Representative Tim Reisch Legislative Report
for January 28, 2023
By the time you see this report we will have completed over 1/3rd of the 2023 legislative session. The last day for unlimited bill introduction by legislators was January 26th. After that date, each legislator is allowed to file a maximum of three additional bills all of which must be introduced by February 2nd.
As things currently stand, three of my bills will be up for committee consideration this week so I’m in the final stages of preparing the information needed to support their favorable recommendation and movement to the House floor. I’ve introduced my bill to modify penalties imposed by the SD Retirement System on retired K-12 teachers who wish to return to the classroom fulltime. It is House Bill 1177. Speaker Hugh Bartels has informed me he will assign it to the Retirement Laws Committee for consideration on February 8th. Hopefully the 5-member committee will move the bill to the floor where all 70 House members can have an open and honest debate on the merits of the bill. The K-12 teacher shortage is a serious problem, and frankly I’m aware of no other bill before this year’s legislative session that is attempting to resolve it.
I was happy to be asked by Senator Casey Crabtree to be the prime sponsor in the House of his bill to increase the appropriation for construction costs of the new athletic events center at Dakota State University. Senate Bill 93 would raise last year’s $28 million authorization to $40 million for the beautiful new sports complex at Dakota State. This bill does not tap new tax revenue for the project, but rather authorizes DSU to spend funds currently under their control together with future donations to complete the very worthwhile project.
As I mentioned in last week’s column, an estimated $300 million in excess ongoing annual revenue has been identified by the governor’s budget office. During her budget address in December, Governor Noem revealed her plan on how she would like to take advantage of it. Her proposal to eliminate the tax on food cleared its first hurdle on a 12-1 vote in the House Taxation Committee. Although I absolutely support a healthy tax cut, I’m not yet convinced that the permanent and total elimination of the 4 ½% state sales tax on groceries is the best course of action. I firmly believe that the current revenue situation has been driven in large part by inflation. A wise former legislator once told me “It’s not about this year; its about the next five years.” I prefer to take the long view on issues like this.
Thanks again for electing me to be your representative in Pierre. I consider it a great honor, and I pledge to work hard every day to represent your interests in the best manner possible. If you want to get in touch with me during the session, my legislative email address is [email protected].