Kristi Noem

The last week of session flew by and yet drug on and on and on…. We finished up committee hearings on some of the last issues to be discussed and started work on the items that had been talked about, worked on, and visited during session, yet were in disagreement on. Overshadowing the week’s conversations were the dismal revenue numbers we had to work with. The state is dealing with lesser revenue’s than anticipated due to a couple of factors. First we have a general slowdown in the economy nationwide. We are feeling the effects of that here at home in South Dakota and people are spending less, which generates less sales tax revenue for the state. A positive is the fact that we are an agriculturally strong state and the farm industry had a good year. But when you couple that with the fact that most farmers are paying down debt or trying to purchase machinery, and most of the purchases have been delayed because of delivery dates far off into the future, it results in less sales tax and therefore explains why we don’t see a bump in our numbers immediately from the strong ag prices. I do expect South Dakota to rebound much quicker than the rest of the nation and our revenue numbers should hold up if we face our state budget conservatively and responsibly. Therein lies the problem.

After receiving revenue projections and looking at the shortfall we were facing on the state budget, the House Republican caucus took a position to try to leave Pierre with a balanced budget. That meant taking no revenue out of reserves to backfill the budget because of overspending. Unfortunately, this meant many good programs and issues would not get funding or increases that weren’t statutorily required. And of course, all of the legislators had ideas as to which ones should be cut and which ones shouldn’t. This is where we ran into many delays as conference committees met and tried to work out the differences. We all ended up compromising and negotiating figures and we did finally come to agreements within both bodies.

I was assigned to the conference committee that addressed House Bill 1087, which ended up holding the legislation that cut the funding from the lap top programs in the schools. The Senate had passed this bill and cut the 3 million dollar program in order to free up money to be spent in new areas or additional funding for other programs. I took the position that we should never as a state cut a successful program that has already proven its value to fund something that has not been implemented yet. There were 54 schools hoping to use this program in 2009 to cost share the purchase of laptops for teachers and students and all of the schools using the program in the past needed the money to provide training for their teachers and help with support costs. Basically, by cutting this program, we’ve given some but not all of our schools the tools necessary to start the program, and then cut the funding for it. Once again, I believe it was a poor solution but the Senators and Democratic Representative killed every amendment we offered to provide any funding whatsoever in conference committee.

We also passed the tech school funding bills. I expect the Governor to veto them due to the lack of funds. The two final bills included 3 million dollars in additional funding. I voted for one that included money for repairs and maintenance, but did not feel I could support the other and further spend ourselves into a hole. We ended the session at a very fluid estimate of 12 million dollars coming out of our reserves with the knowledge that we very well could have a backfill amount to deal with next session of anywhere from 20 to 35 million. Those are dollars that are impossible to predict due to the nature of what they are spent on. They include disaster aid, fire suppression dollars, and other items that could possibly come to pass, but are unpredictable. We are anticipating that regardless of conservative approach to spending, our reserve fund will take a significant hit.

I will let Paul cover what was in the final education package; however I did want to address one amendment that was put on. If you will recall, I offered a bill this session to allow school districts to utilize TCAP dollars to fund teacher’s salaries. The bill received a lot of discussion and was ultimately killed; however it is still going forward. The amendment that was put on Senate Bill 187 set up a task force to study how TCAP dollars could be utilized by schools for funding of teachers salaries. The amendment also requires that teachers and administrators be appointed to the task force by the Governor. There were a few things in the amendment I did not like, however I was glad to see that teachers were going to have to opportunity to give input and that we were going to look at opening that program up for use for teacher’s salaries. There is currently 4 million dollars per year available for use within the TCAP program.

We finished session up with a vote on the general bill, Senate Bill 203, around 11:15 on Friday night. The appropriators spent a long day looking at over 75 amendments to the general bill that day and earned their stripes. I’m sure they were seeing numbers floating around in their heads as they slept that night. They did a great job and I appreciate their efforts to get up done in a timely matter and on our way home.

