Briefs
State regulators approve partial rollback of natural gas price increase
MidAmerican Energy’s 6% natural gas rate increase in South Dakota will be rolled back to 5.4%. The over 100,000 South Dakotans who get natural gas from the company can expect the change to take effect in May. The rate change will affect commercial customers as well as residential. MidAmerican proposed the 6% increase last May. […]
Minnehaha County votes to bolster prosecutors, public defense
SIOUX FALLS – Federal grant funding from the Violence Against Women Act could soon bring a domestic violence specialist to the Minnehaha County State’s Attorney’s Office to help shepherd victims through the criminal justice system. The Minnehaha County Commission voted unanimously on Tuesday to allow State’s Attorney Daniel Haggar to apply for a Services, Training, […]
Noem signs temporary tax reduction into law, vows to fight for permanent tax cut
After weeks of veto threats, Gov. Kristi Noem signed what some have called the “largest tax cut in state history” into law Tuesday. The move reduces the state sales tax from 4.5% to 4.2%, cutting an estimated $104 million from state revenues in the first year of implementation. But the tax cut has a sunset […]
Biden signs bill declassifying information on the origin of COVID-19
WASHINGTON — The U.S. director of national intelligence has three months to declassify information on potential links between China’s Wuhan Institute of Virology and the origin of COVID-19, after President Joe Biden signed legislation Monday. The bill was one of the first Biden has signed since a 118th Congress split between the two parties began […]
Black Hills National Forest adds 239 acres through deal with elk group and landowners
The Black Hills National Forest is growing by about one-third of a square mile. The Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation acquired 239 acres of land from two landowners for a total of $1.1 million and conveyed it to the national forest. The land is high in the remote western area of the forest in South Dakota, […]
Board of Elections changes voter registration form to comply with tribal lawsuit settlement
The South Dakota Board of Elections voted Wednesday to change the state voter registration form to fit the requirements of a 2022 lawsuit agreement between Native American tribes and the state. The lawsuit alleged numerous violations of the National Voter Registration Act, which requires states to allow people to register to vote while applying for […]
Noem calls Russian invasion of Ukraine ‘Europe’s fight, not ours’
Governor Kristi Noem, who’s viewed as a potential Republican presidential or vice presidential candidate, described America’s military aid to Ukraine as a costly strategic mistake. “It’s pushing Russia into an alliance with China — meaning Russia may soon draw from China’s large weapon arsenal,” Noem told Tucker Carlson of Fox News. Carlson posted Noem’s written […]
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 […]
House fails to override Noem’s veto of optional hotel tax increase
The state House of Representatives failed on Tuesday to override Gov. Kristi Noem’s veto of a bill that would allow hotels and motels in “business improvement districts,” or BIDs, to raise a per-room tax. Supporters of the bill fell six votes short of the two-thirds majority needed to override the veto. The vote was 41-29, […]
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 […]
House kills spousal lobbyist ban after legislator calls it ‘dirty laundry’
PIERRE — A bill that would prohibit a spouse of a legislator from being employed as a lobbyist died on the House floor Monday morning. Senate Bill 197 would apply to active members of the Senate and House of Representatives, and it would apply to any lobbyist who received benefits from a lobbying firm. Rep. […]
Noem issues first veto of legislative session against optional hotel tax increase
Stamping the bill with a custom V-E-T-O livestock brand dipped in red ink, Gov. Kristi Noem has issued her first veto of this year’s legislative session. The bill would allow hotels and motels in “business improvement districts,” or BIDs, to raise the per-room tax they charge. Today, I VETOED a tax increase. We are cutting […]