Government

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., responds to reporters' questions about a White House meeting with Democratic congressional leaders, Jan. 24, 2023. (Jennifer Shutt/States Newsroom)

U.S. Senate leader calls for safety audit into all major railroads after Ohio derailment

BY: - March 15, 2023

U.S. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer called Wednesday for the federal authority responsible for determining the causes of transportation casualties to investigate the safety culture at all major North American freight railroads. Following the Feb. 3 Norfolk Southern derailment that caused a toxic chemical spill in East Palestine, Ohio, Schumer, a New York Democrat, said […]

(SDI Productions/Getty Images)

Noncitizens allowed to vote in some local elections, spurring backlash from GOP

BY: - March 15, 2023

A few cities and towns around the U.S. are letting noncitizens vote in local elections, and more could follow. In response, Republicans see a chance to turn opposition to noncitizen voting into a national rallying cry. On March 14, Washington, D.C., became the latest city to approve noncitizen voting, when a bill allowing the District’s […]

U.S. Rep. Dusty Johnson, R-South Dakota, questions witnesses in a hearing of the House Select Committee on Strategic Competition between the United States and the Chinese Communist Party, in the Cannon House Office Building on Feb. 28, 2023, in Washington, D.C. (Photo by Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)

South Dakota congressman advocates expansion of work requirements for federal food aid

BY: - March 14, 2023

WASHINGTON — Republican South Dakota Rep. Dusty Johnson introduced a bill Tuesday aimed at expanding work requirements for federal nutrition aid, reigniting a perennial conflict over how Congress navigates both the farm bill and federal spending.  “Work is the best pathway out of poverty,” Johnson, who in his home state has talked about growing up […]

General Motors Co. announced plans to double revenue by 2030 with new battery-electric vehicles and hopes to surpass leading electric carmaker Tesla with the release of a new $30,000 electric SUV. (Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)

States to receive $2.5B from feds for electric vehicle charging infrastructure

BY: - March 14, 2023

The federal government will send $2.5 billion over the next five years to states, local governments and tribes to build electric vehicle charging infrastructure, Biden administration officials said Tuesday. The new Charging and Fueling Infrastructure grant program, which was authorized by the 2021 bipartisan infrastructure law, will spend $2.5 billion over five years to build […]

Gov. Kristi Noem speaks to reporters March 6, 2023, at the Capitol in Pierre about her revived grocery tax repeal bill. (Makenzie Huber/South Dakota Searchlight)

Noem calls Russian invasion of Ukraine ‘Europe’s fight, not ours’

BY: - March 14, 2023

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 […]

Smithfield Foods in Sioux Falls, as seen on Nov. 21, 2022.

China owns little US farmland, but many lawmakers are worried

BY: - March 14, 2023

WASHINGTON — Nearly a third of states have laws prohibiting certain foreign businesses and governments from buying agricultural lands within their borders, and more states are looking to join them. The efforts in at least 11 states are pitched primarily by Republicans as another security front in the nation’s ongoing propaganda battles, primarily with China and Russia. Many lawmakers […]

An officer guards the entrance to the Federal Reserve’s William McChesney Martin Building on March 13, 2023, in Washington, D.C. (Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images)

Silicon Valley Bank’s collapse differs from our last financial crisis

BY: - March 14, 2023

After the largest U.S. bank failure in more than a decade, regional bank stocks plunged on Monday as the federal government — with the 2007-2008 financial crisis still a fresh memory for many — rushed to reassure Americans that the U.S. banking system was stable. President Joe Biden told Americans that the risks taken on by failed […]

The South Dakota House of Representatives chamber at the Capitol in Pierre. (Joshua Haiar/South Dakota Searchlight)

Criminal justice bills passed in 2023 described as ‘just a start’ for lawmakers

BY: - March 13, 2023

The recently concluded legislative session emphasized and funded criminal justice to an extent not seen in a decade, but according to some prosecutors and lawmakers, it’s just the start of reforms. The focus next year, they say, should be on rehabilitation.  “We’ve had legislators who have reached out and have already said, ‘Hey, what can […]

COMMENTARY
Rep. Scott Odenbach, R-Spearfish, on the House floor during the 2023 legislative session at the Capitol in Pierre. (Makenzie Huber/South Dakota Searchlight)

Don’t legislate love of country into the lesson plan

BY: - March 13, 2023

After twice missing passage by just one vote, it’s likely that next year South Dakota lawmakers will, once again, have to decide if they want to create a Center for Exceptionalism at Black Hills State University. According to the failed legislation, the center would make curriculum available to K-12 schools that would teach “students to […]

A worker tells people that the Silicon Valley Bank headquarters is closed on March 10, 2023, in Santa Clara, California. Silicon Valley Bank was shut down by California regulators and was put in control of the U.S. Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation. (Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)

Biden says U.S. bank deposits are safe despite tumult over California bank collapse

BY: - March 13, 2023

WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden reassured Americans early Monday that their money is safe in U.S. banks, after a tumultuous weekend following the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank and a move by regulators to shut down a second lender. Americans “should feel confident that their deposits will be there, if and when they need them,” […]

COMMENTARY

Where the sun doesn’t shine in local government

BY: - March 12, 2023

Across the country, March 12 through March 18 is Sunshine Week, a time for shedding a light on open government. In South Dakota, the sun doesn’t shine through too clearly. Here it’s, at best, partly cloudy. Sunshine Week was started in 2005 by the American Society of News Editors. According to its website, the purpose […]

Cattle near Stoneville, South Dakota, on July 21, 2021. (USDA Photo by Lance Cheung)

Ag Department launches cattle contracts library urged by Johnson

BY: - March 11, 2023

A recently launched program championed by South Dakota’s lone congressional representative aims to aid livestock producers in price negotiations with slaughterhouses. The Cattle Contracts Library is meant to log basic information on the prices paid for cattle by the nation’s four major processing conglomerates: Cargill, JBS USA, National Beef Packing and Tyson Foods.  The idea […]