My daughter Kassidy and niece Isabel were with me on Monday thru Wednesday. They enjoyed their time and I enjoyed having the company. Some of my family that also made it out the last week were my father and mother in law, Al and Sharon Noem, my mother Corinne Arnold, and my brother Rock Arnold and his family. The younger boys were a little bored, so I understand Rock gave them a financial incentive to search for blue tiles in the capital flooring. It turned out to be a money making endeavor for them and I’m not sure Rock can afford to come back next year.

I will miss Representative Paul Nelson and Senator Brock Greenfield next year. I depended heavily on them and their sage counsel and historical wisdom cannot be replaced. Please thank them for their service to District 6 next time you see them.

Highlights of the 7th week of the 2008 session include renewable energy, liquor license legislation, and K-12 and tech school funding. Putting a damper on the legislature’s ability to accomplish much is the absence of available funding. It looks to be a tight budget and I expect much of the bills that included additional funds to be killed in the final week of session. We are experiencing a drop in revenue into the state, mostly due to lower sales tax income. We received some numbers on Wednesday that confirmed the reports. This will result in a tightening of the state’s belt. If we are able to offer more to K-12 education and state employee’s salaries than the index factor, we should consider that a positive accomplishment, considering the projections we are getting. I expect the funding to remain at the 2.5% the Governor recommended in his budget in December. Fiscal responsibility is our priority and I believe it is better to conserve now, rather than cut programs in the future. I expect this to impact the changes that have been recommended to revamp the funding of the technical schools in the state. There is wide spread support for the changes; however it will be something we cannot accomplish with out extra funds to spend. House Bill 1016 is the vehicle that would establish the new system for that funding.

In Commerce committee we’ve heard some more liquor license legislation. Senate Bill 126 made it on the agenda on Friday and was passed out to the House floor. I spoke and voted against the bill in committee. It is a wide sweeping change to how we distribute liquor licenses in the state. The bill removes all the caps on liquor licenses, which are capped by population numbers now, and allows the municipalities to sell as many as they deem necessary. The proponents of the bill say it is a necessary tool to achieve economic development in this state. If we are starting to place our economic hopes on the proliferation of alcohol in this state, then we truly we have no hope left. The details of the bill allow cities to sell additional licenses at the same price as the last one that was sold. It makes them available to any business that has no more than 50% of its gross profits from alcohol, and requires that any business that holds a license must provide financial information to the city stating what they bought their license for, regardless if that information is going to be used or not. It has no restricted hours for sale as well. Basically what this bill does is allow additional licenses to be available in every town and city in South Dakota, does not set a cap on how many can be sold, requires business owners to turn over financial information even though it will not be used for any purpose, and make the licenses available to all kinds of businesses, not just restaurants. If we truly need additional liquor licenses in the state to get Ruby Tuesday’s and Applebee’s franchises to move in for economic development, why are we making such broad sweeping changes? We’ve thrown the baby out with the bathwater if this bill passes and we won’t be able to get it back. Once those licenses are issued, we know from past history, the state won’t be recalling them. We need to remember that alcohol is at best a controlled substance…a drug. At its worst, it can ruin people’s lives. Do we truly want hard liquor, and the ability to sell it, spread abundantly throughout the state? With more establishments selling hard alcohol, we will see our laws regarding alcohol harder to enforce. We will have more alcohol sold to kids under age and it will be a bigger job for our law enforcement to oversee. I believe it is a copout to say we need this bill to promote economic development in our state. It will come to the House floor on Tuesday and I will be speaking against it.

I want to take a moment to promote TAR days. It is an event for Teen Age Republicans that will take place in Pierre on March 28 and 29th. It is a mock legislative session and weekend retreat held each spring for teenagers 13 and up. The cost is only $25 per person and I have registration forms available. Kids will meet teens from across the state and debate legislation on the floor of the state House of Representatives and Senate. If you are interested in politics, government, or making a difference, TAR days is for you. It is open to all students regardless of political affiliation.

