicans passed 13.6% of their prime-sponsored bills. Non-Freedom Caucus Republicans passed 48.5% of their bills.

Not exactly a bell-ringing endorsement for a group that likes to send out press releases making demands of the administration and of other Republicans on how to conduct the business of government.

From Facebook, there seems to be a groundswell of opposition building to a new measure being proposed by Sen. Curt Voight of Rapid City and Sen. Carl Perry of Aberdeen.

What are they proposing? To create a new form of professional licensure for the State of South Dakota; demanding that all hunting and fishing guides register with the State of South Dakota and pay a fee for that privilege.  And it’s not necessarily a cheap license to show people where they might throw a line in the river:

Section 5. That a NEW SECTION be added to chapter 41-6:

The Department of Game, Fish and Parks shall charge a fee of:

(1) Five hundred dollars for a resident fishing or hunting guide license; and

(2) One thousand dollars for a nonresident fishing or hunting guide license.

Read Curt & Carl’s bill here.

Naturally, the bureaucratic minded team of Curt Voight & Carl Perry are already getting pushback:

People are starting to gear up to oppose this new – and what appears to be very unpopular – measure for more government.

What is your opinion? Do we need licensure for hunting & fishing guides?

Thune Statement on Arrest of Nicolas Maduro

WASHINGTON — U.S. Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) today released the following statement after President Trump announced that federal drug fugitive Nicolas Maduro was captured for the purposes of being held accountable for his crimes.

“For years, Nicolas Maduro, the cartel he leads, and other cartels in Latin America have trafficked drugs into the United States, which have killed hundreds of thousands of Americans. President Trump’s decisive action to disrupt the unacceptable status quo and apprehend Maduro, through the execution of a valid Department of Justice warrant, is an important first step to bring him to justice for the drug crimes for which he has been indicted in the United States. I am grateful for the brave men and women of our armed forces who carried out this necessary action. I spoke to Secretary Rubio early this morning, and I look forward to receiving further briefings from the administration on this operation as part of its comprehensive counternarcotics strategy when the Senate returns to Washington next week.”

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BOLO ALERT. BOLO ALERT.  Be on the lookout for former Rapid City news anchor Shad Olson. Because according to documents filed in court, he’s a wanted man.

After pleading “No Contest” and receiving a suspended imposition of sentence for charges related to a domestic violence incident in early 2024, nearly 2 years later an arrest warrant has been issued against former Rapid City news anchor Shad Olson by the prosecuting attorney in Meade County.

In the PETITION TO REVOKE SUSPENDED IMPOSITION OF SENTENCE filed by Tanner Jackson, Meade County Deputy State’s Attorney, the document details that Olson, pictured left in his arrest photo, failed to honor a number of the terms of his agreement for suspended imposition of sentence, according to a court document filed on December 19th:

• • (1) Defendant failed to pay court appointed attorney fees, investigator fees, and transcript costs;
  • (2) Defendant failed to complete alcohol evaluation, abide by the recommendations of the evaluation, and provide proof of completion; and
  • (3) Defendant failed to complete anger management and provide proof of completion, in violation of the conditions ordered by the Court.

As a result, a warrant of arrest has been issued against Defendant Shad A Olson for his violation of the terms and conditions of the Defendant’s suspended imposition of sentence.

The warrant issued on December 23rd by 4th Circuit Magistrate Judge Chad Callahan further details to ANY LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICER OF THIS STATE that they shall arrest Shad Olson and deliver him to the courtroom of the Meade County Magistrate Court. And that “the Warrant of Arrest may be served at any time of the day or night, weekends, or holidays.”  A bond has been set in the amount of $500 in the matter to encourage his appearance.

According to court documents reviewed today, there’s no indication that the warrant has been executed. So if you see something – say something, and notify your local police department or Sheriff’s office of his location.  Although, I might suggest that people in Brown County & Lawrence County be extra “on the lookout” that they might have to call the Sheriff.  He’s been said to be often seen with a certain State Legislator who has homes in those locations. (IYKYK)

In case you were looking for the documentation on all of this..

Shad Olson December 23 2025 Arrest Warrant by Pat Powers

Looks like Democrats have picked up another candidate for Governor. Who may or may not get on the ballot.

Why do I think this? Because at least on the surface they have not demonstrated the organization and critical mass to show they have the organization to collect the petition signatures and to raise the funds to conduct a statewide campaign.

Either way, I bring you Anthony Sitter of Aberdeen:

Anthony Sitter sdcfdisclosure by Pat Powers

In looking at his website, it appears to be a placeholder. And not finding much else.

This part of the discussion will probably be done towards the end of March when petitions come due.