Column for the week of February 23
Senator Corey Brown: Budget discussion will dominate final weeks
As we approach the last three weeks of the legislative session, the budget will dominate many of the discussions in Pierre.
This week, the Appropriations Committee will hear from the last of the agencies when the Department of Education presents their budget.
There has obviously been a great deal of discussion about the potential cuts to both education and Medicaid. Those two items affect many South Dakotans and the legislature has been very conscious of that fact.
It is also clear that education and “taking care of people” are the two largest portions of the general fund budget totaling nearly 86 percent of the funds. In the senate, several weeks ago we formed working groups to study those two cuts, the potential impact of those cuts, and to search for alternative solutions.
One of the options that is being studied by the Medicaid working group would be to potentially shift the burden of the cut to those facilities that could better absorb the reduction.
As an example, many of our nursing homes have a high percentage of clients who are on Medicaid. As a statewide average, 57 percent of the people in nursing homes are on Medicaid. Some facilities, even in our district, run closer to 90 percent. Obviously, a 10 percent reduction in Medicaid payments would be much more difficult than for a large hospital who only generates 5 percent of its revenue from Medicaid patients. We are working with the governor’s team to identify some possible alternatives that would lessen the Medicaid cuts on facilities like these and perhaps shift a greater burden onto those who are in a better financial position.
The group has also actively tried to pursue alternatives that would slow down the rapid growth of Medicaid eligibles.
In terms of education, the working groups have also studied a number of options. One of those would be to allow some purchases to be made out of the capital outlay funds (fuel, utilities, and property insurance). Those are all expenses that are incurred after the purchase of a major capital asset. That bill passed the Senate and is being debated in the house.
Another bill debated in the senate this week would freeze property taxes, rather than allow them to decline. This would lessen the cut to K-12 schools and would not place a greater financial burden on property tax payers.
I would like to also address another option that has been discussed. There have been some who have advocated a “two year” approach. In other words, half of the cuts would be made this year and then the other half would be made next year. That approach clearly comes at a price, costing the state an additional $65 million. Given the economy and the tight budget, I would have difficulty supporting an approach that would require that much extra money to avoid doing what we need to do today. We simply cannot spend money that we don’t have.
While none of these options isperfect, nor can they magically eliminate the state’s deficit, they appear to be reasonable options.
Regardless, these potential budget cuts have forced many across the state to take a close look at their operations to determine if there might not be a more cost effective way to provide their services.
I hope that you will contact me as these issues are debated throughout the session. You can reach me via email at: coreywbrown@gmail.com, by my cell phone at: (605) 769-0540, or by mail at:316 S. Potter St., Gettysburg, S.D., 57442.
Respectfully,
Corey Brown
District 23 Senator
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Rep. Charlie Hoffman: Bill brings reaction from gun group
Sincere greetings to everyone in District 23 and a wish for a quick return
to the glimmer of spring we were treated to last week.
The term crossover is used to construe meaning to the need for every bill of ones house of origin to be passed into the other chamber for approval. This Wednesday crossover occurs with the intent of having all house bills on their way to the senate and we will then be going over only senate bills after that day.
One senate bill which to my knowledge has never been attempted before in
South Dakota is SB 141. This bill passed out of Senate Judiciary Committee with some amendments and will give immunity from prosecution of underage drinking for a small group to report a person who has consumed too much alcohol and is in need of medical attention. If passed in the house and signed by the
Governor this bill may save someone's life someday.
House Bill 1132 would have given exemptions to seasonal workers from needing a pesticide license to apply dry pesticides. It failed on one day and after being deferred to another was defeated again but this time with a majority vote causing the action to comply. The first vote was 6-6 and the second on another day 7-6 to move to the 41st day.
We also broke even ground on HB 1178, which would constrict game wardens from entering private property unless viewing illegal activity or after having a report of illegal activity. I voted against the measure on the first day but after we looked at it again and could find no constitutional authority of anyone in South Dakota being able to come onto private land, voted for it to get it to the floor. We need to have discussion on why we have gifted "a takings" upon the Game Fish and Parks to usurp our private ownership rights of owning property in South Dakota. In North Dakota all land is open unless posted making a law needing access not needed but in South Dakota all land is considered posted needing permission to gain access.