Well, this last week will be interesting. I can’t tell you all how much I appreciate the phone calls and emails. The input is extremely valuable to me. We may not come to the same conclusion on an issue, but I assure you we’ll have scintillating conversation. I will have my daughter Kassidy (age 13) and niece Isabel (age 11) with me the first 3 days of the week, so I’ll keep you updated as to the experiences they have.

Alvin Kangas, HD Electric board member and Hamlin Co. weed board member, gave bobsled rides this weekend on the land his family homesteaded in Hamlin Co. over 100 years ago. The land is currently owned and operated by Al and Sharon Noem of Lake Norden, who are also Rep. Noem’s in-laws. Thank you Alvin, for sharing the family heritage and memories.

This week was one of variety on the House floor. We saw bills ranging from education to liquor licenses. I had my son Booker, age 5, with me on Monday and Tuesday and I don’t think Pierre will ever be the same. He was a trooper on Monday; sitting through a 3 hour commerce committee meeting and then getting only a 15 minute break before heading off to caucus and session. His praises were heard on the House floor as members declared their admiration for his ability to sit and be quiet. We could all learn something from his example that day. However, I believe all the kind words went to his head as he was sure wound up the next day. He had made a couple of friends by that time and I rarely saw him. I passed him occasionally in the halls on his way to another exciting adventure in the State Capital. He asked if he could stay for 10 days to which I replied, “Booker, even I don’t want to stay 10 days!” He made many great memories and I am grateful he had the opportunity.

Kennedy, age 10, came out and spent Wednesday and Thursday with me. What an experience to have her sit beside me while we debated bills on the House floor. She was inquisitive and often lobbied mom to vote how she thought I should. She was quite persuasive at times and I see a bright future for her in debate. She must take after her father. As House Bill 1289 came to the House floor, she asked what it was about. I informed her that it was the bill that would deny schools to receive payment for declining enrollment unless they had a decline of 10 students or 5% of enrollment. I summed it up by saying, “It takes money away from some of the schools.” Aghast, she looked at me and said, “Why? The school lunch is bad enough already!”

(Disclaimer: Kennedy’s very concerned about the feelings of her school cooks and she wishes you to know that she very much enjoys their cooking, just not some of the choices.)

The above bill was killed on the House floor.  Moving on to legislation that was addressed this week, we also saw a bill that would have required all our property tax notifications to display all the breakdowns of what the taxes represent. Therefore, each levy would be displayed such as how much is due for the county, township, school, opt out etc. I saw this as a taxpayer friendly bill, as it would give you information that explains exactly what your dollars are helping to pay for. However, our counties all operate with different types of software and actually implementing the law would have been costly and difficult to manage for counties. An amendment was added that delayed implementation, but as strapped as our counties are right now, I just couldn’t justify the action at this time.

In Tax committee on Thursday we saw one bill. House Bill 1307 would have created new classes of property for taxation purposes. The classes included cropland, noncropland, recreational, and speculation. During committee the sponsor of the bill, Rep. Hal Wick, proposed an amendment that changed the bill from becoming law to a summer study. The bill was passed out of committee and will hit the House floor next week. This is a topic that comes up often in Pierre, but I was glad to see the bill change. The motivation behind the legislation is to tax people more for land that they were using for hunting purposes or holding for investment. I believe landowners or farmers who were truly making a living farming the land could have gotten caught up in higher tax rates because of this bill if they had an occasional paying hunter or had land located in an area affected by urban sprawl. It could have possibly taxed them off their land, when their intention was to continue farming it. After visiting with the sponsor, he indicated that he was thinking of adding an owner/occupied clause that could have addressed my concern. I don’t expect the bill to pass the House floor as the usual way for summer studies to be determined is for the request to be submitted to the Executive Committee. The Committee will then consider all the requests and priorities of the legislators before making a selection. On Wednesday, a similar bill by Rep. Shantel Krebs, would have studied the state’s transportation needs, died for this very reason. As a member of the Executive Committee, I can assure you that we survey all legislators at the end of the session and see what their top priorities are for summer studies. We then compile the information, make the selection and appoint members. I expect transportation needs and classes of property to be among the top requests.

