State Representative Tom Holmes, a retired long-time educator in the Sioux Falls School District has a letter to the editor in the Argus Leader (and on-line) endorsing Cynthia Mickelson in the Sioux Falls School Board race:
As a retired teacher and parent of a public school graduate, I can’t think of a better candidate to serve the students, teachers, employees and taxpayers of the Sioux Falls Public School System on the school board than Cynthia Mickelson.
and..
Teaching social studies at Washington and Roosevelt High Schools for 40 years brought students from all different backgrounds into my classroom. Each and every one of them deserved and received the best education and opportunities I could provide them. After retiring from teaching, I continue to advocate for children by substitute teaching and through my work in the legislature.
Darn it! Who told those women they could have an opinion?
At one point he referred to an encounter he had with a young couple in their yard while he was campaigning recently, an exchange that the woman has posted about on social media and she contacted the Capital Journal about it.
Robinson brought it up Thursday during the forum, saying when the two told him they were getting married soon, he said “she’s not even pregnant and she got really offended over this thing,” and “it’s all over the internet.”
At other points, after referring several times to “girls,” and “little ladies,” who worked for the city, a woman got up from the audience and walked out. After the meeting she said she was angered at Robinson’s referring to adult women as “girls,” and “little ladies.”
Robinson himself referred to his manner of speaking and said he would try to use the term “ladies,” rather than “girls.”
And..
After several other statements, including that if he gets elected mayor,”I have to have some help,” and “I kicked the sleeping pooch and woke it up,” and wanting to be part of the team, Robinson said: “I don’t know. . . I’m rambling. I’m passionate. I need adult supervision.”
After a few more minutes of closing statements, Robinson quickly left the building without talking to anyone.
Thune Introduces Bill to Increase Accountability and Transparency at the Indian Health Service
“After hearing about one heartbreaking story after another from tribal members in South Dakota and throughout the Great Plains area, it’s time to move away from talking about reforming IHS and begin making positive and systemic changes that lead to better care and greater oversight.”
WASHINGTON — U.S. Sen. John Thune today joined Sens. John Hoeven (R-N.D.), chairman of the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs (SCIA), and John Barrasso (R-Wyo.) in introducing the Restoring Accountability in the Indian Health Service Act of 2017, legislation that would improve the quality and delivery of patient care throughout Indian Country. Last year, Thune introduced similar legislation that was ultimately the subject of a June 2016 SCIA field hearing and listening session in Rapid City, South Dakota, to examine the quality of care delivered by the Indian Health Service (IHS).
A lack of oversight, financial integrity, and employee accountability at the IHS has led to the delivery of substandard health care services of patients, families, and whole communities. The bill would increase transparency and accountability at the IHS to ensure Native Americans have access to reliable, quality health care.
“It would be a significant understatement to say tribal members deserve better health care than what they’re accustomed to receiving from IHS,” said Thune. “After hearing about one heartbreaking story after another from tribal members in South Dakota and throughout the Great Plains area, it’s time to move away from talking about reforming IHS and begin making positive and systemic changes that lead to better care and greater oversight. For years, IHS has made hollow commitments to me and my colleagues in Congress to correct many of the problems that are ultimately addressed in this bill, which was formed with significant tribal member input. The bill would make several critical improvements to the delivery of care at IHS facilities, and it would hold IHS accountable to Congress and the community members they serve, more importantly. I look forward to continuing to work with members of the South Dakota tribes and with Sens. Barrasso and Hoeven in doing everything we can to fix the broken IHS system once and for all.”
The bill would improve transparency and accountability at the IHS by:
Expanding removal and discipline authorities for problem employees at the agency;
Commissioning Government Accountability Office reports on housing and staffing needs, whistleblower protections, and patient care and harm occurring at the IHS;
Providing requirements for the secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to issue standards to measure the timeliness of health care services provided at IHS facilities;
Requiring the IHS to develop and implement a service-wide centralized credentialing system for licensed health professionals seeking to provide health care services at multiple facilities; and
Ensuring the inspector general of HHS investigates all patient deaths in which the IHS is alleged to be involved by act or omission.
The bill would strengthen staff recruitment and retention at the IHS by:
Providing the secretary of HHS with direct hiring and other authorities to avoid long delays in the traditional hiring process;
Providing authority for health professionals to volunteer their health care services and be provided liability protections when working at an IHS service unit;
Addressing gaps in IHS personnel by giving the secretary of HHS flexibility to create competitive pay scales and provide temporary housing assistance for medical professionals; and
Expanding the eligibility for certain IHS employees to participate in the loan repayment program by including degrees in business administration with an emphasis in health care management, health administration, hospital administration, or public health.
The Restoring Accountability in the Indian Health Service Act of 2017 is based on extensive feedback and information gathered by SCIA since 2010.
U.S. Reps. Kristi Noem (R-S.D.), Rob Bishop (R-Utah), Cathy McMorris-Rodgers (R-Wash.), Tom Cole (R-Okla.), and Markwayne Mullen (R-Okla.) today introduced companion legislation in the House of Representatives.
