Last week, an article appeared in the Augustana University Newspaper where former Congresswoman Stephanie Herseth Sandlin discussed what caused her to consider leaving her job as President of Augustana University, as she was recently sworn in to the federal bar, a first step in possibly being nominated for Federal Judge.

As noted in the March 19 Augustana U paper:

 

Okay then…  has nothing to do with the “for life” appointment to the bench and all..

Rounds-Backed Bill to Expand Vaccine Access for Vets & Caregivers Heads to President’s Desk

Bill would provide COVID-19 vaccine services to all vets, spouses, & caregivers at the VA

WASHINGTON – The Senate unanimously passed bipartisan legislation cosponsored by Senator Mike Rounds (R-S.D.) to expand COVID-19 vaccine eligibility to veterans and their families under the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). This legislation now heads to the president’s desk to be signed into law.

The Strengthening and Amplifying Vaccination Efforts to Locally Immunize all Veterans and Every Spouse (SAVE LIVES) Act would allow the VA to provide COVID-19 vaccination services to all veterans, veteran spouses, caregivers, and Civilian Health and Medical Program of the Department of Veterans Affairs (CHAMPVA) recipients to the extent that such vaccines are available. It also urges the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to adjust the VA’s vaccine allocation based on this increased eligibility pool, as much as the supply chain allows.

“Every South Dakota veteran, spouse, and caregiver should have access to the COVID-19 vaccine through the VA,” said Rounds. “Our bipartisan legislation expands the VA’s authority to vaccinate our American heroes and their caregivers, so we can continue to safely return our country back to normal. I urge President Biden to sign our legislation into law.”

The SAVE LIVES Act will expand VA’s authority to provide vaccines to:

• Veterans who are not eligible for enrollment in VA’s health care system, including veterans without compensable service-connected disabilities and veterans who have incomes above a certain threshold;
• Caregivers of veterans who are enrolled in various VA home-based and long-term care programs;
• Spouses of veterans; and
• CHAMPVA recipients (spouses of permanently and totally disabled veterans or of veterans who have died from service-connected disabilities).

Senator Rounds joined this bill led by VA Committee Chairman Jon Tester (D-Mont.), Ranking Member Jerry Moran (R-Kan.), and cosponsors Senators John Boozman (R-Ark.), Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), Kevin Cramer (R-N.D.), Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Thom Tillis (R-N.C.), Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio), Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.), Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.), Margaret Hassan (D-N.H.), Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.), Christopher Coons (D-Del.), Gary Peters (D-Mich.), Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.), and Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii).

Text of the SAVE LIVES Act can be found here.

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Governor Noem Signs DEX Funding

Also Signs Other Agriculture and Natural Resources Bills

PIERRE, S.D. – Governor Noem has signed Senate Bill 99 into law, which funds the Dakota Events CompleX at the South Dakota State Fair.

“In South Dakota, we see challenges as an opportunity to grow, to build for the future,” said Governor Kristi Noem. “The new DEX will be a state-of-the-art facility which will attract regional and national events to Huron. I’m excited for DANR to get to work on this project and to complete the DEX by the 2022 State Fair.”

Governor Noem also signed six other bills pertaining to agriculture and natural resources:

• HB 1038 makes an appropriation from the coordinated natural resources conservation fund to the State Conservation Commission.
• HB 1153 authorizes the Board of Regents to contract for the design and construction of a new dairy research and extension farm on the campus of South Dakota State University.
• HB 1171 makes an appropriation to the State Conservation Commission.
• HB 1210 makes an appropriation to the Board of Regents to provide grant funding for a new bioproducts facility at the research park in Brookings.
• HB 1256 makes an appropriation for the cleanup of the Big Sioux watershed and River.
• HB 1264 makes appropriations for the water and environment fund and its revolving fund subfunds for various water and environmental purposes.

Governor Noem has signed 191 bills into law this legislative session.

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Via Twitter:

"You're preaching my sermon. Only girls play girls' sports." pic.twitter.com/PhgpLMGsDG

— Governor Kristi Noem (@govkristinoem) March 23, 2021

Woki-leaks South Dakota is back today with another report on what’s happening at USD, and seems to be pointing a finger at Provost Kurt Hackemer for putting the social engineers in positions of authority to push the woke agenda. As noted in part..