I pitched my minimum teacher’s salary bill, House Bill1268, to the House Education Committee on Thursday. The bill would establish a statewide minimum teacher’s salary at $30,000, with salary schedules to continue to be determined by the local school districts. It allows the districts 5 years to accomplish this task and use TCAP dollars to do so. There is strong support to add more money into the TCAP program, which provides $4 of state aid to every $1 of local dollars the district spends. It provides for the state and local school districts to partner in impacting teacher’s salaries. There was a much more comprehensive plan also proposed by Rep. Buckingham, House Bill 1262, that would set the entire salary schedule for the districts, repeal tenure, and set out qualifiers for the teachers to advance in pay. It is something I don’t expect the districts to look favorably upon, as it is a big change from what they are currently doing, takes away all local control, and provides no funding. Both bills were deferred until the next meeting date.

Well, I’ve run on too long and better let you go. Have a great week!

I want to start off this week’s column by apologizing for the lateness of this article. Not a positive note to kick off the update, but I wanted to hold off on turning it in so I could include the information that was discussed at our two crackerbarrels that were held this weekend. It’s possible that we spend most of our time discussing what seems to stick out to us after a week in Pierre or what we’ve been working on, when perhaps you’re truly looking for information on a topic we may not even touch on. Our first crackerbarrel was in Huron at 10:00 am at the Municipal Building. Education and the liquor license changes that are proposed in this year’s session appeared to be priorities. Senate Bill 126 is a controversial bill that will allow cities and counties to issue more liquor licenses. In the proposal, the city would have reimbursed license holders for the market value of their licenses. The new version would require holders to declare the value of their license. Interested buyers would be required to try to purchase a current license from a holder before a new one would be issued. The issue is headed back to committee on Wednesday hoping the two sides of the issue can find a compromise they agree on.

 Senate Bill 172 would appropriate money to the Department of Public Safety to fund the South Dakota Highway Patrol. This bill was heard in Senate Judiciary and was amended to read $2,000,000 rather than $1. It will now be heard in Senate Appropriations.
 We have a bill before us that would regulate the right to carry a fire arm on the campuses of public institutions of higher education. This passed unanimously out of State Affairs Committee on Wednesday. We’ve had a lot of feedback on this issue from people within and outside of the state.  Overwhelmingly, residents of South Dakota wish to have the right to carry firearms on these campuses. The opinions of those from out of state appear to be those from activist groups that would like gun control in almost every area of our lives. I’m proud of the people of South Dakota who recognize the importance of hunting as a pastime to pass on to the future generation and the right to bear arms.  Also, I believe we are smart enough to realize that criminals don’t follow the rules anyways.
House Bills 1005 and 1006 passed the House floor on Thursday. House Bill 1005 revises certain provisions concerning the assessment of real property, to assess agricultural land based on its agricultural income value, to create an implementation and oversight advisory task force, to repeal certain provisions regarding the assessment of property, and to repeal the nonagricultural acreage classification. This bill was amended in House State Affairs and was passed out of the committee on an 8-4 vote.  The vote on the House floor was 45-22 in favor of the bill. This bill was discussed at length at the Clark crackerbarrel. There were a few area residents who had some concerns about the impact of the legislation and I feel we had good discussion.  This is a major change in state policy and it’s not hard to believe we have some dissention in the ranks. However, as one who has spent the past 2 years studying this issue in session and on the Property Tax Summer Study, I believe it is the right change to make to a broken system. House Bill 1006 is the companion bill that holds the school districts harmless in counties where assessments would drop and does the same for taxpayers in counties where assessments would rise. The bills will now move to the Senate side and I will follow its progress. Please feel free to contact me regarding any questions you may have.
I have the privilege to have my son Booker with me this week on Monday and Tuesday and my daughter Kennedy will join me on Wednesday and Thursday. I am anticipating that they will have an educational experience. Booker was shocked to see desks and chairs in the House chambers when he arrived on Monday morning as he was told all weekend he would sit by mom on the House “floor”. It was a little tough explaining the thought process to a 5 year old. Have a great week.