Noem Leads Colleagues in Introducing IHS Reform Bill
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Rep. Kristi Noem (R-SD) – along with Reps. Rob Bishop (R-UT), Markwayne Mullen (R-OK), Cathy McMorris-Rodgers (R-WA), and Tom Cole (R-OK) – today introduced theRestoring Accountability in the IHS Act. For years, federal reports have documented shocking cases of mismanagement and poorly delivered care at Indian Health Service (IHS) facilities. The IHS was left to make improvements on its own, but despite funding increases almost every year, the agency produced increasingly poor care. The Restoring Accountability in the IHS Act seeks to offer better tools for recruiting competent medical staff and leadership, improve care standards, and dramatically increase accountability.
“Enough is enough,” said Noem. “IHS has to be reformed. People’s lives are at stake.”
Noem continued: “The Restoring Accountability in the IHS Act would fundamentally alter how the agency operates, putting patient care first at all times. Whether it’s recruiting competent medical staff and hospital leadership, improving care standards or instilling strict accountability measures, this legislation remains focused on ensuring tribal members in South Dakota and across the country receive the care their families need.”
“This legislation is a strong step forward to restore accountability to the Indian Health Service and improve the delivery of care in Native American communities. I commend Rep. Noem for her work to develop creative solutions that will solve the most pressing issues plaguing Indian healthcare in the Great Plains region, and I look forward to working with her to advance this bill through the House,” said Bishop, Chairman of the House Committee on Natural Resources.
“Reforms to IHS are long overdue, and the Restoring Accountability in the IHS Act provides solutions to the obvious inefficiencies plaguing IHS,” Mullin said. “By bringing accountability and flexibility to IHS management, Native Americans and their families will see dramatic improvements in their health care system. This bill will bring quality and reliable health services reforms to the IHS delivery system.”
“The IHS is essential to our Native American communities across the nation, and it is crucial that we deliver on our promise to provide the best care possible for Native citizens,” said Cole. “This legislation will allow for significant reforms in the IHS, in both patient care and in protocol. Our Native Communities deserve peace of mind when seeking care for their health.”
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 hospitals or service units and centralizing the agency’s medical credentialing system.
Improves Patient Care Standards
Requires the IHS to develop standards to measure wait times.
Requires IHS employees to attend culture training annuallythat 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.
The Restoring Accountability in the IHS Act was also introduced today in the Senate by Indian Affairs Committee Chairman John Barrasso (R-WY) and Sen. John Thune (R-SD).
There’s been quite a bit of discussion lately over the application of the tourism tax to the Farmer’s Market in Falls Park in Sioux Falls, one of the best ones held in South Dakota. As noted in the Argus, the Dept of Revenue is claiming they also need to collect a tourism tax solely because of where the Farmer’s Market is held:
The state says because the market is held at Falls Park, a major tourist destination for the city of Sioux Falls, it is subject to the state’s tourism tax and could be subject to three-year’s worth of back taxes.
Randall said Farmers Market vendors in Sioux Falls for years have paid sales tax but not until recently did some of the regular vendors at the Falls Park Farmers Market start receiving letters from the state revenue office alerting them of the tourism requirement.
Considering there are Farmer’s Markets that take place across South Dakota, it seems completely unfair to single this one out based on a location under a park canopy at the far end of Falls Park. They don’t hit the other Farmer’s Markets which take place in parking lots across the state, including others in Sioux Falls. Just this one which happens to have a convenient canopy for vendors.
It seems to me that the whole tourism tax issue might need to be revisited by the State Legislature, and potentially modified. The same might be said for how Farmer’s Market participants are asked to pay taxes in general.
Because what’s happening now seems to be an example of an uneven playing field.
Candidates, it’s probably not a good idea to bodyslam members of the media on the eve of your election. From Yahoo News:
This is not the first time Gianforte has clashed with a member of the media. At a campaign event in April, a supporter asked Gianforte his views on how the media could be reined in, the Missoulian reported.
“We have someone right here. It seems like there is more of us than there is of him,” Gianforte responded, after making a strangling gesture with his hands. “I don’t have a simple solution for you.”
Sixty percent of votes in the election have already been cast via absentee ballot. In Montana, any registered voter can request and use an absentee ballot.
The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee issued a statement after the incident calling on Gianforte to withdraw his candidacy and urging House Speaker Paul Ryan and the National Republican Congressioinal Committee to denounce its candidate.
Though not in the room when the violence ensued, BuzzFeed News reporter Alexis Levinson was nearby and tweeted her account shortly after the incident.
This week marked a 1-2 punch against the much maligned Consumer Protection Finance Bureau (CFPB) as not only was the overzealous government agency’s existence argued against in front of the 11-member court of appeals, but President Trump’s presented budget literally guts funding for the agency under the Republican president.
First – the court case:
Theodore Olson, an attorney for financial services company PHH Corp., the plaintiff in the case, sued the CFPB in 2014. He argued Wednesday before six Democratic-appointed judges and five Republican-appointed judges that such a structure gives the CFPB director more power than was intended by framers of the Constitution.
