Weekly Legislative Update
By Jason | February 3, 2011
We need rank and file South Dakotans to participate and take an active role in shaping our State Budget! This week I had the privilege to speak with the South Dakota Voices for Children coalition when they visited Pierre. I shared with all of these advocates for kids that we cannot give up funding that is paramount for the future of our State. Please stay tuned for future events where the people of South Dakota will rally to support education.
This week I shared with my Senate Agriculture Committee Senate Bill 106 which is an idea from the South Dakota trappers association to require reciprocity for nonresident trapping licenses. I received unanimous favorable support to ensure that when nonresident trappers apply for a license that they come from a state which allows our South Dakota residents to perform trapping. The Senate Agriculture committee also placed the bill on the consent calendar and it was unanimously approved by the full Senate and is off to the House!
SB 157 would allow agriculture suppliers to place a primary lien on the proceeds of crops and livestock sold. This bill is controversial from those who want the change as well as the people who want to maintain the current practice. Farm cooperatives who supply fertilizers and chemicals would like protection for when they allow farmers/producers to charge the products they purchase. Bankers and lenders have serious concerns with allowing the provider of inputs to take a priority position. Obviously as a young farmer I have concerns when another interested party would put increased regulation on the use of proceeds. I know all of us make every effort to pay our bills on time, and work out a plan to take care of our expenses. If SB 157 is adopted some producers may unfairly be crippled in their effort to utilize the funds from the sale of their crops/livestock. Farmers and ranchers maintain a working relationship with a personal banker to outline the plan for their operation and if SB 157 would be adopted this relationship could be damaged.
Senate bill 88, which is the voter bribery legislation, received a lot of discussion because providing food during pre-election voter rallies is very common. Luckily the bill was amended in our State Affairs committee and reduced the felony offense to a class 1 misdemeanor
Gov’s bills: he wants to repeal the rebate program for the sales tax on food, reducing state support for county veteran’s service officers, and create a special fund utilizing contractors excise taxes paid for large project development. One other piece of legislation by the Governor is HB 1250 which is a direct repeal from my bi-partisan legislation approved last year allowing career and technical courses for the opportunity scholarship and placed in law. I have already visited with the Governor’s budget director and he is open to altering their plan.
I always enjoy hearing about issues that are important to you. Please contact me at sen.frerichs@state.sd.us or call me at (605) 949-2204.
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SB 106 Trapping Reciprocity Legislation approved and consent
By Jason | February 1, 2011
Today in the Senate Agriculture and Natural Resources Committee we received unanimous support for Senate Bill 106 which is a bill I brought forward for the SD Trappers Association. This bill will require nonresident furbearer trapping licenses to require reciprocity. This means that for an out of state trapper to come into South Dakota and trap they must be from a State which allows our South Dakota residents to trap in their state. Basically a flexibility and fairness issue that levels the playing field. I am glad that we have many folks interested in trapping and this bill continues to strengthen their rights here in South Dakota.
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Legislative Recap from week three
By Jason | February 1, 2011
The week after Governor Daugaard presented his budget address proposing drastic 10% cuts the Capitol has been abuzz with talk of the status of the budget. I have been hearing about the true effects that these large cuts would have on the communities that I represent. With these concerns in mind I joined Bernie Hunhoff, Minority Leader of the House Democrat Caucus, to present our budget proposal and stand up to help protect the children and elderly not only of my district but all of South Dakota.
Senate State Affairs has heard numerous pieces of legislation this week. One of the highlights was SB 6. This bill would transfer the Sisseton National Guard Armory to the city of Sisseton and passed out of committee unanimously. I sponsored this bill on the floor of the State Senate and support it fully. This decision will help the city of Sisseton by providing a handicapped accessible building, which the city is in need of, and South Dakota by saving the state $10,000 a year. The city council is ready to accept the Armory and take on the ongoing maintenance of the building. Roberts County and the Sisseton-Whapeton-Oyate are informed and gave the green light for this transfer of ownership.
Helping to make government more transparent is an issue I fully support and this week a bill came to State Affairs that would have helped achieve this. SB 107 would have created a database that compiles all of the investments that the state has made with private sector businesses. Unfortunately, this bill did not make it out of committee. Though this piece of legislation did not prevail I will continue to strive for a more transparent government.