This past week was our final full week of legislative work for the 82^nd session.  It’s hard to believe that we’ve reached the final days so quickly.  The storm that hit here at home prevented most of the east river legislators from going home this past weekend.  After much discussion and consultation on the weather, it was decided that we would consider Saturday a legislative day and work through the weekend.  This put us back on the original schedule of finalizing action on Tuesday, March 6^th.  We will come back to Pierre the end of the month for veto day to wrap up the session schedule.  

We finally have some answers on major issues that developed during this session.  The House voted on Saturday on the major education bills.  Senate Bill 157 became the vehicle that carried the task force recommendations in the end.  There were some compromises made, and I could not vote for the bill.  It did lower the minimum school district size to 100 and replace the small school factor with a small school adjustment instead of completely eliminating it, but I would have preferred to see the minimum school size requirement taken from the bill and the factor remain in it’s original form.  There were many more provisions in the bill, but I expect Paul will address those in detail in his column for you to read.  House Bill 1171 became the bill that provided the dollars this year.  There will be approximately $31 million new dollars for education in the upcoming year with $14 million included in this bill.  I voted for the bill.  This is an unprecedented amount and historically, we haven’t seen this kind of investment in education for many years.  This relates to a 3.8% increase in dollars to K-12 education.  There were some disappointments in how the dollars were distributed and the levels set, but I believe we do need to celebrate what was accomplished.  Again, I will let Paul specifically address the individual areas to prevent becoming redundant.  We have tag teamed a little on addressing these issues in the past so that we don’t repeat each other each week.

Senate Bill 199, which required kids to stay in school until they were 18 or graduated, passed the House and is on its way to the Governor’s desk.  I did not support the bill as I felt it placed too large of a burden on our schools, took that decision away from the family, and wasn’t researched adequately.  The Governor will sign the bill and I expect it to become law.

Senate Bill 173 died on the House floor.  I spent many hours researching this bill and was disappointed to see it go.  It was a major change to how we would assess property valuations on ag land and eliminate the 150% rule and NAZ, so I understand the reluctance to change.  This is a big issue and one that we will need to find a solution for.  It was confusing for some and required a lot of research for anyone to have a level of comfort with it.   We cannot remain under a system that gives our assessors no tools to use in assessing ag property and leaves our state vulnerable to law suits.  We will be working to address some of the concerns before next session and focus on putting South Dakota on a fair and equitable property tax road.

The minimum wage bill passed the House after an amendment was added in the State Affairs committee that left it the same rate as today until the federal government made a change.  When that action takes place, the minimum wage would raise 70 cents per hour each year for the next 3 years.  There was compelling testimony that showed that for each $1 gained by the people of South Dakota in wages, there was a negative impact of $1.22.  Economically, the decision does not look to be the right one, however I voted for the bill.  This change will enable small businesses to take advantage of tax breaks that will become available when the federal change is made. 

I had a lot of phone calls and emails this week regarding Senate Bill 166.  This bill was heard in Commerce committee, of which I am a member.  SB166 would have removed the cap on the number of liquor licenses that could be held by one entity in the state.  Right now, that cap is set at 3.  This would have allowed chain stores such as Hy-Vee, Wal-Mart, and chain liquor stores to have hard liquor available in as many locations as possible where licenses were available in municipalities of 5000 people or more.  I did not support the bill, but had to step out of the room to be a part of a press conference that was taking place.  When I came back to committee, the vote was stalled and we amended a small portion of bill and killed it.  It was smoked out on the House floor (an action that is available by supporters of a bill that forces the committee to deliver the bill to the floor for a vote) and the bill was killed again.  Reconsideration was asked for but never acted on by the bills sponsor.  Although the bill would not have affected District 6 or anyone in the area, I felt that this would become a type of situation that mom and pop stores in the larger cities could not compete in.  Also, grocery stores and convenience stores have the highest violation rates of selling alcohol to minors.  I also don’t believe we need to make alcohol more readily available for underage drinkers.  From the feedback I received from the area, you held the same opinions as I.  I appreciate the input.