These first three paragraphs are telling. The authors make the claim that “Eurocentric bias” pervades USD and/or society in general. This is consistent with the general Social Justice position that the United States is a bastion of systemic racism, White supremacy, sexism, and so on. ..

And..

Giving credit where credit is due, the authors of the letter thank USD Provost Kurt Hackemer for having helped build this network and for installing activists in positions of power:

These experts in “equity and inclusion” appear to include one of the authors of the open letter, Professor Mandie Weinandt. On February 3, 2021, the Provost’s office announced that Dr. Weinandt will be taking over as head of USD’s Center for Teaching and Learning later this year. A few days later, Weinandt suggested on Twitter that she may spend her time preparing for her new role by learning how better to scapegoat White people for society’s ills and “weaponize” the Woke propaganda tracts she’s been reading (see Weinandt’s twitter page for more details) to liberate the “oppressed minds” of students of color)

Read the entire story here at Woki-Leaks South Dakota.

On Facebook this afternoon, Speaker of the House Spencer Gosch issued a statement that went after Governor Noem for her style and form revisions of House Bill 1217, limiting the application of the measure to K-12 students, and stripping the measure of how it could affect South Dakota’s participation in the NCAA.

While Noem legal team reviewed the measure, Gosch countered that “lawyers from national organizations like Alliance Defending Freedom spent months writing the legislation that ultimately passed the legislative process,” and sharply attacked the Governor, boasting “we brought a bill, she brought a website.”  The problem with Gosch’s attack on the Governor? Legislating is easy, especially when an out-of-state group hands you a bill.  But the devil – and the lawsuits – are in the implementation. The bill as written had some portions that were frankly big government.

And after looking at the measure with her own legal team, Kristi decided that was more than the Governor was willing to do, as spelled out in her style and form veto message.

Governor Noem represents all of South Dakota. And she has to take into account a lot more opinions than just those of the 20% hard right.

No matter how conservative a Governor may be, they still have to govern with practicality of how something will be carried out.  I get the impression that the Governor looked farther down the line than just the next 2 weeks, and ran up against some problems in implementation.

Shouldn’t the Governor be concerned if a bill as written might cause dozens of lawsuits and cost the state jobs?  Well, yes. And it sounds like she did.    Especially when this is not a situation where we are actively facing the question at the moment. We literally would be falling on our sword for the smoky suppositions of what could happen.

In the instance of 1217, the Governor split the difference, allowing portions of the measure to move forward in the state, and at the same time, allowing others to litigate out the other portions, while advocating that states band together when they negotiate with entities such as the NCAA.

I don’t think that’s a bad place for our state to be.

At least, it doesn’t seem like it should be an issue for legislators to throw rocks at the Governor over.

Governor Noem Signs Appropriations Bills into Law

PIERRE, S.D. – Governor Noem has signed twenty-one appropriations bills into law.

“South Dakota had a truly fantastic year. Thanks to our unique approach to the pandemic, we had opportunities that weren’t afforded to other states,” said Governor Kristi Noem. “I challenged the legislature to solve problems for 20-30 years or even longer into the future, and they accomplished that. These projects will strengthen South Dakota and make targeted investments in our communities for the future.”

• SB 28 authorizes the Board of Regents to contract for the redesign and renovation of, and the design and construction of an addition to, the Sanford Jackrabbit Athletic Complex on the campus of South Dakota State University.
• SB 33 makes an appropriation for certain costs related to the commissioning of the USS Pierre.
• SB 35 makes an appropriation to implement provisions concerning the legalization, regulation, and taxation of marijuana.
• SB 47 makes an appropriation for the maintenance and repair of state-owned dams.
• SB 48 authorizes the payment of lease rental obligations to the South Dakota Health and Educational Facilities Authority.
• SB 54 makes an appropriation to build a bison visitors center in Custer State Park.
• SB 64 revises the General Appropriations Act for fiscal year 2021.
• SB 93 makes an appropriation to rehabilitate the rail line from west of the city of Fort Pierre to the city of Rapid City.
• SB 139 increases the base salary for certain judges.
• SB 149 revises an appropriation regarding the fire insurance premium tax.
• SB 156 authorizes the Board of Regents to contract for the construction of a Mineral Industry Building and the demolition of the old Mineral Industry Building on the campus of South Dakota School of Mines and Technology.
• SB 162 appropriates funds for airport route restoration, business development, and air service marketing.
• SB 195 appropriates general funds for fiscal year 2022, also called the General Appropriations Act for fiscal year 2022.
• HB 1017 revises the appropriation for the construction of a cold storage building located in Sioux Falls.
• HB 1021 makes an appropriation to reimburse certain healthcare professionals who have complied with the requirements for certain health care recruitment assistance programs.
• HB 1026 makes an appropriation for the payment of extraordinary litigation expenses.
• HB 1039 makes an appropriation for costs related to suppression of wildfires in the state.
• HB 1169 makes an appropriation for the arts.
• HB 1232 increases the pay of certain constitutional officers.
• HB 1266 makes an appropriation for the improvement of information technology servers and infrastructure of state government.
• HB 1273 transfers funds to the health care trust fund.