I also serve on the Agriculture & Natural Resources committee, which heard SB 55 this week. SB 55 would allow the shooting of coyotes from snowmobiles. This bill was amended in committee to require the snowmobile to be stopped in order to ensure safety but also allow citizens to protect their livestock from coyotes. The bill is also amended to allow the shooting of coyotes only on landowner property. I support this bill with the amendments and look forward to seeing it come to the floor for final consideration.
The new Secretary of Agriculture, Walt Bones is off to a great start and I look forward to working with him to advance the interests of agriculture in our State. Walt has a diverse background in crops and livestock as a farmer from the Parker area. I asked the Secretary about how we can work through possible solutions for our excess water in the northeast part of the State. The Secretary expressed an effort to develop water management plans for the soil and water quality. State Veterinarian Dustin Oedekoven provided updates on disease control. I asked the State Veterinarian about the tuition repayment program for young people who decide to practice in rural areas of South Dakota as a food-animal veterinarian. Dr. Oedekoven informed us that he works closely with the United States Department of Agriculture to implement and award the tuition repayment program for underserved areas.
Governor Daugaard and Lieutenant Governor Michels are working on filling the cabinet level position of Tribal Relations. This is an excellent move for our Executive Branch of government and I hope they will use this opportunity to truly reach out to our State’s Tribal Nations.
Recently folks from the Sisseton-Whapeton Oyate, Farmers Union, AARP, and South Dakota Agriculture and Rural Leadership (SDARL) have visited the State Capitol in Pierre. The SDARL program is an excellent personal growth and networking opportunity and it was enjoyable to have the chance to visit with many of them.
I always enjoy hearing about issues that are important to you. Please contact me at sen.frerichs@state.sd.us or call me at (605) 949-2204. You can also check out my website at jasonfrerichs.com.
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Governor’s Road Show Pushes Extremist Budget
By Jason | January 25, 2011
PIERRE — “We pay our bills in South Dakota,” said House Democratic
Leader Bernie Hunhoff on the day after Governor Dennis Daugaard flew
across the state to explain why he’s shifting the costs of education and
health care onto other people.
“South Dakotans believe in paying their way, shouldering their
responsibilities,” said Hunhoff (D-Yankton). “The governor says he’s cutting
government, but the only cut we find in his proposal is his plan to cut
and run from the state’s commitment to educating our youth and caring
for kids with health problems , seniors in nursing homes and people with
disabilities.”
Hunhoff said the governor isn’t suggesting that South Dakota not provide
education for some of the state’s 120,000 students. “He isn’t saying we
should kick senior citizens out of the nursing homes and assisted livings.
He isn’t suggesting that we guard the hospital to keep poor families’ kids
from getting through the door. He’s just saying someone else can pay the
bill.”
Senator Jason Frerichs, the Democrat’s Senate leader, said the governor’s
$30 million health care cut will cost the state another $45 million in federal
funds, a fact he hasn’t announced in his public relations tour. “His policies
are going to raise taxes at the local level, raise our health insurance
premiums and possibly even prolong the recession for many South Dakota
families that are trying to make ends meet.”
Frerichs said the Democrats’ plan to resolve the state’s budget problem
over three years by careful stewardship of the state’s numerous cash
accounts, trust funds and reserve funds is gaining momentum. “That will
give the state legislature and the new governor some time to seek real
efficiencies and savings in state government, and we pledge to work with
him to do just that. We must not simply pass the buck and cause mayhem
for the schools.”
Frerichs and Hunhoff said the governor’s road show to pitch the virtues of
frugality might resonate with people who don’t know firsthand of how badly
state government has funded local health care for the poor and our public
schools .
The bureaucracy grew at twice the rate of inflation over the last eight years
while schools and health care funding was limited to half that amount or
less. Schools and health care were frozen for the last two years, even
though hundreds of millions of dollars poured into state coffers from federal
stimulus programs. State government used those funds to balance its own
books.
“Frugality taken to the extreme becomes a vice,” Hunhoff said. “When
it starts to hurt our children and our economic recovery then it becomes
pennywise and pound foolish.”
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Senate Bill 6 transfer Sisseton National Guard Armory to the City
By Jason | January 25, 2011
Today on the floor of the South Dakota State Senate we will vote on the approval of Senate Bill 6. This Bill will transfer the Sisseton National Guard Armory to the City of Sisseton.
