Kristi Noem

The 2008 Legislative Session was kicked off on Tuesday, and what a difference 5 days make! This is our shorter session of 35 days as compared to the 40 day session that was held in 2007, and since those 5 days come off the front end of the session, legislators are hustling to get their bills researched and filed on time. The flurry of activity and number of bills pre-filed are indicative of what we can expect throughout the next couple of months. The Governor presented his State of the State address, which was basically a recap of his budget address that occurred in the beginning of December. He gave some directives to the legislature, including solving the property tax problems and not spending new monies. We also heard the State of the Judiciary address presented by Chief Justice David Gilbertson.

I will serve on the Taxation and Commerce committees again this session, as well as continue to serve on the Executive Committee of the Legislature. The property tax bills have been sent to the State Affairs committee this year, so I do not expect to see them in the Taxation committee. There is already much effort and research being done on behalf of education. I will be filing a bill of my own that will address teacher compensation. I am looking forward to the debate and welcome any input you may have into the subject once I have submitted it. I also have a few other bills that I am currently putting together and working on, so I will keep you updated as to what those look like next week. A good friend directed me when I was first elected, “You better wipe out a bill or two for every new one you come up with!” Therefore, I will be working on that as well.

I enjoyed having breakfast with the FFA students this week from Florence, Willow Lake, Lake Preston, De Smet, and Arlington. There may have been more, but I must have missed meeting them. I believe Paul is going to list their names in his weekly update. They are outstanding examples of the kind of quality people South Dakota can produce. As I told them, a regret I had about high school was that we did not have an FFA chapter to be a part of.

I also was privileged to have two pages that I sponsored this session with me this week on the House floor. They are Amanda Wegner and Sara Holstrom from Willow Lake. They have done a great job helping us get organized and survive the schedule of the first week.

Our focus this session will not only be on education and property taxes, but also renewable energy initiatives, open government, and fiscal responsibility. We also have already voted on and passed a legislative Code of Conduct. This document is established in our Legislative rules as a guideline for the kind of conduct we require of our members. We will be accountable to each other and hold ourselves to the highest of standards.

I can be contacted anytime on my cell phone or by email. I have included these at the bottom for your convenience.  I also have a website that will include updates that you may access at anytime. Please take advantage of it. I appreciate the trust you have placed in me and take my responsibility very seriously. This time will go quickly, and I look forward to serving District 6 diligently in Pierre.

Representative Kristi Noem
Capitol Building, Third Floor
500 East Capitol Avenue
Pierre, SD  57501
www.kristinoem.com
(605) 881-2526
Rep.Noem@state.sd.us

This will be my last legislative column for the 82^nd session.  Our final day, commonly referred to as “veto” day was held last Monday in Pierre.  The majority of the business during session on that day is to deal with the bills the Governor vetoed when they crossed his desk.  In order for that legislation to become law, both houses must override the Governor’s veto by a two thirds vote.  Five bills came before us that day and died by failing to receive the needed votes.  The Governor had a good day.

The bills returned to their house of origin first.  The Senate convened to hear SB 183, 95, and 103.  Senate Bill 183 contained provisions for nursery’s and small greenhouses to receive the same exemptions of sales and use tax on fertilizer, seed, and chemicals that agriculture already receives.  This bill passed out of the Senate but failed to receive the needed votes in the House.  I was disappointed to see the legislation go away, as I felt these small businesses in South Dakota should receive the same treatment that all other areas of agriculture receives already.  They take many of the same risks and deal with the same volatility that occurs in the weather and markets.  SB 95 also passed out of the Senate over to the House of Representatives.  Technical school governance has been one of the largest topics for debate this session and I won’t cover it again as I discussed it quite a bit in a previous column.  The bill, which would have formed a new layer of administration and governance, died by a narrow vote.  The final Senate bill was SB 103, which redistricted the appointments to the brand board.  This bill failed by a large margin and the Senate upheld the Governor’s veto. 

The House of Representatives heard two bills which originated there.  They were HB 1189, which dealt with requiring booster seats for all children ages 5 to 8 years old and weighing less than 80 lbs, and HB 1131, which transferred money from the state highway fund to the coordinated soil and water conservation program.  Both bills died on the House floor.  I believe all House members recognized the importance and need to fully fund the conservation program, however the Governor vetoed the bill because of concerns he had regarding taking the money from the highway fund.  Construction costs and needs are rising and he views the money as necessary to adequately maintain our roads and highways.  He promised to find an alternative funding source for the conservation fund and both sides reached a compromise.  I voted to uphold the Governor’s veto on this bill as I am a big supporter of our District Conservationists and the work that they do in South Dakota.  It was a “good faith” vote and I believe a win-win situation for both the conservation program and the highway fund.  We will maintain the necessary dollars for our roads and the soil and water conservation program has become a priority of the Governor’s. 

