Representative Kent Roe has had enough of the anti-economic development election year politics from gubernatorial candidate, Jon Hansen.
Tonight, Roe took to Facebook to call him out by name for Hansen‘s promotion of NIMBY and BANANA-ism to the detriment of South Dakota:
This type of legislation sends shock waves into all of the United States. It sends a clear message: GET OFF MY LAWN! Straight out of the Bernie Sanders anti-AI and anti-America playbook. It also reveals what a Hansen administration would likely look like. The sponsors loosely say it’s ok now for GOED to operate, but “wait until I get my hands on that program too!
Kent is such a gentleman – but clearly, he’s got some fight to bring jobs and development for his District!
I’m sure we’re going to hear more about this and Hansen’s “Bernie Sanders anti-AI and anti-America playbook” soon!
Just more proof that repubs will never take accountability for anything. They have to attribute everything back to a democrat.
Revenue is way down this year with the cellar in sight with these folks. South Dakota is God’s gift to North Dakota, Nebraska, and Wyoming.
Anyone who thinks Bernie Sanders is anti-American doesn’t know anything about Bernie Sanders, AMERICA, or properly functioning bipartisan government, performing its necessary watchdog function in a healthy society. No they don’t.
This kind of baseless slander has no place in a responsible deliberative legislature. As far as the data center is concerned, we should give as much if not more careful consideration as feedlots and hog confinements get, given the complaints of those who have these centers built practically in their back yards. There are problems that need to be frankly and fully examined.
Frankly, I know plenty about Bernie Sanders and Vermont politics, as I lived there for four years.
Want to know how Patrick Leahy got sent to Washington? It was the only way we could get rid of him. His father-in-law was the Godfather of Chittenden County, and on Leahy’s watch as state’s attorney the police were out of control. Complaints were finally filed by undercover federal narcotics agents & the Burlington fire department. Leahy had done absolutely nothing about the numerous citizens’ accounts of false charges and brutality until those two agencies started filing complaints of their own about what they were witnessing. We had to get rid of him, so we sent him to Washington.
Bernie is equally useless. He was elected Mayor of Burlington after I left but I can imagine his career followed the same path as Leahy’s. He goes on and on about how great socialized medicine is when he knows perfectly well that the medical center in Burlington is a haven for refugees from Canada. UVM’s medical center is only a 90 minute drive from the McGill University Medical Center, arguably the biggest and best in all of Canada, yet Canadians are going to Burlington. The last time I checked the subject of Canadian patients at UVM, they were being offered a 30% discount for cash and the med center was bragging about how they speak French there. Yes, socialized medicine is really working well in Canada if people would rather drive to Burlington and pay cash.
Vermonters would rather inflict such insanity on the US Senate than put up with that. It’s one of the funny things about Vermont. They liked George Aiken but once he went to Washington they never saw him again, so they figured out it was a way to get rid of noxious politicians,
Ah yes, the ol’ “We hated him so much that we elected him to one of the most powerful offices our state has” canard. Do you expect people to believe this garbage?
This is the special kind of paranoid insanity that the Blue State MAGA suffer from. No wonder a high percentage of the Jan 6 2021 insurrection convicts were blue state MAGA.
It works, doesn’t it?. You send them to Washington and they stay there..The practice of promoting someone just to get rid of him is called “kicking him upstairs.” Odd you have never heard of it. It is a good solution when you have a troublesome employee you can’t fire, or a student you can’t expel. Kick him upstairs, give him a promotion or a diploma so you don’t have to deal with him.
And you increased his power and influence as a result. How could we not see the genius of your ploy?
Again: you expect people to believe this garbage?
In the words of that great liberal Governor Ron Desantis (who some legislators secretly wanted instead of Trump):
“Citizen Bill of Rights” Proposal: In December 2025, DeSantis announced a “Citizen Bill of Rights” for artificial intelligence, which includes several measures specifically targeting data centers:
Prohibiting Ratepayer Subsidies: Prohibiting utilities from charging Florida residents more to support data center development.
Limiting Taxpayer Subsidies: No state or local taxpayer subsidies for “Big Tech” data center projects.
Empowering Local Control: Allowing local governments to reject or restrict the construction of data centers.
