As is customary, Republican gubernatorial primary winner & Congresswoman Kristi Noem has announced that she is going to be making her choice for Lt. Governor known before the convention.  In an interview with Kevin Woster, Kristi is announcing the type of candidate she is going to ask to serve as her running mate:

Fresh off her June 5 win over state Attorney General Marty Jackley in bristly Republican gubernatorial primary, Noem says she’ll be busy considering possible running mates this week, and has been getting plenty of interest in that slot.

“Everybody’s asking,” she said. “We’re vetting several people right now. So we’ll probably have to make a decision within the next week, before we get to the convention.”

Noem said demographics, geography and work experience will all be part of the discussion. But she has a focus beyond that.

“You’ve got everybody who tells you who you should pick,” she said. “But for me it’s obviously somebody who could do the job in case something happened to me, and then I really want somebody who gets that the job’s not about them; it has to be about serving people. And that’s a little bit of a challenge, to find somebody with that mindset. So, we’re working through it to see who it could be.”

Read that here.

Picking who would serve in their place, and very importantly, who will represent the party’s nominee for Governor as a surrogate in the fall campaign is pretty important for a party’s Gubernatorial candidate  But, surprisingly (or not), that hasn’t deterred one malcontent from attacking Kristi’s choice before it’s even been made.

Shockingly, Senator Nelson is on Facebook today declaring that “Elections are not coronations,” and seeking to take that choice away from the GOP nominee for the office.

Really? Did I miss the part where Congresswoman Noem didn’t actually win?  Isn’t it a little early for Stace to start attacking the Republican nominee for Governor? (He used to be nice to them for a little while after they were elected).

Not that propriety has ever stopped him from attacking Republicans.

Bipartisan Farm Bill With Multiple Thune Provisions Heads to Full Senate

“Every farm bill is important, but given today’s low commodity prices and an overall sluggish agriculture economy, it is critical that we get a new farm bill to the president’s desk before the current one expires.”

WASHINGTON — U.S. Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.), a longtime member of the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry, today issued the following statement after the Agriculture Committee approved, by a vote of 20-1, the Senate’s bipartisan farm bill, which now heads to the full Senate for consideration. Several Thune provisions wereincluded in the base bill, which was introduced on June 8, and several more were included during today’s markup. Thune, who to date has introduced nearly one dozen standalone bills, which contain roughly 40 legislative initiatives and reforms to the farm bill, started this process in early 2017 in an effort to ensure a final farm bill reaches the president’s desk ahead of this fall’s expiration of the current farm bill.

“Every farm bill is important, but given today’s low commodity prices and an overall sluggish agriculture economy, it is critical that we get a new farm bill to the president’s desk before the current one expires,” said Thune. “The draft that was released last week was a good bill, but I’m glad that we were able to make it even stronger by adopting several additional amendments in the committee, including several proposals I’ve previously introduced. No bill is perfect, this one included, and while I still have a few ideas on how we can further strengthen it, the legislation we voted on today will no doubt help address the challenges producers are facing.”

Thune proposals adopted during today’s markup (click here for additional proposals included in the base bill): 

• Thune’s Improved Soil Moisture and Precipitation Monitoring Act (introduced on May 23, 2018), which would provide tools and direction to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to help improve the accuracy of the U.S. Drought Monitor and require the coordination of USDA agencies that use precipitation data to determine livestock grazing loss assistance and stocking rates.
• Provisions of S. 909, Thune’s Conservation Program Improvement Act (introduced on April 10, 2017), which would eliminate payment limitations for rural water districts or associations that use land enrolled in the Conservation Reserve Program for wellhead protection areas.
• Additional provisions of S. 909, which would allow land enrolled in any easement program to be modified, at the owner’s expense, for water management, general maintenance, vegetative cover control, or any other purpose jointly approved by a state’s department of natural resources (or an equivalent state agency) and the State Technical Committee. Maintenance of USDA easement lands would have to provide equal or greater conservation and wildlife benefit.

Thune has served on the Agriculture Committee in both the House and Senate and is currently the only member of the South Dakota congressional delegation to serve on the committee. Thune has written three farm bills during his time in Congress, and the 2018 farm bill is his fourth. Agriculture is South Dakota’s top industry, with more than 43 million acres of agricultural land throughout the state.

