Latest
Hard to believe there are only two weeks left in the 101st Session and let me tell you, it’s been quite a ride. This Session had the most bills drafted and introduced since the 1998 Session and the House of Representatives set a record by hearing all our bills by 3:45 on Cross-Over day including the Senate bills we had on our Callender that day. The first year I was in Pierre we went till 1:00 am or something like that and I promised myself if I was ever in Leadership that wouldn’t happen. Last year we were done by 5 p.m. which makes me proud of this Leadership team the last two years. We had a lot of bills go through the House this week including appropriation bills. We will see quite a few of these as we get closer to setting a budget plan. As far as policy bills go, we passed HB 1184 which defines a man and a woman, I know this sounds unnecessary but in today’s world, it is for future legislation in South Dakota. We also passed a bill that would stop the advertising of the abortion pill which has been in the news lately and has caused a lot of controversy. On the crazy side, we had to pass a bill stating that a person must be a United States citizen to vote which surprised me wasn’t already a law in South Dakota. I wanted to talk about SB 156 which we had in Ag committee this past week. This bill was to increase penalties for animal abuse. In my opinion this bill was a direct attack on livestock producers statewide and how they care for their animals, we cannot afford to let those who are not in the business, judge us. Ag is this States number one industry and I believe it’s my job to protect it and letting a bill like this get passed would be devastating. The House Ag Committee is one of the strongest I’ve served on in my seven years in Pierre and it’s an honor being their Chair when they beat back a bill like this, they make me very proud. Writing this column every week is challenging, I’m not always sure what bills will interest you and which bills concern you and what’s going on in your life at this time. I hope you find them somewhat interesting. If not, my English teachers would completely understand. So maybe we should visit about Property Tax relief since it’s all legislators can talk about this year. I’ve been quiet on this subject mainly because I don’t have a good plan but also because I haven’t seen a good plan either. I don’t like what’s been happening with property taxes or how they have been increasing but we also must look at the facts. Pierre does not spend one cent of your property tax money. Every cent is spent on the local level and schools make up the biggest share by far along with County and Townships. If we continue to let schools, counties, and townships spend money, our property taxes will continue to increase. The only way out of this is to create a new tax revenue, such as sales tax, which is a new tax on the same people who pay property tax. All the plans that I’ve seen so far either depend on increasing sales tax or shift even more of the tax burden onto ag property, I think both are a bad idea. In my humble opinion we can only cut taxes by holding government’s feet to the fire and control what they spend, that includes local, state, and federal governments. Look at it this way, if increasing sales tax by 1 or 2 percent now fixes our problem, but schools, counties ,townships ,state and federal governments keep spending we’ll have to increase again 5 or 10 years down the road. I’m not saying our local governments are doing a bad job but statewide we have some serious problems, and we need to address them, sooner than later. I have put my petitions in to run for my final term in the House of Representatives, and I would be honored if you’d let me serve you and District 21 again. I hope at least I’ve been understanding to your views and that I listened to your concern. I take this job seriously and stive to do my best for everyone of you, after all you are the bosses. If you need to get a hold of me my cell is 605-680-0304 or email me at marty.overweg@sdlegislature. gov. Thanks for your support.
Read more
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 more
The Wagner Lady Raiders took to the big stage at the SDHSAA Girls State Wrestling Championships, competing against top talent from across the state.
Read moreLast Thursday night, the Wagner Lady Raiders welcomed the Mt. Vernon Plankinton Titans to the home court for the final round of Region 5A play.
Read moreThe Wagner Red Raiders junior varsity and varsity boys basketball teams wrapped up their regular seasons Monday night on the road against Beresford.
Read more
Senior Gannon Knebel’s persistence paid off in a big way Saturday, February 28, in Sioux Falls.
