We’re down to the final four days (minus Veto Day on March 25) to settle the budget, pass the remaining bills, and pack up our temporary lodging. When given the opportunity, I brag about our legislative process. We’re still a part-time citizen legislature where we convene in Pierre for 40 days or less, balance the budget, and (hopefully) enact meaningful legislation for our fellow South Dakotans. I say there’s natural accountability built into our process because our state is small enough that anything we do in Pierre will be seen, felt, or heard about by those close to us.
Our 38-day session flew by! We’re down to the final bills and finalizing the budget. There isn’t a ton of disagreement on funding priorities between the House and Senate at the moment as most of us agree on allocating more funding toward the future rebuild of the State Penitentiary, funding our “Big Three” (education, Medicaid providers, and state employees), a tuition freeze for higher education, and a handful of other one-time and ongoing priorities. We’ll let our appropriators continue to iron out the remaining differences and we’ll see a balanced budget this week for the 135th consecutive year.
Though our budget negotiations are going fairly well, there are some differences in opinion between House and Senate heading into our final days on the last of the “hot topics” yet. These include the teacher pay reform effort (HB 1048/SB 127) and the three remaining pipeline-related legislation (SB201/HB1085/HB1086).
On education reform it really comes down to do we want to pay our teachers more or not. Overwhelmingly I believe that answer is YES! It’s something I’ve heard when door knocking in District 14 and something I’m passionate about. When the legislature allocates 4% of increased (ongoing) funding to education I think that should mean a 4% increase to salary policy for those on the front line. It’s disappointing seeing South Dakota educators ranked 49th or 51st in teacher pay year after year. I remain hopeful the Senate will join us in making meaningful changes for years to come.
Legislation related to the carbon sequestration pipelines, eminent domain, and landowner property rights are boiling down to final form. There’s a lot of passion on both sides of this issue. There are also some last-minute changes occurring to the remaining pieces of legislation that will need to be resolved in the coming days by both sides if there’s any hope of making meaningful reform. I think that 80% or more of us all want the same thing which is respect and good communication going forward for landowners, farmers, and property rights, yet consistent policy and regulatory certainty (and safety) for those who want to do business in our state. However, there are those that are just anti-everything or who are only focused on one singular project, and they aren’t willing to find reasonable solutions that move our state forward. If we can find the right compromise language in a conference committee between the Senate and House. I believe we can find a path forward where everyone gets a little something. More importantly, we can find a compromise where South Dakota has a framework that respects property rights, safety, and economic development mutually going forward. We’ll know one way or another by Thursday. Stay tuned!
Since my last correspondence with you, my last remaining bills worked their way through the legislative process and now are just waiting for the Governor’s signature. I’ll provide a final recap on my legislative efforts next week that shows what bills were brought and how they ended up.
I’m looking forward to being back in Pierre tomorrow to wrap up the main run of the session then returning home to spend more time with family, co-workers, and keeping busy outside of Pierre.
Have a great week!