Lawrence Co. States Attorney John Fitzgerald is speaking to the Brookings County GOP this AM. I’ll have more on this coming later today.

Fiegen Runs for PUC Re-Election as Consumer Advocate

South Dakota Public Utilities Commissioner Kristie Fiegen announced her candidacy for re-election for the PUC in 2018 on Friday evening.   Fiegen announced to a large crowd at the Lincoln County Lincoln Day officially launching her campaign.

“South Dakotans want a PUC commissioner who will listen to them and won’t waver in a commitment to taxpayers,” Fiegen said in her announcement.  “As your PUC commissioner, I will continue to lead in our efforts to keep our utilities accountable to the people and advocate on your behalf for reliable service at just and reasonable rates. I will continue to work on expanding South Dakota’s utility infrastructure to allow for a vibrant economy.”

Since joining the commission, Fiegen has focused her responsibility in three main areas. First is to be a consumer advocate for South Dakota utility consumers to keep rates reasonable while providing reliable service.

Second, to advocate for expanding our utility infrastructure to ensure a vibrate economy in our rural state. Expanding utilities such as broadband, cellular wireless, and transmission are important to South Dakota.  Providing opportunities for agriculture, education, health care, and economic development are important for today’s citizens and future generations.

Third, Kristie does her day-to-day work with the utmost respect for the law and facts in every decision she makes. Her reputation of high integrity and honesty are important as she protects the process and citizens of our great state.

Fiegen must be nominated at the State Republican Party Convention in June 2018, and will then appear on the November 2018 ballot.

Fiegen, the Chairwoman of the South Dakota Public Utilities Commission, was elected to the commission in November 2012, to serve a six-year term.  Prior to serving on the commission, Kristie was the statewide Executive Director for Junior Achievement of South Dakota for 17 years.  She was elected to four terms in the South Dakota House of Representatives, serving the taxpayers of District 11 from 1993 to 2001.  Kristie and her husband Tim of 31 years, have two sons, Alexander (18) a student at SDSU and Jackson (16) a student at Parker High School.

State Representative Dan Kaiser just made a surprise announcement that he will not be a candidate for State Representative in 2018, but will instead be running for Brown County Sheriff:

Current District three representative and Aberdeen Police officer Dan Kaiser has officially announced his candidacy for Brown County Sheriff in 2018.  He will run as a Republican.

Kaiser made the announcement on Dakota Broadcasting’s “In Touch” program and explained why he is running for sheriff…

and…

Kaiser says win or lose the job as sheriff he will not seek re-election to the state house of representatives.  Kaiser has served three terms representing district three but says he wants to stay at home to spend more time with his family.

Read (and listen) to it all here.

I just heard word from a member of Senate leadership that Senator Brock Greenfield is out of surgery, awake, alert, and already trying to talk politics.

Talk politics? (Did I mention he was well?)

Despite trying to talk politics on his sickbed, I’m told Brock is in good spirits, taking a few phone calls, and doing great.

As noted on Facebook late last night, the Senator had gone into Sanford Heart Center for a bypass procedure the need for which popped up after some testing. That kind of procedure involves a lot of surgery, so he’s going to be down for a bit.

The challenge will be to keep the ever-busy Senator Greenfield down for the amount of time & rest he should be down for.

I was specifically told that Brock wanted to pass on his deep thanks for the tremendous outpouring of prayers and best wishes from so many people across South Dakota, and other parts of the country.

And I would tell my friend Brock to get well soon, so he can return to his duties this next January in the State Senate!

The Argus Leader points out today that the Tri-Valley School District came up with a novel way to boost their school district numbers for state aid to education:

Spend one day in public school and go home with a new laptop.

Tri-Valley Superintendent Mike Lodmel sent a letter this week to every home-school family in the district inviting them to come to school on Sept. 29.

That’s the day the state does its official enrollment count, which determines how much money the district will get from the state next year.

“It’s a win-win for both the high school families and our district,” Lodmel said.

and…

“The governor views this as a tactic to try to scam the state funding formula,” said Tony Venhuizen, Gov. Dennis Daugaard’s chief of staff.

The governor asked Lodmel to rescind his offer to home-schoolers and also removed him from a school finance accountability board created to ensure districts comply with state funding formula requirements. The superintendent was appointed by the governor last year and later elected its president.

Read it all here.

I suppose one could call it creative, if it wasn’t completely unethical.

But I have to ask… Where are the laptops for the kids who already go to school daily?