Read more
Bon Homme/Avon wrestlers competed in the SDHSAA Region 3B at Winner on Saturday. Results from the tourney are: 106 Asher Hellmann (33-11) placed 5th and scored 10.5 team points; Quarterfinal - Asher Hellmann (Bon Homme/Avon) 33-11 won by fall over Leyton Sudbeck (Parkston) 28-26 (Fall 1:23); Semifinal - Will Hosman (Miller/Highmore-Harrold)4014 won by decision over Asher Hellmann (Bon Homme/Avon) 33-11 (Dec 4-2); Cons. Semi Bentley Veurink (Kimball/ White Lake/Platte-Geddes) 2417 won by decision over Asher Hellmann (Bon Homme/Avon) 33-11 (Dec 7-4); 5th Place Match -AsherHellmann(BonHomme/ Avon)33-11wonbytechfallover Leyton Sudbeck (Parkston) 2826 (TF-1.5 4:07 (17-0)) 113 Summyt Larson (34-18) placed 4th and scored 14.0 team points; Quarterfinal - Summyt Larson (Bon Homme/Avon) 34-18 won by fall over Gabriel Ekroth (Burke/Gregory) 11-28 (Fall 3:05); Semifinal - Judd Hansen (Winner) 33-7 won by fall over Summyt Larson (Bon Homme/Avon) 34-18 (Fall 1:09); Cons. Semi - Summyt Larson (Bon Homme/Avon) 34-18 won by fall over Cassen Nye (Miller/ Highmore-Harrold) 6-26 (Fall 0:36); 3rd Place Match - Frank Krcil (Wagner) 30-8 won by tech fall over Summyt Larson (Bon Homme/Avon) 34-18 (TF-1.5 3:43 (16-1)) 120 Michael Branaugh (34-7) placed 2nd and scored 18.0 team points; Quarterfinal - Michael Branaugh (Bon Homme/Avon) 34-7receivedabye()(Bye);Semifinal - Michael Branaugh (Bon Homme/Avon) 34-7 won by fall overKaleHofer(MountVernon/ Plankinton/Corsica-Stickney) 39-18 (Fall 3:35); 1st Place Match - Rylan Robbins (Winner) 40-2 won by decision over Michael Branaugh (Bon Homme/Avon) 34-7 (Dec 1-0) 126RyvrLarson(33-4)placed 2ndandscored16.0teampoints; Quarterfinal-RyvrLarson(Bon Homme/Avon) 33-4 received a bye () (Bye); Semifinal - Ryvr Larson (Bon Homme/Avon) 33-4 won by decision over Hayes Holter (Kimball/White Lake/ Platte-Geddes)32-9(Dec6-0);1st Place Match - Roukyn Robbins (Winner) 46-2 won by decision overRyvrLarson(BonHomme/ Avon) 33-4 (Dec 6-0) 132 Corbin Palsma (6-10) placed 6th and scored 8.0 team points;Champ.Round1-Corbin Palsma (Bon Homme/Avon) 6-10 received a bye () (Bye); Quarterfinal - Keagan Hill (Mount Vernon/Plankinton/ Corsica-Stickney) 31-8 won by major decision over Corbin Palsma (Bon Homme/Avon) 6-10 (MD 14-1); Cons. Round 2 - Corbin Palsma (Bon Homme/ Avon) 6-10 won by fall over Luke Dangel (Andes Central/Dakota Christian) 9-21 (Fall 4:09); Cons. Round 3 - Corbin Palsma (Bon Homme/Avon) 6-10 won by major decision over Gus Tobin (Winner) 17-26 (MD 13-3); Cons. Semi - Reed Sedlacek (Burke/ Gregory) 33-21 won by decision over Corbin Palsma (Bon Homme/ Avon)6-10(Dec2-1);5thPlace Match-LaneColeman(Lyman) 20-14 won by decision over Corbin Palsma (Bon Homme/ Avon) 6-10 (Dec 14-11) 138 DeVonne Sessler (39-7) placed 3rd and scored 15.0 team points; Quarterfinal - DeVonne Sessler (Bon Homme/Avon) 39-7 won by fall over Javin Kniffen (Parkston) 12-26 (Fall 1:41); Semifinal - Daniel Dorsey (Mount Vernon/Plankinton/ Corsica-Stickney) 44-9 won by decision over DeVonne Sessler (BonHomme/Avon)39-7(Dec127);Cons.Semi-DeVonneSessler (BonHomme/Avon)39-7wonby major decision over Mavrick Blasius (Kimball/White Lake/ Platte-Geddes) 30-21 (MD 132); 3rd Place Match - DeVonne Sessler(BonHomme/Avon)39-7 won by decision over Cade Werdel (Miller/Highmore-Harrold) 19-17 (Dec 7-3) 144CalvinCaba(33-14)placed 3rd and scored 18.0 team points; Quarterfinal-CalvinCaba(Bon Homme/Avon) 33-14 won by forfeit over Eli Ekroth (Burke/ Gregory) 29-13 (For.); Semifinal - Ethan Rearick (Wessington Springs/Woonsocket/ Wolsey-Wessington)33-4wonby tech fall over Calvin Caba (Bon Homme/Avon) 33-14 (TF-1.5 2:41 (20-3));Cons.Semi-CalvinCaba (BonHomme/Avon)33-14wonby fall over Ash Kaiser (Winner) 33-23(Fall2:15);3rdPlaceMatch - Calvin Caba (Bon