Governor Noem has signed 184 bills into law this legislative session.

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Governor Noem Launches “Defend Title IX Now” Coalition

PIERRE, S.D. – Today, Governor Noem announced the “Defend Title IX Now” Coalition to defend fairness in women’s sports.

“Today, we’re announcing a coalition of athletes, leaders, and anyone who cares about defending fairness in women’s sports,” said Governor Kristi Noem. “Once we have enough states on board – a coalition large enough where the NCAA could not possibly punish us all – then we will be able to guarantee fairness at the collegiate level.”

Governor Noem was joined by former NFL players Herschel Walker and Jack Brewer, by rodeo cowboys, and by several women athletes to announce the launch of the Coalition.

Those interested in joining the Coalition are encouraged to sign a pledge stating:

1. Only girls should play girls’ sports. Title IX was passed to protect fairness for women;
2. The federal government should enforce Title IX in a way that protects fairness for women’s sports, rather than misusing it in a way that undermines fairness;
3. The NCAA and other athletic sanctioning bodies should not take any adverse action against any state or school that acts to protect fairness for women.

To sign the pledge and to find more information on the Coalition, visit DefendTitleIXnow.com.

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Still pretty excited, and will not be happy until I get it in the mail (supposedly next week). Late Saturday night, I won the bid on a “Pierre for Capitol” item I did not have for my collection.

Pierre for Permanent Capitol 1904 on one side, with an image of Teddy Roosevelt on the other.

I was extremely pleased, as I ended up much cheaper than my last Teddy Roosevelt/Pierre for Capitol medal. (TR collectors must have been asleep at the switch Saturday night). Given Teddy’s popularity at the time, they adopted his likeness – and one of his slogans “Stand Pat” as part of the campaign for Capitol.

The new medallion is interesting, in that it looks as if a manufacturer just pieced 2 sides together from 2 other medallions:

A little different from the other 3 Pierre for Capitol medallions I have like this, as none have a relief of the Capitol on one side with a relief of TR on the back. It has the “Stand Pat for Permanent Capitol” of the medal from the center (adding 1904), and the Theo. Roosevelt of the medal on the right.

BTW, if you ever run across “South Dakota Capitol fight” items, they’re a permanent want item for me. Those and South Dakota campaign textiles, such as ribbons, always get my attention.

(You can always drop me a note here if you want to make me a hot deal.)

At her Press Conference this morning, Governor Kristi Noem announced a coalition of states, athletes, and others to form a coalition to defend women’s sports under title IX, titled Defend Title IX Now, which you can find at defendtitleixnow.com.

As noted by Governor Noem, the purpose of this coalition is to create an advocacy group that’s large enough that the NCAA cannot take punitive measures for their efforts, nor ignore them, also noting that the law as written in the South Dakota Legislature would have caused a lawsuit that the state would have likely lost.

Governor Noem featured professional athletes Herschel Walker, Jack Brewer, and Nancy Lopez joining her in support of her efforts, as well as a number of collegiate sports participants.

Noem indicates her strategy is to participate in the debate over title 9, and supporting women’s sports in a smart, strategic way. She’s going to address high school sports at the legislative level, and take this tactic for collegiate sports.  Noem also discussed the many problems with House Bill 1217, and the style and form changes that she sent back, and why.

Stay tuned for more on Governor Noem’s efforts to protect women’s sports.