To learn more about Thune’s 2018 farm bill effort, please visit the farm bill section on www.thune.senate.gov.

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Committee Approves Noem’s IHS Reform Bill

Washington, D.C. – The House Natural Resources Committee today approved Rep. Kristi Noem’s Indian Health Service (IHS) reforms, a significant step forward for this comprehensive proposal. H.R.5874, the Restoring Accountability in the Indian Health Service Act, seeks to offer better tools for recruiting competent medical staff and leadership, improve care standards, and dramatically increase accountability.

“Today, tribal members are receiving life-threatening ‘care’ from a broken IHS. That urgently needs to change,” said Rep. Noem. “Whether it’s recruiting competent medical staff and hospital leadership, improving care standards or instilling genuine accountability measures, our legislation puts patient care first, helping ensure South Dakota Tribes receive the care their families deserve. I am grateful to Chairman Bishop and the House Natural Resources Committee for working with me and South Dakota’s Tribal community to make the changes families so desperately need.”

“This bill was developed in response to the devastating health care crisis facing our Indian tribes and reservations,” said House Natural Resources Committee Chairman Rob Bishop. “I would like to thank Rep. Noem for her efforts to increase transparency and accountability in the Indian Health Service which will better serve the needs of tribal communities.”

“I want to thank Congresswoman Noem for her hard work and continued support of, not only Lower Brule, but all of Indian Country, especially when it comes to the health and wellness of our people,” said Chairman Boyd Gourneau, Lower Brule Tribe. “I fully support her efforts on this bill!”

“The Rosebud Sioux Tribe is grateful for Rep. Noem’s diligent work to improve the Indian Health Service,” said President William Kindle, Rosebud Sioux Tribe. “Her bill, the Restoring Accountability in the Indian Health Service Act, is a great step toward providing much-needed accountability in the IHS and improving the quality of health care for our people and Native people across the country.”

“Since 2015, the Rosebud Sioux Tribe’s IHS hospital has seen a decrease in vital services like surgery and OB/GYN, and remains critically understaffed,” said William Bear Shield, Chairman, Unified Health Board of Rapid City. “The IHS continues to excessively rely on expensive contracts and non-IHS medical providers to furnish these services. As Chairman of the Unified Health Board, I have worked with Congresswoman Noem since the first days the CMS issues came to light in the Great Plains. I am grateful to the Congresswoman for taking the federal treaty obligations of health care in Indian County seriously, and for working hard to ensure the federal Indian Health Service gets the improvements, tools, and funding it needs to deliver.”

“As a former member of the Rosebud Sioux Tribal Health Board, we worked closely with Congresswoman Noem on the legislation she introduced in the House,” said O.J. Semans, former member of the Rosebud Sioux Tribal Health Board. “It gives me great pleasure to support her efforts in improving health care for Indian Country.”

The Restoring Accountability in the IHS Act offers a series of reforms to the IHS, addressing both medical and administrative challenges.  More specifically, the legislation:

Offers Better Tools for Recruiting Competent Medical Staff and Leadership

• Provides incentives to health care professionals to serve in the IHS, including pay flexibility and relocation reimbursements when employees move to high-need areas, as well as a housing voucher program for rental assistance to employees.
• Allows managers to be eligible for the IHS student loan repayment program to incentivize more competent managers to join the agency.
• Provides flexibility for the IHS in hiring and firing.
• Makes volunteering at IHS facilities easier by providing liability protections for medical professionals who want to volunteer at IHS service units and centralizing the agency’s medical credentialing system.

Improves Patient Care Standards

• Requires IHS employees to attend culture training annually that teaches them about the tribe(s) they serve.

Increases Accountability

• Enhances fiscal accountability by ensuring reports and plans are completed in a timely manner. Failure to comply with the requirements will restrict the IHS’ ability to provide salary increases and bonuses.
• Increases congressional oversight by requiring reports that assess staffing needs, existing protections against whistleblowers, and the frequency and causes of patient harm events.
• Reiterates IHS employees’ right to petition Congress and requires HHS to notify all employees of the IHS of their statutory right to speak with Members of Congress and their staffs.