Siting and Environmental Constraints: Restricting the construction of data centers on agricultural land or land with a greenbelt exemption, while requiring strict noise and environmental reviews.
Florida is top 5 in the U.S. in the data market arena with 120 current centers and growing. A single 1-gigawatt data center in Florida is projected to create 45,000+ temporary construction jobs and over 5,000 permanent, high-paying operating roles. In Polk County, a $2.6 billion project was approved, with 50+ high-paying, full-time jobs with an average salary over $107,000, along with substantial tax revenue for local schools and services.
South Dakota does not want this. We want gas station and casino workers who make 14.50/hour. Freedom.
There’s nothing wrong with anything on that list, in terms of good public policy. OF COURSE developers hate it. Of course.
Hmmmm…. Kent’s really starting to gain my respect. Seeing through the BS and calling them out is quite something. The end result of this type of attack on business is well… no business. Republicans used to value both large and small business as the way to economic freedom for the masses. Jobs and the businesses that provided them was seen as the way to stop welfare programs and people leeching from society. It isn’t so much about losing a particular industry. Not every manufacturer or business is a good fit. It’s about the way we are losing them. This group of legislators has been openly hostile to every job creator that has set foot in the state. Be it ethanol plant, pipeline, data center, dairy, processing plant, construction company, mining facility, forester, job creating TIF district… the list is long and growing. They do it by perpetuating misinformation, lies and playing on the emotions of people that don’t understand the issues or can only absorb information in sound bites, slogans and catch phrases. Last session, the “landowner bill of rights” was a dirty word that was perpetuated and created by supposedly corrupt politicians that were somehow in the pockets of the carbon capture companies. Yet this year, “the data center bill of rights” is somehow virtuous and is meant to protect the people. By their own logic it is the same scenario. They are paving the way for these companies to come in, but “we will make sure you are protected “. Hypocrites. Just politicians riling people up so they can get what they want. Power and control. I feel obligated to make a statement to Katie Hoffman as well. She has seemed to be having an awaking about libertarians masquerading as republicans and those in the party that don’t hold true conservative, republican values. Well newsflash. Hansen is one of the worst. Start seeing through the crap these power grabbers are feeding us. Apparently Roe did. Hats off to him.
Well said.
Couldn’t have said it better. Well said.
Good for Roe calling this out. The current leadership, Hansen and Karr, and their far right looney’s are absolutely anti development! They certainly don’t give any alternatives for what they think is acceptable growth.
True conservatives believe in capitalism and low regulation. Not these folks. They say they want to cut taxes and replace those funds with new taxes and fees. They want to micromanage everything from their thrones.
Mostly they don’t give a damn about their oath to uphold the constitution.
I don’t particularly want to live the Handmaids Tale set in Little House on the Prairie.
So it’s ok for them to draft a “data center bill of rights” but when other legislators drafted a “pipeline bill of rights” they were to be sent to Siberia to break rocks for eternity? The hypocrisy is so thick. When will people open their eyes and see that these politicians are using the sheeples genuine passion for some of these things to attain political power and those not in politics to gain wealth. i.e. motivational speakers and radio hosts…
State regulators can only do so much to control utility rates within the state lines. Based on our electrical grid being interconnected regionally we could ultimately be paying higher rates to subsidize industry in neighboring states, who are seeing huge increases in sales tax revenue and job creation and we see nothing in return. The citizens of Nebraska, North Dakota, and Wyoming thank the South Dakota Tax Payers and the Hansen/Lems contingent.
BINGO!
Hansen and crew appear threatened by HB 1005… So instead of attacking the issue like a seasoned legislator – doing his research, speaking to professionals, speaking to BOTH sides, understanding the pros/cons, and debating this in committee and on the floor – he spends our tax dollars and takes time away from real legislation to desperately throw together a bill to stop more industry from coming to SD to help relieve the tax burden. It’s becoming clear he, himself, doesn’t understand the industry and the purpose of HB1005. They have no good alternative to generate revenue and it’s becoming clear they don’t really care about creating a long-lasting and prosperous South Dakota. The hot topic this session is tax relief but stopping industry from coming altogether only keeps the tax burden on existing South Dakotans. People are moving away from SD because there is less and less opportunity here.
He says it’s not politically motivated but it’s crystal clear that’s exactly what it is!