Rounds, Colleagues Introduce Bill to Protect Tribes from Costly Obamacare Employer Mandate

WASHINGTON—U.S. Sen. Mike Rounds (R-S.D.) joined Sens. Steve Daines (R-Mont.), John Thune (R-S.D.), Mike Crapo (R-Idaho) and James Risch (R-Idaho) to introduce legislation to protect Native American tribes from Obamacare’s employer mandate.

“The federal government has a trust obligation to provide health care to Native Americans, yet tribal governments and tribal entities are being wrongfully forced to comply with the Affordable Care Act’s employer health care coverage mandate or risk paying expensive fines to the government for opting-out,” said Rounds. “In South Dakota, the fines issued by the IRS for failing to comply with the mandate could devastate tribal businesses. Our legislation would exempt tribal employers from the employer mandate so they will no longer be penalized for failing to comply with a mandate they never should have been subject to in the first place.”

The Tribal Employment and Jobs Protection Act will exempt tribes and tribal employers from Obamacare’s employer mandate.

The employer mandate places an undue burden on tribes, leading to lost jobs and increased unemployment. Instead of bolstering tribal economies, it drives out opportunities and wages. Tribal members were already exempt from the individual mandate in the original Obamacare law. This legislation upholds the United States’ trust responsibility to Indian tribes while honoring the government-to-government relationship between tribes and the U.S. government.

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Five Former Legislators Endorse Ravnsborg for Attorney General 

YANKTON, SD: Five former Legislators endorse Attorney General Candidate Jason Ravnsborg.

Bob Deelstra—Bob was a member of the State House of Representative from 2011-2013 representing District 9.

Charles “Charlie” Hoffman—Charlie was a member of the State House of Representative from 2009-2015 representing District 23.

Brian Liss– Brian was a member of the State House of Representative from 2011-2013 representing District 13.

Patty Miller—Patty was a member of the State House of Representative from 2011-2013 representing District 16.

Orv Smidt—Orv was a of the State House of Representative from 1999-2005 and the State Senate from 2005-2009 representing District 7.

“Every endorsement reminds me to work harder for the people of South Dakota every day.” Said Ravnsborg. “It’s this kind of support that has helped me reach my fund-raising goals and keep moving forward.”

Learn more about Jason and his campaign at JasonforSouthDakota.com and follow the campaign on Facebook at www.facebook.com/JasonforSouthDakota

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Friends are sending me pictures of the latest offering in the mailbox that they’ve received against Shantel Krebs from the same group who opposed her before:

12 more days!

Running on tv now, I just caught this during tonight’s evening news:

The lawsuit between State Representative Dan Kaiser’s wife and the State has found it’s way into the middle of the campaign for Governor with 2 weeks to go until election day, as both campaigns are throwing jabs at each other in relation to it, according to the Argus Leader:

Attorney General Marty Jackley on Wednesday accused his Republican rival for governor and lawyers representing a former Division of Criminal Investigation agent of conspiring to undermine his campaign by ginning up a fake controversy.

But the former agent at the center of the drama, Laura Zylstra Kaiser, countered that Jackley created the controversy by trying to silence her until after next month’s primary election between Jackley and Rep. Kristi Noem.

and…

Justin Brasell, Noem’s campaign manager, said the campaign had interviewed Kaiser and was aware of the issues surrounding her employment with DCI and her subsequent lawsuit. But he said the campaign had no involvement in the negotiations between Kaiser’s lawyers and the state.

Read the entire story here.

Do all these primaries have to get contentious in the run up to the end?

13 days left!

State Senator Neal Tapio has filed his pre-primary FEC report as he pursues the Congressional seat:

Tapio 2018 Pre Primary FEC by Pat Powers on Scribd

$5,780 Raised, $114,588 Spent, $36,792 Cash on Hand, and $155K Owed to Neal for the money he’s fronted his campaign.

Less than 2 weeks to go!

Jackley Releases New Statewide TV Ad: “Vision”

PIERRE, SD: Attorney General Marty Jackley released a new statewide TV ad today that outlines his vision for the future of South Dakota.

“Working together, we can leave our children a South Dakota where anything is possible,” Jackley said. “Our campaign by and for South Dakota has always been about strengthening the economy, creating new opportunities for our kids, and protecting our way of life. As we enter the final days of this race, our team is excited to share that positive message with conservatives all over the state.”

The ad is being launched after the Jackley for Governor campaign announced that Jackley outraised Congresswoman Kristi Noem by over $163,000 since she announced her candidacy in November 2016.

“We’ve broken record after record in this campaign, and it’s all thanks to the hard work of our supporters across South Dakota,” Jackley said.

