Edmunds County Tribune -

House Report by Scott Moore

As we gaveled out completing week two for SD legislation, I have several updates/comments.

South Dakota Tourism had their annual convention which I was able to attend. After listening to some discussion and sitting through the awards presentation it is obvious the past and current members and state employees had and still have a vision to build on tourism. Some numbers from 2022, 14.4 million tourists visiting the state and spent $4.7 billion an increase of 8% over 2021. South Dakota tourism employs 56,826 people with a payroll of $2.1 billion. When we think of tourism we think of Black Hills, Mount Rushmore, Missouri River, and the badlands. Every small town and every corner of the state has something to offer in-state and out-of-state visitors. The individuals and businesses receiving awards not only promoted South Dakota they had one common message “Customer Service.” I would encourage you to invite your family and friends to visit South Dakota.

We finished out the second week without the House of Representatives passing SB41 which is the $200 million housing infrastructure bill. House members have had some good/passionate debates on this bill which was a holdover from 2021.

We had multiple groups visit the capital this past week with many more to come. Each group has concerns and topics to discuss, and many groups just like to keep informed of topics/bills that affect them or their trades.

Please plan to attend a cracker barrel in your area starting Saturday January 28, 2023. If you see legislation that interests you, reach out with your concerns.

House Report by James Wangsness

Last week saw Gov. Noem, Chief Justice Steven Jensen, and Peter Lengkeek, Chairman of the Crow Creek Sioux Tribe, give the State of the State, State of the Judiciary, and the State of the Tribes addresses, respectively. Now in its second week, the legislative session is beginning in earnest.

One of the first things addressed were changes in the legislative rules. One of the most notable of these changes is repealing Joint Rule 2-5 and other small changes made during the COVID-19 pandemic. Joint Rule 2-5 allowed members to be excused from committee meeting or floor session if said member had the virus or was quarantined because of it. That member would then be allowed to participate and vote remotely. On January 13, the Joint Legislative Procedure Committee met and approved to have Joint Rule 2-5 and other COVID changes repealed and return the legislature to its original procedure. On January 18, the House voted to approve these changes.

Two consequential bills that appeared this week are Senate Bill 41 and House Concurrent Resolution 6003. SB 41 would "establish a program for housing infrastructure loans and grants, make an appropriation therefor, and to declare an emergency." This bill would greatly increase state expenditure by millions of dollars on housing development so thousands of people would have a better opportunity to purchase a house. After passing the Senate, SB 41 came before the House State Affairs Committee on January 18 and was passed with little opposition.

HCR 6003 would encourage the Executive Board of the Legislature to create an interim legislative study that would address the needs of South Dakota's veterans and help them access long-term nursing home care. The problem comes from a lack of state veterans nursing homes (the only one being in Hot Springs), and the difficulties veterans sometimes face in obtaining adequate long-term nursing care. On January 18, Rep. Teunissen (District 9) brought this before the House State Affairs Committee and called upon the members to support South Dakota's veterans. It passed unanimously.

HCR 6003 was passed by the House 67 to 2 on January 19. SB 41 is slated to come before the House Floor on January 20.

During the week, the SDSU Jackrabbits came to the Capitol on January 18, were entertained by Gov. Noem, and were recognized by both House and Senate for winning the 2022 FCS Championship. Coach Stiegelmeier and his whole team came on the Senate and House floors to loud applause and proudly displayed their NCAA Championship trophy.

On January 19, the Joint Memorial Service was held to honor former legislators Carrol (Red) Allen, Debra Anderson, O.L. (Larry) Anderson, Henry Carlson Jr., Sheldon Cotton, Gary Jerke, Marguerite Kleven, Gordon J. Mydland, James (Jim) Peterson, John (Joe) Reedy, and Harvey Wollman, who also served as Governor.

Senate Report by Bryan Breitling

2023 Legislative Session Week 2

Wednesday, January 18, I received the honor to introduce to the State Senate, Landowners for Eminent Domain Reform (LEDR). A coalition of legislators across legislative houses, parties, areas of the state, and personal interests, continue to come together to discuss legislative ideas to enhance landowner rights in South Dakota. Value added agriculture is important to South Dakota, yet landowners’ rights shouldn’t be ignored for private for-profit interests. Some of the bills are close enough to be introduced, more continue to be vetted.

In our second week on the Senate floor, there wasn’t much activity, as bills work through their respective committees. All bills were highly supported except SB1, which had a majority vote passing at 20 to 15. SB1 is an update to the Medical Marijuana law from last year. Many SD providers have not signed onto certifying illnesses or symptoms due to questions surrounding some of the criteria. This bill provided some clarity to the providers in the process. It is one step to eliminate the “Doc in a box”- out of state physicians who come to SD to certify medical symptoms or diagnosis, then leave the state. For this industry to be effective as intended, we need stable patient provider relationships. We can expect more medical marijuana laws, this year and in the future, as this new industry figures out how to be safe for SD.

In our second week of appropriations, we heard from the Dept. of Social Services, Dept. of Human Services, Unified Judicial Systems and Dept. of Public Safety. DSS has services that impact every community in the state and this year is even more scrutiny due to the introduction of Medicaid Expansion. I was appointed chair of a Medicaid Expansion workgroup to study the state’s budget process, rollout, and long-term operational and financial plan, related to Medicaid Expansion in South Dakota. The DHS focus surrounds the industry crisis in long term care, community service providers, and other providers taking care of vulnerable populations in South Dakota. UJS and DPS are generally stable with issues around staffing/compensation and courthouse security.

Legislation that I am working on, I introduced SB79, Hiddenwood Lake Dam Project, this week. Most of District 23 is familiar with Hiddenwood Lake near Selby. A large rainstorm washed out the dam in 2018. Operated by Game Fish & Parks, the department had many other priorities over the years, but has refurbished the campground and rebuilt the entrance road - now it is time to get the dam rebuilt and the lake developed, to offer recreational opportunities to northcentral South Dakota. I am near completion of a revolving loan funding bill for regional jails, the gap funding bill will support municipalities or counties who have contracts with at least three counties as their primary jail. I will be the Senate prime for HB1089, “Notice and Compensation Before Entry on Private Land” with Rep Wangsness as House prime. There are numerous other concepts being worked on, which I will share as they are finalized.

As always, I can be reached at [email protected]. I look forward to continued conversations!