This is getting pretty long, so I better cut is short.  We will vote on the general bill on Monday or Tuesday and finish up some legislative action, and then head for home.  I was recently elected by my caucus members to represent them on the Executive Board throughout the year.  This board oversees the business of the legislature the other 9 to 10 months we are out of session.  We will set up summer studies and appoint members to those, as well as oversee the Legislative Research Council and its employees.  There are many duties the board has and I am honored to be chosen as one of its members.  I will find myself in Pierre often throughout the year for meetings and take comfort in the fact that I won’t forget how to find my way back there before next sessionJ.  I can’t tell you how much I appreciate the district mate you have chosen for me.  Rep. Paul Nelson is a strong advocate for our local schools, agriculture, and small businesses in District 6.  His integrity and honesty are unsurpassed in Pierre and I have found him to be an invaluable asset and friend over the past months. I always know I will get a straight answer from Paul.  You are represented well, District 6.  Thank you for allowing me the opportunity to serve you as well.

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The 82^nd legislative session is drawing to a close.  We are in the last days and to be quite frank…it’s crunch time.  There is a sense of urgency that has taken hold of us, as we closely watch those bills near and dear to us and hope the ones we don’t like go down for the last time.  Committees are pushing the final handful of bills through and debate on the floor is lengthening. 

House Bill 1082 went over to the Senate last week with a close vote of 37-33.  This bill held most of the task force recommendations for education including setting a minimum district size of 130 students, consolidation incentives, enrollment calculations, small school factor, fund balances, sparcity and other revenue.  I did not support the bill on the floor and expect it to undergo many changes in the Senate.  District 6 schools would not fare well under this bill and I look forward to seeing the contents revised.  Education funding is addressed in HB 1171.  It includes 14 million new dollars for education and does include dollars for the ESA’s, which was a concern for many of you who contacted me regarding the importance of the work that they do for our teachers and students. 

The legislature has also agreed on some new programs to deal with the meth problem in our state.  I was not aware of all the ramifications of this drug until I met several people who have had family members who became addicts.  They have told me stories of children and siblings who were overachieving active members of society who tried the drug on a whim when it was so readily available in even the smallest of towns in South Dakota.  They went from thriving human beings to instantly addicted people who could do or think of nothing else except getting their next hit.  I was told that one could buy enough meth to stay high for a whole week for $25….We have never had a drug in our history that was so readily available, so cheap, and gave such a high that people became addicted immediately.  Three bills were passed on the House floor that would assist our state with dealing with these addicts.  The first is a pilot drug court for those who want to help themselves in the Unified Judicial System.  These people would get intensive rehab and be held accountable by the courts and must be nonviolent offenders.  Another program was addressed through two bills that would provide funding for meth rehabilitation at the women’s prison in Pierre.  The majority of meth addicts are females in our state. 

The Governor’s bill that would provide HPV vaccines for young girls in the state free of charge moved ahead.  It passed the House floor without my support.  Participation is voluntary for girls 11-19 and the approximate cost would be around $300 per girl for a series of three shots.  This is a new vaccine and we are not fully aware of all the side affects at this time.  Also, the vaccine only covers 4 strains of the virus that causes cervical cancer, while there are many more that the vaccine does not address.  The state has 7.5 million dollars of federal money that will be used to help cover the cost of the program.  The state will invest approximately 1.3 million.  It is my belief that this vaccine may offer a false sense of security and that our dollars could be spent elsewhere to greater effect for the health of a greater number of South Dakotans.  Normally, vaccines that are mandated by the state are in response to epidemic situations.  This is a new type of vaccine that does not fit the same criteria as the ones currently required.

