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WiththecompletionofWeek Eight, only one is week left in the 2026 legislative session.
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As I’m writing this on Saturday afternoon it’s hard to believe there are only four days left in the Session and by the time you read this it could be over. I’m hoping to be finished with our work on Wednesday, which would be a day early. We are close on the budget and property tax plans but just wait, now that I’ve said it, the wheels will fall off. We finished Ag Committee on Tuesday, and I am proud of the work we did this Session. The committee heard testimony on some difficult and emotional bills and in my opinion, they handled them professionally and with dignity. We heard and discussed the Senate bills this past week and have more on Monday, so let’s talk about some of them. We voted to create the County and Township infrastructure Fund to help control unobligated moneys, along with a 5-million-dollar appropriation for R.A.I.F. which is the Rural Access Infrastructure Fund. We’ve been trying to get this done for a few years now along with the Townships and County’s Lobbyist and it feels good to finally get it over the finish line. We made it illegal for candidates for office from taking contributions from foreign nationals, not that I believe it’s a problem in South Dakota but better safe than sorry. We will be purchasing a new airplane for the SD Highway patrol for 5 million dollars; I voted against this appropriation for these reasons. First, when the federal government uses our airplane, they don’t reimburse us, and they use it frequently. Second reason was they told me it’s a 3-million-dollar airplane with a 2-million-dollar camera and equipment which sounded absurd to me, I asked for a list of the equipment and didn’t receive it. I did support the 5 million appropriations to local and rural firefighters, and it passed; this should help our local departments purchase some new equipment they need. SB 124 passed and will put a 5-year moratorium on Cell Cultured protein, if you remember the House and Senate passed a bill earlier that banded it completely, but Governor Rhoden vetoed it. This is the compromise bill, I voted for it, so we got something, but I liked the complete band better, I still don’t understand why the Governor vetoed it, but I guess you can ask him. SB 198, which would have forced school boards to adopt a cell phone usage plan during school hours failed, I didn’t support it because the Administrators in District 21 told me they already have cell phone plans. I fought against SB 76 which allowed the state to loan 30 million dollars out of South Dakota Housing fund to Sioux Falls and Rapid City’s airports. That is not what we originally appropriated these funds for; they were meant for housing and that is where they should stay in my opinion. I know this column is short this week, but I’ll save explaining what happened with property tax relief along with the budget next week. If I tried to explain every plan that was still alive when I left Thursday it would take the whole paper and besides, I’m not sure which way it will go, but it’s always like this the last two week. Have a great week and please contact me if you have any questions or concerns at 605-680-0304 or Marty.overweg@sdlegislature. gov. Thanks again for your support, Rep. Marty Overweg
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Vo n i Hubb e l l (Finck), graduate of AHS class of 2012, has built a life that reflects growth, faith, and dedication to both her career and her family. During her high school years, she was actively involved in volleyball, basketball, choir, and band. Like many students, she had big plans for her future. She intendedtoattendUSDtomajor inEnglishEducation—andshe followedthroughwiththatplan immediately after graduation.
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BHSA EARN 4TH AT STATE WRESTLING TOURNAMENT
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In appropriations this week, we cleared our docket of bills. Next week begins the task of putting all the pieces together, and it will be a busy time. SB205, the bill to reduce the original registration tax on drones and separate the revenue from the aeronautics commission, made it out of committee in the House before it nosedived and crashed and burned after coming into contact with many members who are more concerned about funding airport maintenance than keeping tax revenue uses germane to the industry being taxed. First on the calendar for cross over day Tuesday was two reconsideration votes. The prior day, SB193, which would change regulatory laws regarding back up generation, had been reconsidered. After that vote the sponsor gave his intent to reconsider the second time, then I stood up and asked for a parliamentary inquiry, asking how it is eligible for reconsideration when it’s been reconsidered once already. The President then responded that it is his interpretation of the rules that since the bill was amended before the vote it was now a different question and therefore eligible for reconsideration. That evening we talked with LRC staff and we felt that this was not the correct interpretation of the rules, and that it was worth challenging to avoid setting bad precedent and allowing a continuous loop of reconsiderations to begin to take place. When the second vote for reconsideration on SB193 came up, the President Pro Temp called for a point of order and stated his case on why he believed SB193 was ineligible to be reconsidered a second time. The body supported that challenge and SB193 was then lost. The next reconsideration vote was on SB239, a bill aiming to expand a government economic development program for large projects. This bill would’ve allowed the GOED (Governor’s Office of Economic Development) board to review applicants on a caseby- case basis and grant partial or full sales tax refunds for up to 30 years. When it came time for the reconsideration vote a member called for a “Call of the House.” This rule requires the Sergeants at arms to close the doors of the chamber and search for the missing member( s) to bring them back to vote. Why would a member of the body who voted yes on the bill the day prior care so much if a member who voted no was missing? Thanks to the Supreme Court’s advisory opinion stating they believe the LT Governor can cast a vote to break a tie on final passage of a bill, a 17-17 vote leaves a good chance the bill will pass if the Governor’s office supports it, effectively making a member’s absence more powerful than their no vote. After the “call of the house” motion was made, and the search conducted, the report was that they could not find him, contact him, nor was his car in the parking lot. The Senator was actually gone before we caucused prior to session. We voted to proceed with business, and the bill was defeated. This upset some members of the body, which then led to several procedural motions being made that extended the night even longer for no reason. We ended the week on a good note, with HB1001, the bill to allow for prescribed burning along the river, passing with no opposition. This is a long overdue victory for ranchers in our district who are doing their best to steward the land they care for and preserve our grasslands.
Read moreSIOUX FALLS, S.D. – Besides 120 acres of prime downtown real estate, Sioux Falls city leaders got something that has sometimes been elusive over the history of the Smithfield pork plant: An assurance that it's not leaving.
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A TRAUMA-INFORMED APPROACH TO THE THERAPEUTIC ALLIANCE
Read morePIERRE, S.D. – The fate of a bill tied to one of the most contentious subjects in the South Dakota Legislature this year – data centers – ended up in the hands of a senator that couldn't be located.
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