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Congressional Roundup: Sustainability vs. safety
EDITOR’S NOTE: This is the first in a series of periodic updates on the activities of South Dakota’s congressional delegation. A new bill from Sen. Mike Rounds, R-South Dakota, would take money away from sustainability efforts in schools and redirect it to school safety. The bill takes aim at $500 million in funding appropriated by […]
Legislative Roundup: Noem says no three times, but leaves big questions unanswered
Gov. Kristi Noem has not vetoed the Legislature’s “historic” sales tax cut this week – which lawmakers passed Thursday in spite of her opposition – but she did flex her veto power. Noem issued her first veto on March 2, using a cattle “VETO” brand on a bill that would have allowed local business improvement […]
$50 million water legislation falls two votes short on final day
Amid all the excitement over the passage of a sales-tax reduction on the final day of regular legislative business Thursday, a bill to devote $50 million of federal money to water projects quietly died. Sen. Helene Duhamel, R-Rapid City, had hoped her water legislation, Senate Bill 156, would pass before legislators left the Capitol. They […]
‘Biggest tax cut ever’? Depends on how you slice it — and on Noem’s reaction
Some legislators are describing the $104 million sales tax reduction they adopted Thursday as the “biggest tax cut in state history.” But is that true? The answer is complex. It might be more accurate to call the current proposal the state’s largest single tax cut in raw, unadjusted dollars. The qualifiers are necessary because of […]
Daktronics reports improving conditions since December stock plunge
A homegrown, publicly traded scoreboard manufacturing company in South Dakota reported improving business conditions Wednesday, three months after public disclosures from the company caused its stock price to plummet. Brookings-based Daktronics released a quarterly earnings report showing sales of $185 million, which was described as a company record for the third quarter. Daktronics Chairman, President […]
Senate scraps bill to switch nominations from conventions to primaries
An effort to change the way many statewide candidates are nominated has failed, after it pitted factions of the Republican Party against each other for much of the current legislative session. Tuesday at the Capitol in Pierre, the Senate decided not to support House amendments to the bill or appoint a conference committee to work […]
Legislative roundup: Tax talks go topsy-turvy, and the rest of the week’s action in Pierre
Anyone hoping for some measure of finality this week on the tax relief talks dominating the 2023 legislative session was almost certainly let down. Those who relish the spectacle of late-session political ping-pong, however, had plenty to watch. Coming into the session, the state’s historic surplus – made possible by a combination of economic growth […]
Primary voters would choose most statewide nominees under bill advancing to the House
A bill to switch the nomination process for most statewide offices from political conventions to primary elections is one step closer to becoming law. The House State Affairs Committee voted 8-5 on Wednesday at the Capitol in Pierre to send the bill to the House of Representatives. It’s already passed the Senate. The legislation addresses […]
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, […]
Attempts to block foreign ag-land ownership continue, despite existing laws that address it
PIERRE — Efforts to prevent and root out existing foreign ownership of agricultural land in South Dakota are still in progress, despite the Legislature’s rejection of a proposal from Gov. Kristi Noem, and despite a set of 44-year-old state laws that already facilitate some of what lawmakers are trying to accomplish. The governor’s bill would […]
Will South Dakota be ready when other states come for our water?
The massive volume of reservoirs on the Missouri River is one of the nation’s least-appreciated public resources, but that could change as Western states grow more desperate for water. “They’re tapped out, and so logic tells you they have to go to the next plentiful resource, which ultimately is the Missouri River,” said Troy Larson, […]
Effort to define ‘state business’ for aircraft use fails in committee
A committee of legislators rejected an attempt Wednesday at the Capitol in Pierre to define “state business” as it pertains to the use of state aircraft. Sen. Reynold Nesiba, D-Sioux Falls, brought the bill in response to a controversy over Republican Gov. Kristi Noem’s use of a state-owned airplane. Testifying to the Senate Transportation Committee, […]