I don’t know if it’s because I’m a farmer or a mother, but I feel the need to spend some time sharing with you this week a little bit of “practical” advice that you can put to use today if you would like.  I’ve found that most of the people I mention this to; don’t realize that they can track all activities in Pierre via the internet.  Just go to http://legis.state.sd.us and there you can find agendas for committees, calendars for the two chambers, and all the bills in their updated form.  There is also audio testimony archived from committee meetings.  It is so helpful for everyone who is curious about that special bill they are following or someone who is generally intrigued by the entire process.  You will also find biographies on all the legislators and be able to contact them through the site as well.  Hope you take some time to check into it.  It really is a great tool and simple to use. 

I’m writing this a little later than usual this week, which has an added benefit that I can cover a little bit of what we talked about last Saturday in Lake Norden at the crackerbarrel.  The Corner Café was full and we had great discussion, including some on SB 173, which I covered last week in my column.  This is the bill that changes the way we assess property taxes on ag land and throws out the 150% rule.  I had some more information this week, including the effects of repealing the 150% rule and doing nothing else to control the assessment growth.  If such a scenario came to pass, the assessments would rise in Kingsbury County by 58% and Clark County by 29% with less effect occurring in other District 6 counties.  This is a strong indicator that we need to look for avenues to keep this growth at check.  This bill will see some major changes.

Other topics of high interest are the education bills that are being proposed.  None of the major bill have made progress, however I am almost certain at this point that we will see some sort of minimum school district size made mandatory.  I feel this number will be less than 200, but we’ll keep working to make sure it is a number that works for rural areas.  The fund caps look to be changing, as does the small school factor.  I don’t believe those dollars will go away, but there will be changes that will make them more of a small school adjustment than factor.  Regardless of how you look at it, we are in for some good debate in the next couple of weeks on education.

House Bill 1229 was proposed last week that would have reduced the tax on cigarettes and tobacco products.  It would have reversed the will of the people as expressed in November.  This bill was brought by Sen. Gary Moore and died in committee.  There is legislation also filed that will send the original first $5 million to the tobacco prevention fund in South Dakota, and then use $9 million each, for property tax reduction, education enhancement, and healthcare programs.  This is exactly what the people asked for in the last election and hopefully we will see it come to pass.

The abortion ban bill, HB 1293, was heard in House State Affairs committee Monday morning. This bill was amended into a joint resolution format and may be put on the ballot in 2008.  This bill contains exemptions for rape, incest, and the health of the mother. 

It looks like the governance issue as it relates to Technical Institutes in narrowing.  Senate Bill 95, which would establish a 9 member State Board of Technical Institutes to oversee the state’s tech schools, passed the Senate 31-3.  Currently these schools are operated by local school districts.  Another measure that would put these tech schools under the Board of Regents, SB 178, was killed in committee.  Our local tech school in Watertown is in favor of SB 95.

 

Friday, February 16th is crossover day.  This is the day that all bills must cross over from their house of origin to the other house.  I hear it tends to be a long day and most legislators dress in all black to honor the occasion.  My daughters will be with me this week in Pierre, so I’m sure they will appreciate the long day.  I’ll have to remind them it’s better than picking rock or cleaning barn!  Hope you all have a great week.  If you have any questions or comments email me at Rep.Noem@state.sd.us or call at 881-2526.