“You have a concentration of power,” Olsen told the judges. In creating the CFPB, he noted, “Congress itself understood and recognized that it was going further than it ever did before in limiting the President’s power.” A single director who cannot be dismissed without cause, and with a term that potentially outstrips that of the president, limits the chief executive’s authority, he maintained.
and..
he court also could decide against the one-person directorship structure. That would allow the president to appoint a several-member board, like with the Federal Trade Commission and the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Observers say a definitive decision may not be handed down for more than a year. By then, Cordray will be finishing his five-year term, anyway, and President Trump could appoint a new director.
A governing board would be fine with many in the financial services industry.
“We believe such a structure would allow for a diversity of views and expertise, as well as providing continuity through different administrations, rather than having a regulation yo-yo each time the director changed,” said Joe Gormley, assistant vice president and regulatory counsel for the Independent Community Bankers of America (ICBA), based in Washington, D.C.
Currently, the CFPB gets its funding from the Federal Reserve, but Trump’s budget would shift the CFPB’s appropriations process to Congress, a move that other Republicans have long pushed for.
In fact, recently Rep. Andy Barr, R-Ky., reintroduced the Taking Account of Bureaucrats’ Spending Act that would make the budget of the CFPB subject to congressional appropriations.
But Trump’s budget goes beyond that, calling for the reduction of the CFPB’s mandatory funding in 2018 and then reducing the CFPB’s budget to almost nothing in subsequent years.
The proposal regarding the CFPB is on page 158 of the 159-page budget, under the heading: “Restructure the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.”
The proposal would cut the CFPB’s budget by $145 million in 2018, with the cuts increasing to more than $700 million by 2021.
and…
Here’s how the Trump budget proposal justifies the cuts to the CFPB’s budget:
“Restructuring the CFPB to refocus its efforts on enforcing enacted consumer protection laws is a necessary first step to scale back harmful regulatory impositions and prevent future regulatory hurdles that stunt economic growth and ultimately hurt the consumers that CFPB was originally created to protect. Furthermore, subjecting the reformed Agency to the appropriations process would provide the oversight necessary to impose financial discipline and prevent future overreach of the Agency into consumer advocacy and activism.”
As one might expect, Democrats greeted Trump’s CFPB proposal with a cold reception.
After his surprising acquittal in the Flandreau Tribal pot growing operation, the accused in the matter is claiming that his prosecution was political…. as opposed to it being because he was involved in an illegal pot growing operation:
A man whose company helped the Flandreau Santee Sioux Tribe establish a marijuana grow room on tribal property was found not guilty by a Moody County jury Wednesday of conspiracy to possess and possession of marijuana.
Eric Hagen, the president of Monarch America, said following the verdict that he was relieved by the verdict. He accused South Dakota Attorney General Marty Jackley of ruining his company with a politically motivated prosecution.
“He tanked our company by spreading lies and rumors,” Hagen said. “It was 100 percent politically motivated. This was simply a media ploy for Jackley because he’s running for governor in 2018.”
Following the verdict, Jackley, who was not at the trial, issued a statement thanking the jurors. He said in an interview with Argus Leader Media that the prosecution was not political. He noted that federal officials, including the FBI and U.S. attorney’s office for South Dakota, were also involved, and that federal officials were planning to raid the grow facility.
So, the AG prosecutes the people involved in an illegal pot growing operation, and it’s somehow political? Really?
Sounds to me that prosecuting those involved in the illegal drug industry is what the people of South Dakota pay the Attorney General to do. And the person helping the tribe to grow drugs which are illegal both federally and in the State of South Dakota should be thanking his lucky stars that the jury didn’t think the definition of the crime fit, and let him off.
The first hearings are being held in the US House of Representatives this week on what shape comprehensive tax reform will take, and they’re long overdue. While other countries have taken steps to modernize and improve their tax codes, the United States has done nothing. Our current tax code is not only outdated, it has one of the highest tax rates in the world and encourages business investment and job creation overseas.
We need to bring the U.S. in line with the rest of the world. American businesses need an updated tax code that levels the playing field so they can compete with products and services from around the world. One of the best chances for us to do that is the House Blueprint as championed by the White House and Congress, which offers long overdue changes that will foster growth and prosperity for the American economy and workforce.
The House Blueprint creates a level playing field for U.S. businesses. Business tax rates would be more affordable and products made here would no longer be taxed at higher rates than products made overseas, which is similar to other “border adjustment” policies used by over 160 countries. However, the Border Adjustment tax stands as one of the most contentious parts of the House Blueprint, with some in the Senate standing against it.
Proponents of the House Blueprint on taxes note that these tax reforms will help businesses of all sizes invest in their companies and employees, adding American jobs to the tune of 1.7 million new jobs and an estimated 8% increase in pay.
Changes to the tax code are critical to the future of the U.S. And the House Blueprint is the start we need for Congress to work on fixing the imbalance and to better position our nation to grow and succeed.
As a retired teacher and parent of a public school graduate, I can’t think of a better candidate to serve the students, teachers, employees and taxpayers of the Sioux Falls Public School System on the school board than Cynthia Mickelson.
Thune Introduces Bill to Increase Accountability and Transparency at the Indian Health Service
Noem Leads Colleagues in Introducing IHS Reform Bill