We have just finished the first week of 99th legislative session in which we heard the State of the State, State of the Judiciary, and State of the Tribes. We are already hearing multiple bills in our committees.

The first win for District 21 was the passage of SB7 through the Senate, which will finally remove the Gregory Pumped Storage Project off the preferred water resources projects list. This project was proposed over 40 years ago and abandoned by the army corps of engineers. Since then, multiple FERC permits have expired with various companies and it has been found not feasible, because it is not cost effective, at least twice. Removal from this list is important, as the list identifies large, costly water projects that require specific state or federal authorization and financing. Concerns from residents included water quality due to sedimentation, interference with rural water outputs, and displacement of multi-generational farmsteads. This bill will now move to the House.

We also passed SB 42 through the Senate health committee, which improves regulations for dispensaries and places marijuana in the Prescription Drug Monitoring Program (PDMP). The PDMP is important as it allows health care providers to know if their patients are prescribed marijuana, resulting in safe care and improved communication across healthcare settings.

SB 43 also passed Senate health committee, which will increase dispensary fees to make certain that taxpayers aren’t footing the bill for the medical marijuana program. It has always been advertised that the program would pay for itself but the costs of the software monitoring program, confirmatory testing, and staff to manage the program adds up quickly. This law change allows the department to negotiate these fees in the rule making process.

In the next week, we plan to keep working diligently through bills, as we already have 181 bills on the worklist and many more will be added in the coming weeks. It is important to pass good bills, but it is more important to kill bills that lead to over-regulation or bad policy. I am making the best decisions on each bill, hundreds of bills, based on my values and your expertise/ input. Your input is so very important.

Please continue to reach out with your concerns via email at erin.tobin@sdlegislature.gov Senator Erin Tobin District 21