Companion legislation was introduced in the Senate by Sens. John Barrasso (R-WY), John Thune (R-SD) and John Hoeven (R-ND).

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EPW Subcommittee to Hold Oversight Hearing on Regulation of Surplus Water

WASHINGTON—U.S. Sen. Mike Rounds (R-S.D.), Chairman of the Senate Environment and Public Works (EPW) Subcommittee on Superfund, Waste Management and Regulatory Oversight, will chair a hearing titled, “Oversight of the Army Corps’ Regulation of Surplus Water and the Role of States’ Rights” on Wednesday, June 13, 2018, at 2:30 PM EDT.

DETAILS:

WHAT:         EPW Subcommittee on Superfund, Waste Management and Regulatory Oversight hearing

WHEN:        2:30 PM EDT, Wednesday, June 13, 2018

WHERE:     406 Dirksen Senate Office Building – Live streaming video of the hearing will also be provided at www.epw.senate.gov

WITNESSES: 

The Honorable Steven M. Pirner – Secretary, South Dakota Department of Environment and Natural Resources

Ward J. Scott – Western Governors’ Association

Stephen Mulligan – Legislative Attorney, Congressional Research Service

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This went out yesterday from the Secretary of State’s office, to counties who like and use electronic pollbooks and vote centers for the speed and convenience of voters.

As opposed to strengthening backup procedures, the problems 2 counties experienced with connectivity to the state voter database managed by the Secretary of State are triggering the SOS to propose to cease using technology.

SDSOS proposal to move back to StoneAge by Pat Powers on Scribd

E-Pollbooks are used in jurisdictions in 32 states, with Alabama set to be the 33rd.  They’re becoming more and more prevalent, specifically for the following reasons as cited by the NCSL:

There are a variety of e-poll books on the market, and many jurisdictions design their own. An e-poll book typically provides one or more of the following functions:

• Allows poll workers to look up voters from the entire county or state. This can reduce time spent checking in voters, one of the bottlenecks in the voting process.

• Allows poll workers to easily redirect voters in the wrong location to the correct polling place.

• Scans a driver’s license to pull up a voter’s information, avoiding data entry errors.

• Notifies poll workers if a voter already voted absentee or during the early voting period.

• Allows voters to sign in electronically.

• Produces turnout numbers and lists of who voted.

• Uses a photo to verify a voter’s identity. This could be a method to prevent voter fraud, but it is not yet in place anywhere.

• E-poll books in some states (Maryland and Indiana, for example) are networked and receive immediate updates on who has voted in other voting centers. Other states (Minnesota and Michigan, for example) specify that e-poll books may not be connected to the network.

You can read the entire report here.

Brookings County has used voting centers and e-pollbooks since their inception several years ago, and voting could not be quicker, easier and more convenient.   Brookings used them last week, and it went just fine.  Seems there’s the possibility that fingers might be pointed in the wrong direction on this one. But, we’ll see.

Maybe they’ll propose to go Fred Flintstone on us, and change to stone tablets next.

Punishing victims of crime because they own a gun?

From the Argus Leader, Liberal Democrat & Sioux Falls City Councilor Patrick Starr is announcing his interest in city ordinances to punish gun owners when someone steals from their car or home:

A rash of firearm thefts from unlocked vehicles and garages has at least one Sioux Falls official toying with the idea of establishing penalties for the victims.

and…

That has Councilor Pat Starr investigating whether the city has the ability to establish an ordinance to penalize gun owners who don’t keep their firearms locked up.

“I’m a big believer in the Second Amendment, and I believe that people have the right to bear their arms, but at the same time it comes with a responsibility,” Starr told his fellow councilors Tuesday afternoon at Carnegie Town Hall.

and..

That could be a tough sell for Starr, though. A long-standing South Dakota law prohibits counties and local governments from using ordinances to restrict “possession, transportation, sale, transfer, ownership, manufacture, or repair of firearms or ammunition.”

Go read it here.

Wow! So, if my house isn’t locked, and someone makes off with my property I’m legally allowed to possess in my home, I’m somehow at fault?