Homme/ Avon) 33-14 won by fall over Eli Ekroth (Burke/Gregory) 29-13 (Fall 3:28) 150 Jaden Bult (26-7) placed 3rd and scored 13.0 team points; Champ. Round 1 - Jaden Bult (Bon Homme/Avon) 26-7 received a bye () (Bye); Quarterfinal - Hunter Wiechmann (Wagner) 28-18 won by decision over Jaden Bult (Bon Homme/Avon) 26-7 (Dec 11-7); Cons. Round 2 Jaden Bult (Bon Homme/Avon) 26-7receivedabye()(Bye);Cons. Round 3 - Jaden Bult (Bon Homme/ Avon) 26-7 won by major decision over Sam Crago (Miller/ Highmore-Harrold) 25-18 (MD 14-4); Cons. Semi - Jaden Bult (BonHomme/Avon)26-7wonby decision over Preston Nedved (Mount Vernon/Plankinton/ Corsica-Stickney) 38-15 (Dec 4-2); 3rd Place Match - Jaden Bult (Bon Homme/Avon) 26-7 won by decision over Hunter Wiechmann (Wagner) 28-18 (Dec 7-2) 157 Weston Bierema (28-15) placed 4th and scored 12.0 team points; Quarterfinal - Weston Bierema (Bon Homme/Avon) 28-15wonbyfalloverJDChavez (Miller/Highmore-Harrold)3015 (Fall 1:49); Semifinal - Gage Reichert (Parkston) 34-4 won by decision over Weston Bierema (Bon Homme/Avon) 28-15 (Dec 7-2); Cons. Semi - Weston Bierema (Bon Homme/Avon) 28-15 won by decision over Jed Blare (Winner) 25-25 (Dec 3-2)' 3rd Place Match - Carson Finn (Wessington Springs/Woonsocket/ Wolsey-Wessington) 2110 won by decision over Weston Bierema (Bon Homme/Avon) 28-15 (Dec 4-1) 165 Luke Guthmiller (38-9) placed 2nd and scored 17.5 team points; Quarterfinal - Luke Guthmiller(BonHomme/Avon) 38-9 won by tech fall over Skyler Langenbau (Lyman) 23-19 (TF1.5 3:18 (20-3)); Semifinal - Luke Guthmiller(BonHomme/Avon) 38-9 won by decision over Paxton Nedved (Mount Vernon/ Plankinton/Corsica-Stickney) 17-4 (Dec 15-14); 1st Place Match - Carter Konechne (Kimball/ WhiteLake/Platte-Geddes)40-3 won by fall over Luke Guthmiller (Bon Homme/Avon) 38-9 (Fall 1:15) 175 Caden Zomer (26-26) placed 3rd and scored 13.0 team points; Quarterfinal - Ethan Hoffman (Mount Vernon/ Plankinton/Corsica-Stickney) 22-17 won in sudden victory - 1 overCadenZomer(BonHomme/ Avon) 26-26 (SV-1 9-6); Cons. Round 1 - Caden Zomer (Bon Homme/Avon) 26-26 received a bye () (Bye); Cons. Semi - Caden Zomer(BonHomme/Avon)26-26 won by decision over Thayne Tjeerdsma (Wagner) 23-13 (Dec 6-5); 3rd Place Match - Caden Zomer(BonHomme/Avon)26-26 wonbyfalloverEthanHoffman (Mount Vernon/Plankinton/ Corsica-Stickney) 22-17 (Fall 2:20) 190 Isaiah Crownover (35-5) placed 1st and scored 25.5 team points; Quarterfinal - Isaiah Crownover(BonHomme/Avon) 35-5 won by fall over Colin Brown Bear (Wagner) 10-17 (Fall 2:34); Semifinal - Isaiah Crownover(BonHomme/Avon) 35-5 won by fall over Bennett Kinsley (Lyman) 34-17 (Fall 3:50); 1st Place Match - Isaiah Crownover(BonHomme/Avon) 35-5wonbytechfalloverGarret Westendorf (Kimball/White Lake/Platte-Geddes) 35-9 (TF1.5 5:11 (18-1)) 215 Caleb Cuka (36-12) placed 5th and scored 11.0 team points; Quarterfinal - Caleb Cuka (Bon Homme/Avon) 36-12 won by fall overMaverickJohnson(Lyman) 24-19 (Fall 0:43); Semifinal - Mason Curtis(Winner)26-8wonby major decision over Caleb Cuka (Bon Homme/Avon) 36-12 (MD 14-5); Cons. Semi - Dale Smikle (Burke/Gregory) 37-17 won by decision over Caleb Cuka (Bon Homme/Avon) 36-12 (Dec 9-5); 5th Place Match - Caleb Cuka (Bon Homme/Avon) 36-12 won by fall over Maverick Johnson (Lyman) 24-19 (Fall 0:41) 285 Randall Powers (14-5) placed 2nd and scored 20.0 team points; Quarterfinal - Randall Powers (Bon Homme/Avon) 14-5 won by fall over Aja Middletent (Lyman) 7-17 (Fall 0:56); Semifinal - Randall Powers (Bon Homme/Avon) 14-5 won by fall over Jaspur Gran (Wessington Springs/Woonsocket/ Wolsey-Wessington) 26-13 (Fall 0:38); 1st Place Match - Legend Benedict (Winner) 44-5 won by decision over Randall Powers (Bon Homme/Avon) 14-5 (Dec 10-3) Photos by April Powers
Read more