The Sisseton City Council approved a resolution to accept the National Guard Armory. Sisseton does not have a handi-capped accessible City Hall. If SB 6 is approved and signed by the Governor the City of Sisseton will accept the responsibility of the building for maintenance and repair.
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Democrats three-year reform plan
By Jason | January 21, 2011
DEMOCRATS PROPOSE THREE-YEAR REFORM PLAN
TO AVOID THE EXTREMIST ‘PASS THE BUCK’ BUDGET
PIERRE — Democratic leaders said today they support Governor Dennis Daugaard’s goal to erase the state’s structural budget deficit, but say the state must take a moderate, responsible approach to solving the problem rather than an extreme plan that threatens to destroy public education.
“As the governor explained, the problem has been 10 years in the making,” said Senate Minority Leader Jason Frerichs. “It would be irresponsible to try to solve the problem in one budget year by passing the buck to local taxpayers. The result could be the beginning of a dismantling of public education in South Dakota.”
Frerichs said that to the governor’s credit, he ended his budget address by pointing out that his budget is a starting point and that he welcomes other ideas.
In that spirit, House Minority Leader Bernie Hunhoff said Democratic lawmakers are looking for bi-partisan support for a plan to end the structural deficit in a three-year budget cycle.
“We are just beginning to emerge from a recession,” Hunhoff said. “Our state revenues have flattened out, and our Medicaid costs have spiked because of the recession. So this is the wrong year to fix a long-term structural problem — especially if the fix is simply a shifting of expenses to local governments.”
Hunhoff said priorities are colliding in the state capitol, and education came out on the losing end in the governor’s budget. “The governor thinks it’s ok to give tens of millions of dollars to a foreign oil company and another $10 million for REDI loans to corporations — all while crushing pubic education — easily the best investment in the future that a state can make. In the campaign last year, he said everything was on the table. Apparently what he meant to say is that education was on the chopping block.”
Hunhoff and Frerichs noted that the state is hardly cash-poor. “Our reserve funds total $107 million, trust funds total another $700 million, and the state’s cash flow account has swelled to over one billion dollars. Those monies belong to the people, not to the bureaucracy.”
The Democratic leaders said they will introduce a separate appropriations bill or a “hog house” alternative to the governor’s appropriations bill that will reflect the first of a three-year plan to correct the structural deficit. They may need the courtesy of Republican legislators to waive deadline rules if a second appropriations bill is introduced.
The Democratic proposal will include the following:
° Flat funding for health care and schools, rather than the governor’s proposed 10% cuts
° General fund cuts proposed by the governor apart from schools and Medicaid
° Judicious use of reserve funds over a three-year period
° Use of some monies from the state cash flow account, which has swelled to over one billion dollars
° Use of earnings from the Education Enhancement Trust Fund and the Health Care Trust Fund over the three-year period of adjustment
° Further review and analysis of revenue projections in March 2011
° Transfer of the Stimulus III funds totaling $36.9 million to the general fund for use in the 2012 budget to assist in education and health care funding as intended by the federal government
° Funding of one-time Special Appropriations (as identified in the governor’s proposed budget) totaling $14.1 million from one-time funds rather than ongoing general fund revenues
° Other efficiencies to be determined by the legislature and appropriations committee
Contact Bernie Hunhoff at 773-3846 or Jason Frerichs at 949-2204
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Transferring the Sisseton Armory to the City bill hearing
By Jason | January 20, 2011
Monday, January 24th at 10 am in the Senate State Affairs Committee will be the hearing for Senate Bill 6. This Bill will transfer ownership of the National Guard Armory in Sisseton to the City of Sisseton.
The hearing will be located in room 414 of our State Capitol building. I have worked closely with the City of Sisseton including Mayor Karst and council members as well as the South Dakota National Guard on this piece of legislation.
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Weekly Legislative Update
By Jason | January 20, 2011
After an entire campaign of denying a budget crisis, our new governor finally came clean and acknowledged the reality of the budget crisis. Yesterday, Governor Daugaard proposed his budget, calling for drastic cuts of 10% to K-12 education and other government spending. Governor Daugaard also proposed in his budget the elimination of the structural deficit in one year. I applaud this proposal because South Dakota cannot continue to spend more money than what is brought in. However, I question the timing of the elimination of the structural deficit. This deficit has been in place since 2008 and in the toughest budget year South Dakota is facing Governor Daugaard believes that K-12 education and other vital programs should receive further drastic cuts.
