Last week, I used this space to tell you that the budget would be done and ready to go by Thursday. We experienced a day and a half delay due to the albeit late, but important introduction of two bills by the Noem Administration, that we introduced through our... Read more

This week marks the final full week of the 2019 SD Legislature. Next week is mainly set aside for Conference committees to clear out the final disagreements between the House and Senate. This week, the Senate will weigh in on Hemp authorization legislation, we will reveal our plans for... Read more

Crossover day is upon us, and after that, there are only 10 Legislative Days until Veto Day. Crossover day is the day that all bills must move from their body of origin. In other words, all Senate bills must have been heard in committee and either eliminated or moved... Read more

As I mentioned last week, your Appropriations Committee heard the revenue projections and chose a revenue target for the remainder of fiscal year 2019 which ends June 30, 2019; and fiscal year 2020 which begins July 1, 2019. Those numbers reflected a conservative optimism for continued growth in the... Read more

As I’ve mentioned before in this space, I serve as the lead Co-Chair on the Joint Appropriations Committee, the budgetary committee of the South Dakota Legislature. If we’re doing our job well, rarely will you hear about our work until the end of the session when the budget is... Read more

This week at the South Dakota Legislature, your Appropriations Committee began looking at some of the larger agencies that have control of a larger portion of the total budget. Most of the week was spent hearing from the Board of Regents and the 6 Universities and 2 special schools... Read more

This week at the South Dakota Legislature, the Appropriations Committee had a very busy week. As we continue with our agency budget hearings, Governor Noem delivered her budget presentation on Wednesday. Since then, we’ve been working out the differences, charting the changes from former Governor Daugaard’s Budget, and discussing... Read more

Week 2 of the South Dakota Legislature went by awfully fast. As the work load ramped up, we started hearing bills on the Senate Floor and the committees are doing their work. As the process ramps up, I am amazed by it. A lot of new Legislators and new... Read more