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Noem-backed food tax cut clears first committee hearing
PIERRE – A tax cut touted by Gov. Kristi Noem as the largest in state history cleared its first legislative hurdle Thursday. House Bill 1075 would eliminate the state’s 4.5% tax on food sales. South Dakota is one of just three states with such a tax. The others are Alabama and Mississippi. The tax cut […]
SD tribes would lose millions for tribal government if state eliminates food sales tax
PIERRE – A food sales tax cut that passed a House panel Thursday morning has raised concerns for South Dakota’s nine tribal governments. An official with the Bureau of Finance and Management estimated that the tribes would lose about $2 million in funding for tribal government operations if the food tax is eliminated, but admitted […]
Bill legalizing fentanyl testing strips passes House committee
A bill that would decriminalize fentanyl test strips in South Dakota passed the House Judiciary Committee Wednesday with a 11-2 vote. Fentanyl test strips are small bits of paper that can detect the presence of the synthetic opioid, which is sometimes laced with other drugs and has a high mortality rate. Under current law, the […]
Bipartisan bill would make state IDs free for low income South Dakotans
PIERRE – State identifications cards are needed to get a job, rent an apartment and vote in South Dakota. Even library cards are out of reach without an ID. The wallet-sized card, which resembles a driver’s license, costs $28 in South Dakota. Rep. Kadyn Wittman, D-Sioux Falls, wants to make state IDs free for low […]
Panel backs proposal to require law enforcement to inform schools of suspected criminal activity by students
A Senate panel endorsed a bill that would require law enforcement to inform school officials when a student is suspected of violating the law. Current law says officers “may” report their suspicions to school officials. Opponents and several members of the juvenile justice summer study committee said most school districts already communicate well with law […]
Bill to repeal annual intellectual diversity report by SD colleges passes committee
A bill that would remove a requirement for the South Dakota Board of Regents to produce an annual intellectual diversity report passed the Senate Education Committee 5-2 on Tuesday. Senate Bill 45, introduced by Sen. Lee Schoenbeck, R-Watertown, would backtrack a requirement set by the 2019 intellectual diversity law. The 2019 bill also ordered public […]
‘Center for American Exceptionalism’ gets first committee endorsement
A House panel endorsed a bill that would create a Center for American Exceptionalism at Black Hills State University on Monday. House Bill 1070, introduced by Rep. Scott Odenbach, R-Spearfish,passed through the House Education Committee on a 9-6 vote and now heads to the House Appropriations Committee. The bill would allocate $150,000 for the center, […]
Pharmacist and technician shortage threatens access to health care
When Jessica Strobl’s 87-year-old grandmother needed to fill an antibiotic prescription last fall, her regular Black Hills area pharmacy was closed. She returned the next day to fill the prescription, but it was closed again. During that time, her infection worsened — enough to send her to the emergency room. While Strobl’s grandmother has since […]
Bill to complicate county seat relocations limps out of committee
A bill that would make it more difficult to move a county seat to another city has been stripped down by committee amendments but will move on to the Senate floor. Senate Bill 56, as originally introduced, would have made numerous changes to the state law (SDCL 7-6) governing the relocation of a county seat, […]
Bill proposes task force to study new criminal justice approach for ‘emerging adults’
Young adults, ages 18 to 25, represent roughly 10% of South Dakota’s population but 25% of arrests, according to Greg Sattizahn, state court administrator with the Unified Judicial System. Those “emerging adults” are the most incarcerated group based on penitentiary numbers and are the most likely group of state prisoners to recidivate, or return to […]
Proposed child care licensing changes cut required training in half
Child care providers’ annual training requirements would be cut in half, based on proposed changes to child care licensing standards by the state Department of Social Services. Gov. Kristi Noem has made child care one of her leading priorities in her second term, addressing the issue in her State of the State speech earlier this […]
State spends over $100,000 each year bolstering local governments’ cybersecurity
One employee clicked a scam link in an email, causing Brown County — the state’s fourth largest county — to shut down most of its computer network for over a week during the summer of 2021. While 911 services were able to continue operating, offices were stalled for months because the county’s computer network had to […]