When Senate bill’s 95 and 183 reached the House floor after passing the Senate, they failed to garner enough support to become legislation.  All in all, when the day was over, all five of the Governor’s vetoed bills were sustained. 

It’s hard to summarize a whole session in one column, but I do want to express to you all how honored I was to represent you in Pierre.  I appreciated the visits, phone calls, emails, and letters.  We did some good work in many areas, and will return next session with a goal of accomplishing even more in education, health care, and property taxes, to name a few.

I will serve throughout the year, as elected by my fellow House members, on the Executive Committee and will return often to Pierre to conduct the business of the Legislature.  Some of the duties of this committee include deciding summer study topics, task force appointments, and overseeing department personnel and budgets.  If you have any recommendations or areas of concern that you feel should be addressed by the committee feel free to contact me at rep.noem@state.sd.us or 881-2526.  You can also find a list of events that I will be attending at my website if you would like to catch up with me at one of those.  My website address is www.kristinoem.com.  Have a great summer!

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.�

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 16^th 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.

It was an eventful week in Pierre as many bills that have been talked above over the past several weeks and months came to fruition.  Legislators reached the deadline to file bills and we have a pretty good idea now what our bill load will be this session.  About 530 bills are on file and it looks to be an eventful year spent focusing on many of the same issues we’ve discussed before with some new topics thrown in as well.

I attended a meeting last Thursday that discussed some of the proposed changes to our campaign finance laws that are being addressed in House Bill 1048.  A few of the highlights include requiring campaign finance reports to be filed in the Secretary of States office two weeks before Election Day.  With this change, constituents will be able to access the information and use it to help them make decisions regarding whom to vote for. The intent of this change is to make the candidates and their treasurer’s more accountable to the public for ways in which they raise and spend money during the campaign.  Also, if a campaign finance report is filed late, there will be a $50 per day fee assessed to that campaign for every day it is late.  These funds will go into the state’s general fund.  Contribution limits have been raised for legislative and state wide races, along with a limit imposed on how much one person can donate to a political action committee.   Full disclosure of campaign contributions and expenditures is also a main focus of this bill.  It’s a pretty inclusive bill that seems to cover all the areas of concern that the voters expressed in our current campaign system.  Anything that can add some integrity and honesty to our political arena is a step in the right direction. 

In trying to cover a few areas that Paul or Brock may not, I’d like to fill you in on a few bills we saw in committee or on the floor this week.  There was a bill in taxation on Tuesday that I had a lot of interest in.  The District Conservationists brought us a bill that would increase the amount of funding for conservation and value added agriculture using certain unclaimed motor fuel tax refunds and to make it a continuous appropriation thereafter.  The intent of the original legislation developed years ago was that these unclaimed dollars would go back to the conservation fund, but because a percentage of 35% was set rather than using the actual formula, the majority of these funds were going into the Department of Transportations budget each year.  They were the main opponents to the bill as the dollars that would be diverted into conservation amount to approximately 1% of their yearly budget.  However, if we had followed the original statute, those dollars should have gone to conservation for the past 15 years.  These dollars are used in our local areas to give grants and help cost share practices that preserve and maintain our natural resources.  Without this funding, many of our local projects would not happen.  I supported the bill in committee and will on the floor of the House this week.

In commerce committee we discussed a bill that would require retailers to place all tobacco products behind a counter where it would be inaccessible to a customer or in a locked case.  The intention of the bill was to prevent underage persons from stealing the products from the stores.  An amendment to the bill gave an exemption to stores that sell mainly tobacco products and not much else.  I was a little conflicted on the bill.  I did not support the bill in committee as most of the information that I had indicated that almost all underage smokers aren’t stealing the cigarettes.  Either they are buying them from a store that doesn’t card them or an adult.  I also feel that retailers would not put products anywhere they could be easily stolen and expose themselves to losing that profit.  It is tough enough for them to stay in business in these rural areas without us mandating to them how their stores should be laid out and requiring them to purchase more locked cases and shelving.  I also felt that the amendment treated retailers unequally and didn’t clearly define who would be exempt and who would not.  Hopefully, the supporters of the bill will continue to work to determine the need for this legislation and address the concerns of the committee.  It makes more sense to me to enforce stiffer penalties on those who provide our children with these life threatening and illegal products.

I’ve taken up enough space for this week, but still didn’t get to property taxes, economic development issues, excise and sales tax bills, and more.  You may access every bill that is being considered at the Legislative Research Council’s website at http://legis.state.sd.us.  Please do.  There is such a wide range of issues; I just won’t be able to touch on them all each week.  As always I can be reached on my cell phone at 881-2526 or email at Rep.Noem@state.sd.us.   Our next crackerbarrel will be this Saturday at the Lake Norden café at 10 am.  Hope to see you there.