Watch Jackley’s new ad on youtube here or on facebook here.

NEW AD: Noem Kids Explain 4 Pillars of Protection

WATERTOWN, S.D. – Kristi Noem launched a new television ad, which features her children discussing Noem’s Four Pillars of Protection. Kassidy, Kennedy, and Booker remind viewers that Noem has committed to protecting South Dakotans from tax increases, government growth, federal intrusion, and government secrecy.

Link to YouTube

“My mom, Kristi Noem, asked us to tell you a little about her plan for South Dakota,” says Kennedy.

“She calls it the Four Pillars of Protection,” explains Kassidy.

Kassidy and Kennedy continue by explaining the Four Pillars: “Keeping taxes low. Controlling spending. Limiting government intrusion. And making the government open and honest.”

You can view Noem’s complete plan at kristiforgovernor.com

4 PILLARS OF PROTECTION

Protection from Tax Increases. South Dakota is one of just seven states without an income tax – and we need to keep it that way. As governor, I pledge to veto efforts to increase taxes, and I’ve put that commitment in writing when I signed the Taxpayer Protection Pledge.

Protection from Government Growth. Under my administration, there would be no new boards, no new commissions, and no new blue ribbon task forces. Instead, we would look to scrub each agency, refocusing and streamlining existing departments while cutting red tape.

Protection from Federal Intrusion. When the Army Corps attempted to charge South Dakota for use of our own water from the Missouri River, I successfully fought back as the state’s lone member of the House. When the federal government came after the Hot Springs VA, I advocated for South Dakota veterans. And when the Second Amendment was attacked, I stood up for our constitutional rights. As governor, I would do the same, working with the congressional delegation and leveraging my own relationships with federal leadership to protect our rights and way of life as South Dakotans.

Protection from Government Secrecy. Voters have repeatedly supported government integrity measures at the ballot box. I hear you. As governor, I will build on the recent momentum, working to throw open the doors, not only of the state capital, but also encouraging county commission offices and school boards to give you unprecedented access to the government decision-making process at all levels.

In case you missed it, recently there was an opinion piece in the Argus Leader by Dr. Bill Cohen highlighting the need for increased access to reliable broadband across South Dakota in order to improve health care outcomes.

Cohen’s piece focuses on the premise that there is a severe gap in access to health care across South Dakota due to inadequate Internet access to utilize telemedicine. Dr. Cohen discusses: “Around 52 percent of S.D.’s population lives in rural areas. Furthermore, 72 percent of S.D. hospitals are deemed as critical access sites in rural areas. These rural hospitals are often the only health care option in their area, but specialists are not often available… Telemedicine would allow hospitals to access critical resources and medical opinions without increased costs.”

The need for telemedicine access has been talked about in the state since the time of George Mickelson and Bill Janklow. We’ve made inroads, but we’re not there yet.

Due to the lack of telemedicine access, healthcare specialists are often only available to those able to travel long distances, according to Dr. Cohen. By increasing the availability of telemedicine, specialists could be reached 24 hours a day, anywhere in the state and reduce healthcare costs. However, this cannot be accomplished until broadband access is improved in rural areas.

Seriously. There are some people who are using their phones if they can get reception at all, or they go scouting around for an old AOL disk.

Significantly slower Internet access in rural areas creates a rural/urban digital divide and represents a lag in services available. However, this divide can and should be eliminated by giving rural populations access to broadband connectivity through new technological advances developed to accomplish this goal.

By increasing broadband, telemedicine can expand in South Dakota and have a positive impact on rural patients’ quality of care. As Cohen states in his opinion piece, “Telemedicine is a positive for patients and doctors. Patients would have lower costs to see a specialist due to video chat sessions being short and to be the point. Also, patients would no longer have to travel hours, which often leads to lost wages, in order to see a specialist. The decreased travel time would also benefit doctors who could then see more patients on a daily basis.”

This rural divide does not have to exist. The group Connect Americans Now (CAN) plans to eliminate this gap within the next five years by utilizing TV white space technology. Traditional fiber cable is often too costly to run to rural areas, and by using TV white space CAN looks to cut operating costs by roughly 80 percent.

CAN is poised to reach its goal, but needs the support of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to ensure that there is a sufficient spectrum available for wireless use on an unlicensed basis in every market in the country.

It’s time for the FCC to support CAN’s goal and bring broadband access to rural America.

A larger mail piece (a.k.a. a “flat”) touting the attributes of Lance Russell appeared in delegate mailboxes yesterday from Russell for Attorney General:

If you’re a delegate, does this mail change your mind? Or is it already made up?