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It’s been an exciting year in the Peterson household! Last April, my wife Lauren and I were blessed with our first child, Michael. His early arrival was a surprise, and his resilience through a threemonth stay in the NICU has been nothing short of inspirational. He continues to grow and develop, and we couldn’t be more thankful to celebrate our first Christmas together as a family of three. Beyond our growing family, I have stayed busy taking care of our crops and cattle on the farm. In regards to the legislature, I was selected by Speaker Bartels to serve on the Government Operations and Audit Committee, which overseas various projects, functions, and departments within state government. We meet every month or two throughout the year. I also serve on the Agland Assessment Task Force, which met once this summer. On January 2nd, I got petitions from the county auditor and will be seeking re-election for State Representative for District 19 in the June Republican primary. Session started January 9th with the Governor’s State of the State address, and I am excited to be back to Pierre 4-5 days a week working with my colleagues through what looks like 500 or more bills to consider this year. When the final gavel drops in March we will have passed a balanced budget for the 135th consecutive year—something I don’t take for granted and am proud to be a part of. I plan to carry a number of bills this year, and I will discuss them in the coming weeks. From a budget standpoint, Governor Noem laid out her vision very well in her budget address. I think many of her goals will be attainable this year including a four percen increase for the “Big Three” of K-12 funding, state workers, and Medicaid reimbursement rate to healthcare providers. There will be less available ongoing funds compared to last year due to our economy returning to a more normal growth rate coupled with the $100 million sales tax cut we passed last year. One thing the Governor didn’t budget but I’m hopeful we can pass is another tuition freeze for students attending our state technical colleges and universities. Our one-time “COVID” funds that remain from the federal government have been marked to go toward the state prisons fund and to water projects across the state. I anticipate this also being passed by the legislature. How much money each regional water project receives will be an ongoing discussion this winter. The last twenty years have been the most prosperous in the history of South Dakota agriculture thanks in large part to ethanol, but the landscape of consumer demands and government regulations is changing. There are opportunities to produce and sell low carbon ethanol and Sustainable Aviation Fuel to meet this demand that we should not pass up, but we need to adapt our industry to do this. If we can tap into this market it will benefit every farmer and every resident in our state and district. If we don’t, it could lead to a decline and eventual collapse of the biofuels industry in our state due to lack of demand for our lower value, higher carbon ethanol. This would be devastating to ag and our rural economy. We are a pro ag, pro business state, and we need to keep it that way. On this front, I am working toward compromises to protect landowners while allowing our state to move into the next generation of biofuels production. As always, please reach out to me with any comments, questions, or concerns at 605-530-6248 or drew.peterson@sdlegislature.gov. I appreciate the opportunity to serve you. Best regards, Drew Peterson State Representative District 19 Salem