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Bigger field of Democratic candidates will spark healthy debate
It looks like hard work has paid off for the state’s Democratic Party as it gets ready to field its biggest slate of legislative candidates in recent memory. This may not mean the end of Republican super-majorities in the Legislature, but it’s the best shot that Democrats have had to whittle away at the GOP’s […]
Republicans vs. uber-Republicans: Primary slugfest approaches
The 21 subjects turned in by lawmakers as potential summer study subjects made for interesting reading. The Legislature’s Executive Board hit on two subjects to study this summer. One is a study of the accuracy and consistency of property tax assessments. Don’t get too excited; your property taxes aren’t likely to go down as a […]
Some areas worthy of legislative summer study; some are not
Don’t think for a moment that just because the final gavel has fallen on the 2024 legislative session that the work of lawmakers is over for the year. That work continues on through the summer. Soon after the final gavel fell, the Legislature’s Executive Board met to discuss topics for summer studies. The board decided […]
School boards have local control, until Legislature knows better
After the last legislative session, school board members across the state have to wonder whatever happened to local control. It seems that now the state aid their school districts receive will come with conditions. The 2024 Legislature stepped in to tell school districts two ways that they have to spend their funding: They approved a […]
Legislature’s unsung role: Protecting us from bad bills
The end of the legislative session is usually a time for congratulations, much of it well-deserved. The 2024 Legislature balanced a $7.3 billion budget. That budget included 4% raises for state employees, education and health care providers; more than $220 million for new prisons; the creation of a statewide public defender office; and a freeze […]
‘Syrup-gate’ exposes the folly of legislative commemorations
What’s the last week of the legislative session without a little controversy? This year’s wasn’t about sales taxes or teacher pay or free school lunches. It was about pancake syrup. It started with House Commemoration 8031, recognizing the “true American success story” of Nancy Green, known as the trademark for Aunt Jemima. The commemoration honored […]
After sunny start, Noem turns mostly cloudy on open government
On a warm, mid-August afternoon in 2018, a group of newspaper publishers and editors gathered at the meeting room of the South Dakota Newspaper Association in Brookings. They were there to question U.S. Rep. Kristi Noem, the Republican candidate for governor, about her thoughts on First Amendment and open government issues. The journalists in the […]
‘Inexcusable’ to endorsable: Thune’s journey with Trump
In politics, just like in comedy, timing is everything. Consider this timeline: On Saturday, Feb. 24, Former President Donald Trump won the South Carolina Republican primary. According to The Hill, that night Trump got a call from South Dakota Sen. John Thune, the second-highest ranking Republican in the U.S. Senate. On Sunday, Feb. 25, Thune […]
Lawmakers unwilling to accept defeat on Medicaid expansion
Throughout the recent past, Republicans in the South Dakota Legislature have had a tempestuous relationship with Medicaid expansion. When the federal government offered a way to expand the pool of people who receive Medicaid benefits, the Republican supermajorities refused to go along. When Medicaid expansion became a constitutional amendment in the 2022 election, Republicans took […]
On its second try, civics exceptionalism bill goes stealth
According to some South Dakota lawmakers, college students need a big, fat lesson in civics. By “civics” they mean a lesson in the greatness of America. That lesson keeps getting closer to a reality as House Bill 1213 makes its way through the Legislature. HB 1213 would create a civic engagement center at Black Hills […]
As Ravnsborg tries to keep his law license, his integrity is lost
Throughout my career in journalism, there were few more compelling days than June 21, 2022, the day of South Dakota Attorney General Jason Ravnsborg’s impeachment trial. Memories of that day rushed back recently as Ravnsborg was again in the news, asking the state Supreme Court to block the state Bar Association’s attempt to suspend his […]
Regret signing that petition? Republicans are here to ‘help’
Ever since the South Dakota Legislature dismantled the voter-approved anti-corruption measure known as IM 22 in record time, lawmakers and the people who back initiated measures have been locked in a battle of the ballot box. Lawmakers try to throw up as many roadblocks to ballot access as they can while ballot measure backers are […]