Starr might claim he’s “a big believer in the Second Amendment,” but it is not borne out by his statements.   Punishing the victim because of what was stolen? What’s next, does he plan on fining people who have been prescribed certain medications if someone robs from their medicine cabinet?

Starr is doing nothing but BLAMING THE VICTIM in one of the most overtly big-government and expressly anti-2nd amendment proposals I’ve ever heard uttered forth from any public official ever in the State of South Dakota.

 

Wow! This sure sounds like a battle is brewing, and someone is throwing down. From the Argus Leader:

The South Dakota Retailers Association is spreading false information to members in an effort to keep federal food stamp data hidden from the public.

and..

Jon Arneson, a lawyer who represented the Argus Leader in the lawsuit, said the Retailers Association was “conspicuously disseminating misinformation” to arouse its membership.

Arneson said the Retailers Association’s contention that a confidentiality provision is necessary to prevent the public from knowing “exactly what your customers are purchasing with their SNAP benefits” is untrue.

Read it here.

I actually don’t think I’ve seen the state’s largest newspaper claim that the state’s largest trade association is lying before. In a related note, retailers of South Dakota, advertising space is available at dakotawarcollege.com. 

The lawsuit filed long ago against the persons alleged to be involved in illegal robocalls was dismissed late last week on a technicality by the judge hearing the case, but the principals involved in the case indicated that they may appeal:

Second Circuit Court Judge Mark Salter in his order filed Monday said he decided to dismiss the six-year-old case after the former lawmaker who filed it failed to keep the case going.

“This case is stale and focuses upon conduct alleged to have occurred prior to the 2012 general election,” Second Circuit Court Judge Mark Salter wrote. “The lack of action is unreasonable and unexplained.”

and..

Nelson said he’d never been involved in the robocalls and felt the lawsuit brought against him was an attempt to “slime” him in the press. The decision to dismiss was the right one, Nelson said, though it came years later than it should’ve.

“It is a measure of justice that this has been dismissed with prejudice,” Nelson said.

Lederman said he didn’t agree with the judge’s decision and would consider an appeal.

Read it here.

While Nelson protests his innocence to the press, Nelson had been named as participating in the case as part of the sworn testimony of Gary Dykstra, who was named in the complaint as a key player in the robocalls.

On the stand, Dykstra said he, Willard and state representative Stace Nelson got the idea to send out these robocalls to people throughout South Dakota because they did not like the voting record of South Dakota Republican leaders when it came to cutting education benefits for veterans. Dykstra said three different people, including Willard, came up with this plan.

Read that here.

SENATE PRESIDENT PRO TEM ENDORSES LANCE RUSSELL FOR AG

CLARK, S.D. (Jun 12, 2018) – Today, Senate President Pro Tempore Senator Brock Greenfield announced his endorsement for Senator Lance Russell for the South Dakota Attorney General position today in a press release.

Senator Greenfield said in his endorsement, “Senator Lance Russell is the only candidate for Attorney General who possess the extensive experience both as a prosecutor and as a leader of state government.”

The endorsement from Senator Greenfield comes a week ahead of the State Republican Convention, where the South Dakota Republican party will nominate one of three seeking the position to move on to the General Election where they will face a Democrat challenger.

Senator Greenfieldsaid “Lance is as formidable on the campaign trail as he is in the courtroom. Lance has a record of defeating Democrats.”

The endorsement comes in light of concerns that have been raised within the Republican party over Democrat challenger U.S. Attorney Randy Sieler who recently announced his bid for the position, and is expected to be the Democrat choice for the position in the general election this fall.

The Republican State Convention will nominate their choice for Attorney General next Saturday, on June 23rd.

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A final e-mail from the Marty Jackley for Governor campaign:

Thank You, South Dakota

I want to thank you for all of your kindness and support during our campaign for governor.

We have a great team of supporters and I will be forever grateful for all of your help, advice, and prayers for my family. My travels during this campaign reinforced why I so love South Dakota and gave me an even better appreciation for the tremendous opportunities we have right here at home.

Perhaps the greatest part of the campaign has been the everlasting friendships I have made, and although our campaign has come to an end, it remains my hope our friendships will only continue to grow. Thank you for being a part of our team and may God bless you and our great state.

Sincerely,

Marty, Angela, Michael, and Isabella Jackley