I enjoyed reading last week’s column’s by my two fellow legislators from District 6. As I read the first few paragraphs of Paul and Brock’s articles, I found two very different perspectives on the 4 day weeks we are spending in Pierre for the majority of this year’s session. I chuckled as I realized that something so simple could have two perspectives and I found it as a good reminder to how every situation can be looked at from different angles. A good thing to keep in mind as we progress through the next few weeks of session. ..

 

I will say I’m appreciating the shorter weeks as it allows me more time to complete work at home and at our family businesses, attend crackerbarrels and events to update community members on capital events, and still have quality time with my family. South Dakota maintains a citizen’s legislature, which I believe is to its benefit. Our legislators do not make politics their career. They own and operate businesses in our communities and earn their living the same as those who elected them.  It’s important that they have this experience to apply in their decision making that will affect all people in the state. A little extra time on the weekends gives legislators time to complete their responsibilities and spend time researching and reading bills for the coming week.

 

On to current events at the capital…This week some tough decisions were made.  The State Affairs committee saw the bill that would have exempted certain school districts from closing if their student numbers were less than 100, which was put into law last year. The bill failed in committee and will not see the House floor. This directly affected the Conde school district and they will have some decisions to make in the future.

 

House Bill 1243 was heard in Tax committee this week. It would have imposed sales and use taxes on certain advertising services and products and to dedicate the increased revenue to the food tax relief fund for the purpose of reducing sales and use taxes on food. It would have reduced the current tax on food from 4% to 3%. It failed in committee and I believe one of the things we all need to keep in mind is that we already have a program to address this issue that is not fully utilized. If anyone is on the food stamp program for 3 months, they are automatically eligible for the food tax refund program. There is assistance for those who need it. In the future, if this item were to be addressed, I would prefer a funding source that did not have a direct impact on the economy and tax our freedom of speech rights.

 

Open records legislation continues to be talked about in the media and in the capital. In the debate, I hope we all realize the importance of maintaining the security of information regarding private individuals and citizens of South Dakota. Yes, items that are set in statute to be available should be transparent; however, when that transparency releases personal and financial information of citizens in our local communities, we have a duty to protect them. I have recently had this conversation with someone in a national office regarding our volunteer organizations bank account numbers. Because the group, of which I am a club leader, is a nonprofit, the national organization will be starting to require audits. As a part of this audit, they want us to report our local bank accounts numbers. If this was a state requirement and the record was open to the public, my club’s bank account could be accessed by virtually anyone. This is exposure I do not wish to inflict on any South Dakotan who is only trying to comply with state laws.

 

We are continuing to work on education, property tax, and budgets. Those who were concerned about the fee that would have been added to metered water to help fund conservation districts will be relieved to know that that provision has been removed from House Bill 1185. It was an amendment I supported in committee and the bill has been sent to the Appropriations committee for review. We also defeated HB 1215 in Tax committee this week which would have changed the requirements for ag property to be assessed at that level. The increase was not necessary and it was not a viable option.

 

We will have a very controversial bill on the House floor on Monday, which is HB 1051. This bill changes the formula and policy for consolidation incentives for local schools. I voted against the bill last week on the floor. I’m sure Paul will cover this situation and I will let him address the details. I do want to say that it is important that we be good stewards of the tax payer’s dollars that are entrusted to us and send them to where they are most needed. However, I feel that this bill enacts a completely new policy in regards to incentivizing consolidations for our smaller schools that choose to do so. The benefits are far less in HB 1051 than the current law provides for.

 

I presented two of my bills in House Tax committee this week and both passed out to the House floor. HB 1182 has already been sent over to the Senate and HB 1181 will be debated next week. I talked about them in last week’s article and won’t cover the details again, but the information is available online if you’d like to look it up.

 

I better quit as I’ve already written enough to create a dilemma for the local newspaper editors. Thank you for keeping in touch. I enjoyed seeing all the special visitors this week. There were way too many to mention, but they included the county officials, neighbors, and friends. Have a great week.