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Mission of Wounded Knee activists continues 50 years later with children, grandchildren
The world had largely forgotten about Native American people by the early 1970s, said Marcella Gilbert. Native populations had been decimated by disease and colonization; their sprawling homeland where ancestors had roamed was splintered into reservations. The Lakota language was nearly extinct and practicing the Lakota religion was illegal. “People across the world didn’t even […]
Legislative roundup: Noem bills bite the dust
About five months – that’s how long a proposed grocery sales-tax repeal inhabited political news, until a legislative committee brought all the chatter to an abrupt end this week. Gov. Kristi Noem flipped the traditional political script when she announced her support for the idea in September. Democrats had been proposing the repeal for years, […]
House passes bill to reimburse nursing homes, care facilities at 100%
The state House of Representatives passed a bill 44-25 on Wednesday that would annually adjust the reimbursement rate for community-based providers to 100% of the costs of caring for patients covered by programs such as Medicaid. Those providers include nursing homes, assisted living facilities and care facilities for people with developmental disabilities. That’s a 10 […]
Committee rejects Noem-backed grocery tax cut bill, moves forward with general tax cut
Gov. Kristi Noem’s re-election campaign promise to eliminate the state sales tax on groceries died Tuesday morning in the House Committee on Appropriations, but the committee approved a bill to reduce state sales taxes across the board. The projected $102 million grocery tax repeal was rejected by an 8-1 vote. The committee also rejected a […]
‘They saw the potential’: SDSU program boosts Native American success
South Dakota State University was the only college that sent recruiters to the reservation during Traelene Fallis’ junior year at Crow Creek Tribal School. So, she only applied to SDSU. “It just felt like they actually wanted me to be here,” Fallis said. “They were doing all these things because they saw the potential in […]
Some Republicans look to ‘take care of our house’ before cutting taxes
PIERRE — Gov. Kristi Noem announced in her budget address two months ago that 2023 was the “right time” to cut taxes and eliminate the sales tax on food in South Dakota. Several legislators echoed that sentiment, flooding the agenda shortly after the 2023 legislative session began with more tax cut bills. But some legislators […]
House committee kills three tax cut bills
PIERRE – The House Committee on Appropriations killed three of the tax cut bills introduced to the Legislature this session. The bills included one that would exempt feminine hygiene products, such as tampons, from the state sales tax; one that would exempt burial and cremation services from the state sales tax; and one that would […]
State budget committee adopts ‘conservative’ fiscal year 2024 revenue estimates
PIERRE – The Legislature’s Joint Committee on Appropriations officially adopted the revenue projections for the remainder of fiscal year 2023 and fiscal year 2024 on Wednesday morning at the Capitol. The committee adopted an ongoing revenue estimate of $2.3 billion for the remainder of the current fiscal year, which is an 8.2% increase over last […]
State revenue ‘overflowing’ this year, but some lawmakers are cautious about the future
PIERRE – South Dakota’s 2024 revenue is expected to increase by millions of dollars, but experts say that increase won’t last forever, and some legislators are growing cautious about how to spend the state’s excess money in the coming year. At the Joint Committee on Appropriations meeting Tuesday morning at the Capitol, the Legislative Research […]
Noem signs transgender youth health care ban into law
Gov. Kristi Noem signed a bill into law Monday that would ban some forms of health care for transgender youth. HB 1080 is dubbed the “Help Not Harm” Bill by proponents. When it takes effect July 1, it will ban health care professionals who treat transgender children from prescribing drugs such as puberty blockers and […]
Bill barring legislative spouses from becoming lobbyists passes Senate committee
PIERRE — A bill that would prohibit a spouse of a legislator from being employed as a lobbyist passed the Senate State Affairs Committee on Monday morning. The bill, SB 197, was introduced by Sen. Michael Rohl, R-Aberdeen, and would apply to active members of the Senate and House of Representatives. The committee passed the […]
Bills limiting drag shows: Committee passes one, tables another
PIERRE — The House State Affairs Committee tabled one bill that would limit drag performances in South Dakota but passed a related bill Monday morning. The first bill, HB 1125, would expand obscenity laws to include drag shows and prohibit exposing children to such performances. The bill was tabled after a failed motion to pass […]