The eighth week of SD Legislature was very busy. On Monday we heard 5 bills in State Affairs and then we worked through 24 bills on the House floor. We have several projects in the state that have been approved for funding by ARPA (American Rescue Plan) relating to COVID money the states could apply for. We are still waiting for the funds to arrive, so it has been requested that the state contribute start up dollars. Starting next week, we will work on allocating funds. The longer we wait to move, labor costs and material costs increase due to inflation. When that happens, we have to make up the difference in cost from the general fund dollars.

We are waiting for the release of funds from the Dept. of Treasurer. Once funds are released, we can begin the design, architectural and engineering for the public health laboratory.

HB1016 allocates $60 million for a new women’s prison located in Rapid City. It will have 308 beds and offer prison- based drug programs. This facility will relieve the vastly overcrowded prison in Pierre.

HB1017 authorized purchase of land and design cost for a new penitentiary near Sioux Falls. The current facility was built before SD became a state. The new one will have over 1,500 beds with an estimated cost of over $500 million.

HB1079 makes an appropriation to provide grants to support mental health and suicide prevention programs. This will be for young people college age and younger. It will also assist schools with help in responding to an event. 1) Peer to peer Mentorship 2) Hope Squads for high school aged curriculum and training for students and faculty/staff/administration 3) Suicide loss Response Plans. Suicide is the leading cause of death for 10–29-year-old South Dakotans.

Tuesday, we heard 21 bills on the floor. The most notable was SB146 which was the Truth in Sentencing bill. The bill deals with the most violent, higher- level felonies must serve 100% of their sentence. They could still earn privileges and seek treatment or prepare for transition. Class 3-4 convicted felons must serve 85% of their sentence. They could earn discharge credits. This bill was developed in coordination with the states’ attorneys, law enforcement, correction officials, judiciary, and legislators. We believe there should be serious

crimes.

Also, we passed SB4 which modified a courts authority to commit a habitual juvenile offender to the Dept. of Corrections. This added to the reason a court can commit a child to the DOC is if a judge finds they have previous separate delinquent acts, arising out of separate and distinct criminal episodes, three or more times within the preceding 12-month period.

Wednesday we heard 6 bills in State Affairs and then took up 22 bills. Of note, SB55 passed which will prohibit ranked choice voting in South Dakota. Several election and voting bills passed including HB1124, HB1165, and SB160. $70 million was allocated under SB23 to modernize the state computer system hardware, software, and installation. This is needed and will protect us from cyber risks that are a continuous threat to the security of the whole system and its data.

SB172 appropriates $1.5 million to BHSU and NSU. The $1.5 million for completion of buildings waiting for ARPA funds. These buildings are to train nurses and medical professions. Presentation College is closing so this will provide students from Presentation to transfer to NSU.

On Thursday the big change was SB40. The original bill which I voted against in committee would change our current practice in which the political parties select the Lt. Governor, state auditor, state treasurer, public utilities, commissioner, attorney general and commissioner of school and public lands at the respective state conventions but would be voted on in statewide primaries. When it came to the House floor it was entirely different. Rep. Bahmuller from District 19 amended this bill, so its title is to revise the process for nominating candidates for Lt. Governor. A governor shall select a candidate by the second Tuesday in the year of election. The secretary of state, state treasurer, public utilities, commissioner, attorney general and commissioner of school and public lands must be nominated by the state convention. Also, presidential electors and national committee men or women of the party must be nominated at the state convention. SB40 in its original form has passed out of the Senate and the House State of Affairs. It was on the House floor Thursday and if passed would go to the governor. I voted for this compromise as it only affected the governor/Lt. governor team and sought to bring a more workable solution and certain outcome to what could have been a divisive issue. It passed 48 to 21 as amended.

The governor is sti l l strongly supporting the grocery tax cut, the Senate is standing behind the property tax cut for residence dwelling and the House is offering the general sales tax cut to honor the promise made to SD residents by former legislators. I am sure it will be a very interesting week. There are already over 21 bills to act on this Monday.

Please feel free to contact me if you have any concerns. My email is Rocky.Blare@sdlegislature. gov, which is one of the best ways to contact me.