WEEK FOUR LEGISLATIVE REPORTS

I would like to start this week’s recap off by saying thank you to everyone who was able to attend the Tripp and Gregory Country cracker barrels. There were a lot of good questions and discussion. For all of us elected to represent the district well, we need to hear from you. Thank you! One of the topics that came up was tax breaks and handouts to large corporations. I gave my word that as long as I am in Pierre to represent the good, hard working people of District 21, I would never advocate for or vote to grant targeted tax breaks to these large companies, especially data centers, or approve large sums of money from the taxpayers’ pockets to go to these companies. Last year, on the Senate floor, we defeated a bill that would have granted tax breaks to incoming hyperscale data centers, and I spoke on the floor about how wrong it is that some legislators seem to race to see how they can make it easier for large, usually out of state, companies to come in to South Dakota, yet no one seems to stop and consider the third generation rancher who carries the tax burden year round, or the small contractor trying to keep your lights on and water flowing barely making payments on machinery that sustains their livelihood. I am not here to represent large corporations who can afford to fairly pay their way. I am here to represent you. There will be several different bills on this topic heard in the Senate in the coming weeks.