Rep. Chris Kassin Weekly Legislative Update
for January 28, 2023
It has been a full week in the legislature, and things are in full swing. Bills are being introduced and assigned to committees. Our state has a grand tradition; unlike the U.S. Congress, where the leadership can stop bills from receiving a hearing, all bills introduced in the South Dakota legislature receive a hearing. This tradition allows our 105 legislators to represent their constituents most effectively.
As we talked about, I serve on the House Appropriations Committee. This year, the two Appropriations Committees from the House and Senate decided that we should meet together as often as possible. The two committees make up the Joint Committee on Appropriations or JCA. However, when we begin making decisions on the different tax reduction proposals, for instance, our rules require the House and Senate appropriators to have separate hearings.
This week it was just JCA, and we heard from several state agencies. I have been impressed with those tasked with leading the agencies in this state. I want to commend the professionalism and knowledge demonstrated by our agency leaders.
This week, we heard from the Department of Public Safety, the Board of Regents, the Board of Technical Education, the Department of Education, and the Department of Agriculture and Natural Resources. As the other agencies have done, they presented their progress, challenges, and opportunities, as well as their budget priorities and requests for this fiscal year. If you are interested, here is the link to listen to those hearings on sd.net – https://sdlegislature.gov/Session/Committee/1169/Minutes. Without getting into all the specifics of all the budget requests, one I would like to highlight is the recommendation from the Governor for a 5% increase in funding for public education. The legislature will consider the request and determine what should be added to the school funding formula, which provides money to the districts and allows for increases in teacher pay. Concern about teacher pay was one of the issues I often heard expressed during the campaign. Rightfully so. I am and will continue to champion education at all levels because it is the best investment in our state’s future.
As always, if you have questions about these different agencies or anything happening in the legislature, please do not hesitate to reach out. I encourage your thoughts and feedback. My email address is [email protected], or you can always call/text me at (605) 670-9698.
Thank you again for the opportunity to represent you.