Top Political Stories of 2019: #1 – Kristi Noem sworn in as Governor

Top Political Stories of 2019: #1 – Kristi Noem sworn in as Governor

On Saturday, Jan. 5, 2019, Kristi Noem was sworn in as South Dakota’s 33rd governor, the first woman to hold the position in South Dakota. And hardly a day goes by where Kristi is not in the news.

While her predecessor, Governor Dennis Daugaard had to be focused on the financial stability of South Dakota out of necessity right out of the gate, Noem was able to start her term committed to her core values. She’s direct on policy, and to the point. Think Bill Janklow.

After years in Congress, where Noem displayed a desire for direct action and at times not mincing words about it  – as she made clear in the 2014 farm bill – in that body, you’re still one of hundreds trying to accomplish things.  Now as Governor, there’s no mistaking that she’s ready to get some things done.

Kristi is about priorities, and when she wants things to happen, they happen. She’s also is setting her own path as Governor and has proved that anyone thinking of putting her in the corner does so at their peril.

When the legislature decided it was going to cut more than the Governor was proposing in the state’s budget, as well as other actions that garnered the attention of the second floor, they quickly found out that this was not the chief executive to try that with as Governor Noem clearly and concisely told them how it was going to be. This is a departure from the style of her last two predecessors in the Governor’s office. Governor Noem is not a pushover, and is not afraid to dress down other elected officials when she believes they have it coming.

2019 has seen Noem move forward many of the planks in her platform of governance. She’s moved forward programs on pheasant habitat and hunting, supporting campus free speech, pipeline legislation, constitutional carry, expanding broadband, meth education, and drawing a line in the sand on illegal drugs.

While moving forward, Noem has also shown flexibility beyond her own priorities when needed.

A group of parents with children on the autism spectrum brought legislation to address shortcomings in state insurance law regarding coverage for autism treatments but it failed in the legislature. In a post-session response, Noem noted there may be a solution outside of legislation – and to the surprise of many she delivered by asking the federal government to add it as an essential health benefit in health insurance plans in South Dakota.   When some were critical of the fact that the change would not take place until 2021, Noem negotiated health insurance offerings to be available in 2020, a year earlier than the benefit change would have taken effect.

Make no mistake (speaking as someone on the inside on these fights) these are not changes that would have taken place unless the call came directly from the top that this was something that needed to happen.  The state insurance bureaucracy and private companies make changes at a glacial pace.  These things happened in weeks and short months.

2019 also marked new challenges for state government that the chief executive had to respond to and begin preparing for the future, as South Dakota – which has been in a drought state for many years – suddenly had an overabundance of rainfall, causing new problems to plan for and deal with.

As noted in a recent article,  Noem acknowledges that “storms, tornadoes and flooding that devastated communities across the state was one of the biggest challenges she faced in her first year in office” and will continue to challenge the administration.

In 2019, the Noem administration has not been without its critics, as even Kristi might concede there’s room for working towards middle ground, noting in the same recent article that she considered herself “teachable.”

Kristi Noem being sworn in as Governor was the biggest political story of the year, her actions have continued to be among the biggest political stories of the year, and nothing is likely to change in 2020 as she keeps with the strong executive model of state government.