Here’s an interesting story on how Consumer Finance Protection Board head Richard Cordray might have been steering contracts to political allies:

After already facing serious questions over potential Hatch Act violations amid speculation that he may run for Ohio Governor in 2018, Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) Director Richard Cordray is now finding himself at the center of a new potential pay-to-play scandal involving government contracts and Democrat campaign insiders. A bombshell report by the Daily Caller reveals that GMMB, a top Democrat campaign ad firm, received nearly $60 million in federal contracts, the “overwhelming majority” of which went to the CFPB under Cordray. The most recent contract the CFPB gave the firm came just this past June when they awarded GMMB “the largest single government contract” it has ever received. Cordray chose GMMB despite having “multiple potential choices” that were “pre-approved for federal contracts.”

Read all about it here.

I was looking at a referral from my ancient SDWC website on blogspot before natural evolution forced me to update for better control, when I noticed that it’s also “Throwback Thursday.”

And I thought… “well, why not dust off the old website and push the doors open on it again?”

So for fun, I’ve reactivated dakotawarcollege.blogspot.com, which you might consider ‘SDWC Classic,” which is an archive of all my posts from 2005 through 2007. Lots of good stuff in there from the wild and wooly early days of the SD Blogsophere!

Noem Bill to Keep Fugitives Off Social Security Receives Committee Approval

SD Sheriffs: Noem’s efforts hold wanted felons and parole violators accountable for their actions

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Introduced by Rep. Kristi Noem, the Control Unlawful Fugitive Felon (CUFF) Act was approved late Wednesday by the House Ways and Means Committee. The legislation would prohibit individuals with outstanding felony warrants or parole violations from receiving certain Social Security benefits. The bill is estimated to save more than $2 billion.

“It’s incredible to think that a wanted felon can evade prosecution for months – even years – and yet somehow still receive government-issued checks every 30 days or so,” said Noem.  “This legislation is commonsense. Taxpayers shouldn’t be asked to make payments to people who are running from the law.”

“We greatly appreciate Representative Noem’s efforts to hold wanted felons and parole violators accountable for their actions,” said Staci Ackerman, Executive Director of the South Dakota Sheriffs’ Association. “This bill will also limit their ability to avoid justice using taxpayer dollars to evade capture.”

The CUFF Act discontinues Supplemental Security Income payments for those with an outstanding warrant, parole violation warrants, and probation violation warrants. Benefits can be restored once the individual resolves any outstanding issues.

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South Dakota Supreme Court Issues Important Decision on Fairness Tax for South Dakota Retailers

PIERRE, S.D. – Attorney General Marty Jackley announces the State of South Dakota is one step closer to bringing tax fairness to South Dakota retailers which would continue to sustain South Dakota’s status as an income tax-free state. The State Supreme Court agreed with Attorney General Jackley that, despite changing times, the Court was obligated to rule in favor of the defendants in State of South Dakota v.

Wayfair, Overstock and Newegg. Significantly, the Court’s swift decision recognizes that “as internet sales have risen, state revenues have decreased.” The Court further highlighted the need for the U.S. Supreme Court to revisit this issue, allowing states to require internet retailers to shoulder the same tax burden as in-state retailers do.

“The retail landscape significantly changed with the inception of the internet and access to online shopping. Federal law currently shields out-of-state businesses from paying the same tax remitted by South Dakota businesses. Today’s decision paves the way to respectfully request the U.S. Supreme Court to provide that much needed fairness to save main streets and jobs across South Dakota,” said Jackley.

The prevailing law, as set forth in Quill Corp v. North Dakota, 504 U.S. 298, 112 S. Ct. 1904 (1992), provides that a state cannot require retailers who do not have a “physical presence” in the state to collect and remit the state sales tax.  The purpose of South

Dakota’s current litigation is to give the United States Supreme Court an opportunity to reconsider Quill in light of the extraordinary growth of the internet and the exponential technological advances that have been made in the last quarter century. If the U.S. Supreme Court ultimately strikes down Quill, retail sales tax obligation can be applied fairly to both internet and main street businesses.

This case stems from a state law passed in 2016 that would require out-of-state retailers to collect and remit the sales tax similar to in-state retailers. The law applies to out-of-state retailers if they have more than $100,000 of sales or complete more than 200 sales transactions a year within South Dakota.

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I’ve been grumbling lately about how my left hip has been bothering me lately, a remnant of a high school motorcycle accident that left me in traction for a couple of months. I’m a side sleeper, and obviously, if I sleep on it, it puts pressure on the joint, it hurts so I can’t sleep, yada, yada, and so on.

But noticing the health trials a couple of familiar faces around the state capitol are experiencing as of late, I really have nothing to complain about.   I found out last evening that my long-time friend and Senate President Pro Tempore Brock Greenfield is facing some more serious health issues lately, and went in this morning for major surgery.

Please keep Brock and his family in your prayers today, as he’s addressing some serious health issues:

** Update **

I’m hearing Brock is back in his room, and quite sore, but thankfully doing well.