As leader of the Senate Democrat Caucus, I will join Bernie Hunhoff, leader of the House Democrat Caucus to release our budget plan. We would like to utilize a portion of reserve funds to cover the proposed 10% cuts for K12 education and Medicaid. We like the idea of Governor Daugaard to trim other areas of State government. We also hope that further cuts can be made in the corrections system to save funds spent on people incarcerated.
I serve on the State Affairs, Agriculture and Natural Resources, and Legislative Procedure committees. Even though I am the only Democrat on these committees, I feel confident that I will be able to work with the other committee members to be involved in the process.
Our Senate Agriculture committee has heard updates on the status of the Veblen dairies, expanded gold mining, additional oil drilling, and potential uranium mining which is captured below ground. Our state Department of Environment and Natural Resources utilized very high amounts of stimulus funding on projects dealing with wastewater management facilities in our communities as well as many other environment clean-up projects.
The Game Fish & Parks shared their success in the state park system. This summer, visitor numbers to our state parks continued to be very high. Our state parks are a crown jewel of our natural resources in South Dakota. The Parks system received very helpful Federal Stimulus funding which enabled them to expand services and facilities. One example is the new campground at Hartford Beach State Park.
The Wildlife Division of Game, Fish & Parks has continued to purchase more land for game production. Federal excise tax collections on sporting goods has drastically increased which allows the G,F&P to have adequate funds to purchase private land. Hopefully we can reach some balance in the number of acres that are taken out of agriculture production and placed in game production. I continue to remind the G,F&P that young farmers/ranchers continue to struggle with finding land to operate, so I hope they will keep that in mind when purchasing new private land.
I served on the Interim Agency Review committee for the Department of Environment and Natural Resources. The result from this review involved a 226-page piece of legislation that cleans up language in State Statute. Luckily we have excellent staff in the Legislative Research Council to work through the process and provide all of us with the needed changes.
In the Senate State Affairs committee we approved some cleanup legislation for the Bureau of Administration. Much of the cleanup language involved deleting references to certain State agencies or State Authorities. The Ellsworth Development Authority is one example where they act in a quasi-state form. They are basically like a limited liability corporation (LLC) so that they can borrow money for construction as well as keep proper protection and separation in place if needed. The Ellsworth Authority is located near the Air Force Base and will help foster manufacturing and businesses who wish to locate near Rapid City.
Within the next week we will have a hearing on Senate Bill 55 which would allow the shooting of coyotes from snowmobiles. This has created some discussion from various individuals. Safety is of some concern, however coyotes are a nuisance and any methods to aid in control efforts should be considered.
I always enjoy hearing about issues that are important to you.
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DEMOCRATS: DAUGAARD IS PASSING THE BUCK
By Jason | January 20, 2011
PIERRE, S.D. — Democratic leaders have fought against deficit
spending in Pierre for years, and today they welcomed Governor Dennis
Daugaard’s acknowledgment that state spending must be cut.
They expressed support for Daugaard’s cuts to the state bureaucracy.
“Many are cuts we’ve proposed and supported for the past several
years,” said House Minority Leader Bernie Hunhoff. “But we can’t
support the governor’s goal to cut resources for school children,
people with disabilities, and children and elderly with health
problems.
The school and Medicaid budget cuts only pass the buck for these
costs to local taxpayers in South Dakota,” Hunhoff said. “They will
create higher property taxes, higher tuition in the tech schools and
colleges, and higher health care costs for individuals and county
governments.”
Students in the state’s tech schools already pay among the highest
tuition rates in the nation.
Jason Frerichs, the Senate Minority Leader, noted that state
government has a spending problem. “But the state is hardly cash-poor.
The governor says we have $107 million in reserves — but when you take
into account the trust funds we have nearly $800 million in reserves
as well as over a billion dollars in our cash flow account.”
Frerichs and Hunhoff said Democrats have a plan to balance the
state’s budget without hurting schools and cutting health care to the
poorest South Dakotans. They said they’ll announce more details on
Friday morning.
“We need a long-term vision for moving South Dakota forward,” said
House Assistant Minority Leader Mitch Fargen. “The Republican plan
sets South Dakota backwards. If the Daugaard cuts are enacted, schools
may not recover until 2020. Schools will close. Hospitals will close.