The Governor’s minimum wage bill passed the Senate last week and will be in the House State Affairs this week.  Regardless of what legislation we pass, I believe we will see a federal law change in this area. 

We are still hearing property tax bills in tax committee.  By the time you read this article, we should have finished the committee process and may or may not have any bills to act on, on the House floor.  I will keep you updated. 

We had a great cracker-barrel in DeSmet on Saturday.  Quite a few people came despite the weather to visit with Rep. Paul Nelson and me.  We had extensive conversation regarding education, property taxes, and many more topics of importance.  Thank you for coming.  I enjoyed the day.

I would like to encourage all of you to follow those bills you are watching closely during this last week and a half.  There will be many amendments and changes made.  A reliable source for you to go to, to get information on how we voted is the South Dakota Legislative Research Councils web site.  The address is http://legis.state.sd.us.  Sometimes legislators positions on issues are not accurately reflected on other sites or media pieces.  Of course, the best bet is just to call me and ask how I voted and why.  I would love to share that information with you.

I am blessed to serve you in Pierre.  I consider it an honor and take my duty very seriously.  Thank you for the opportunity and have a great week.

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Our week was cut short a little last week with the threat of some impending weather.  Committee meetings and session were cancelled on Friday so legislators, lobbyists and visitors could get home before the weather hit.  This complicated things a bit, as Friday was to be crossover day, the day when all bills must leave their house of origin, and Monday was Presidents day.  Crossover day was held this Tuesday and now we’ve added a day to the end of the legislative session. 

Topics of last week had a sense of urgency to them.  Some of the more debated topics hit the floor and the newspapers.  The Senate approved the Governor’s minimum wage bill and will go to the House State Affairs committee.  The bill would raise the minimum wage to $7.25 an hour in increments by July 1, 2009.  House Bill 1048 passed the House of Representatives with a 47-23 vote.  This is the bill that encompasses the campaign finance reforms proposed by the Secretary of State Chris Nelson.

I have had some phone calls regarding Senate Bill 199.  This bill would make it illegal to drop out of school in South Dakota until a student turns 18.  This bill was brought by the Governor and is a change from the current law which state that a student must remain in school until the age of 16.  From the feedback I have received, many people in the area would like to see the statute remain the way it is.  This bill will first go to committee and then come to the House floor.

House Bill 1171 is a comprehensive education bill that has many areas covered in it.  It combines several issues regarding education, including the task force bill, technical education money for high schools, Educational Service Agencies funding and the Teacher Pay Enhancement Program.  The TPEP was included in the Governor’s budget and it proposed $4 million to be used to increase teacher’s pay that would include matching funds with the school district.  The House is proposing a change to this bill which would raise the match from $2 from the state to $1 from the district to $4 from the state to every $1 from the district.  This bill passed the House State Affairs committee on Wednesday.   

The State Fair funding came through the House with a vote of 64-4.  The amount of funding to go towards the Fair is $750,000 and the bill will now go over to the Senate Appropriations committee.  This money was also included in the Governor’s budget.  Legislators were pleasantly surprised to see how much effort and actual dollars the city of Huron invested in the Fair each year.  The city of Huron spends approximately $200,000 to help support the Fair on an annual basis.

The bills that address property taxes are making their way through the Senate and are starting to show up in the House Tax Committee.  We’ve seen some familiar faces come to give testimony on different bills, and it has been much appreciated.  The more input we have on what the actual local impact will be, will only help give guidance to the committee and legislators.  It is invaluable to have those citizens there and a part of the process.  It takes time and effort for them to come and I really want to thank them for taking the time.

These last few weeks will go by fast as we consider the bills still standing.  As always, please call with any questions and have a great week.