Local taxes will rise. Students and young families will leave the
state. Is that the vision we want for South Dakota? Can we recruit
good new companies and workers with this plan?”
The Democratic leaders said the budget problems need both short-term
and long-term fixes, and they’ll offer both this session. “We hope we
can find support from moderate Republicans in the legislature,”
Hunhoff said. “We’re South Dakotans first and foremost, and this is a
critical time for us to stand up and fight for a better future. This
is no time to go backwards in education and health care.”
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Weekly Legislative Update
By Jason | January 13, 2011
We are back in action for the 2011 Legislative Session. I am looking forward to the opportunity to continue to represent Day, Marshall, and Roberts counties as well as serve as the Senate Minority Leader. The winter weather reminds us that we are strong-willed people in South Dakota and we will survive the difficult times. The start of this Legislative Session gives all of us the opportunity to remember the people in Tucson. When I look off to the south from the window in my office on the 3rd floor of the Capitol I see the flags at half-staff and the Missouri River bluffs in the distance remind me that we have amazing people and beautiful landscape here in South Dakota. It is easy enough for us to relate to Congresswomen Giffords; she stands for similar values as all of us, and is extremely determined!
Governor Daugaard delivered his State of the State address with a welcomed approach of enthusiasm and optimism for our State. Many of the highlights of his address include repealing and updating policies created under the previous Administration. Democrats have long called for eliminating the 100 minimum school enrollment, curb Executive Branch airline travel, and to give true respect to all 9 of our Native American Tribes. I am happy to see that these calls have finally been echoed by the Governor.
Economic development ideas were highlighted by Daugaard to continue to foster new growth in our communities throughout South Dakota. The ethanol industry brought a proposal to the table with the new Governor to divert some tax incentives towards infrastructure development for blender pumps. This is a strategic move that will enable more of us to benefit from utilizing the increased blends of ethanol in our regular vehicles. I also hope that Governor Daugaard will support efforts to create a database which will inform all of us about the State’s investment in private businesses and corporations. This will ensure solid transparency and all us to find out where we receive the best bang for our buck. Tax breaks for large projects will also be updated from the Governor’s perspective by only allowing for new projects which would not otherwise choose South Dakota. Our debate last year was centered on this very issue of whether to give huge tax breaks to the next crude oil pipeline in a time of extreme budget cuts to education and other vital programs. I sponsored a bill and forged ahead to try and reduce this tax break to a company that was already bringing their business to South Dakota to help fully fund K-12 education instead.
Governor Daugaard plans to elevate the position of Tribal Affairs to the Cabinet level, which I hope will ensure this individual is at the table when decisions take place. The Governor also plans to split the Military and Veterans Affairs Department into two separate departments due to the differences in the needs of the people they serve. These are common sense moves that I hope will allow State government to work better with the citizens of South Dakota.
A month ago I had the opportunity to meet with the officials from the South Dakota National Guard, as well as folks representing the City of Sisseton. This meeting focused on the intent of the National Guard to give the Armory in Sisseton to the City. In 1949 the City transferred the property to the State for $1 and then the City provided $25,000 along with the other levels of government. We don’t like to see the Guard pulling their operations out of Sisseton; however, in today’s age of military functions the National Guard has more of an active duty role. With this more active duty role and less focus on reserves they need to train together in some of the larger Guard units. I support this effort to transfer the Armory to the City, and I know that they have communicated with Roberts County to inform them of this plan. Our Senate State Affairs committee will have a hearing on this bill, Senate Bill 6 within the next few weeks.
We continue to hear rumblings of 10% cuts to many areas of the State Budget. A 10% cut to K12 education and Medicaid would be a direct burden shift back to our local communities and taxpayers. I understand we must be frugal with our State’s finances, but we must also be aware of the fact that this is a pivotal time for educating our young people. Opportunities in schools for students to build career skills, be prepared for higher education and ultimately a successful job are extremely important to our economy. Cuts in Medicaid will only translate to more people suffering and rural communities closing services. People who are working one or two jobs and taking care of their families may need Medicaid and this would be a huge disservice to them.
Let’s look at our next Budget with renewed optimism because of a booming agriculture economy along with the manufacturing sector picking up steam. Those areas will build us out of this recession and further enhance State revenue in the future.
I always enjoy hearing about issues that are important to you. Please contact me at sen.frerichs@state.sd.us or call me at (605) 949-2204.
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