We should not think anyone be treated different or with a higher power than the individual; yet this has occurred in our state laws.
In the House State Affairs we saw one bill HB1204 draw much attention. It would have restricted any business owner from designing policy against the ability of an employee from storing ammunition or weapons in a locked vehicle or in a locked trunk or glove box while on their personal property. I consider this a personal property issue. We drew a sharp line in the sand giving power to the owner of a private business in developing his or her own set of rules for engagement with that company or store.
What part of gun control does this HB 1204 fall into? If you feel the need to keep a weapon in your car then park on the street and walk into your business. If the policy offends you than work for a company that does not have this in their rule making.
A group called S.D. Gun Owners has sent some pretty vicious postcards around calling us anti-gun for killing this bill. If the individual personal property rights mean nothing to you than you may agree; but to me balance is always a very good thing to have when setting policy into law.
Hope to have more in next week's writing. This is coming to you from
Indianapolis, Ind., where our daughter Alexandra is swimming against her
sister in the last swimming meet of Alex's career in the Summit League
Championships.
Please call me anytime with questions on my cell phone at 605-216-0027, home
at 605-577-6530, or email me at hmanangus@valleytel.net
Sincerely Representative
Charlie Hoffman
District 23
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REp. Justin Cronin: Intensity at its highest in legislature
The intensity and bill load are at their highest point of this eighty-sixth legislative session. Due to the exceptionally high amount of bills discussed on the floor last week I will only address some of the most debated bills of public interest. However, if you would like more specific information about this legislative session or to see bills in their entirety please visit http://legis.state.sd.us/.
Last week the house passed a bill to establish a task force on teen driving safety. HB1221 will examine teen driving data, review current laws, review educational programs, and examine national best practices for improving safety. The task force request passed the house floor 44-24.
The Office of the Governor for Economic Development proposed a bill, HB1233, to provide incentive for aviation industry development in South Dakota. This bill was praised for its future revenue and employment possibilities before passing 67-1.
American citizens who are of voting age and were last domiciled in South Dakota may have the right to vote in South Dakota elections by absentee ballot with the favorable vote of 55-13 on HB1130.
An act to revise certain provisions relating to grandparent visitation, HB1206, would require grandparents to prove that the parent is not acting in the child’s best interest to overturn a denial of a grandparent’s visitation. It was debated before receiving a failing vote of 37-32 and after reconsideration, was amended, and again it failed 36-30.
Prairie dog hunters found that other states no longer enforce a prairie dog hunting season and in response they developed HB1047. This bill would repeal all season and bag limit regulation related to the hunting of prairie dogs and it passed 62-7.
Selling and discharging fireworks was a heavily debated topic last year ending with a governor veto because the allowable discharge dates included Christmas. HB1056, if passed, would allow fireworks sales and discharge from December 28 to January 1. The amended bill flew through the house floor 66-3.
Thank you all for your input and continued support during this legislative session.
Feel free to contact me at JustinRCronin@gmail.com or call 773-3845.
Columns for the week of February 16
SEN. COREY BROWN: Texting bill more than a safety issue
One of the more lengthy debates this past week in the Senate was centered on SB71. This measure attempts to outlaw the practice of texting while driving. There are probably few who would argue against the safety concerns of such distractions. However, one of the more interesting parts to me was the difficulty of properly defining and then enforcing the measure. As an example, it was pointed out that some of the newer cell phones have the capability of voice recognition, which is then translated to text by the phone (this would not be illegal under the measure). However, if phone records were ever used in a case, there is no ability to distinguish whether the voice option or the keyboard were used.
Another portion of the debate centered around the idea of where to draw the line at distractions in the vehicle. Obviously, there are a number of behaviors that occur while driving that demand the attention of the driver (eating, makeup, radio stations, etc.) There were also some privacy concerns highlighted given that newer phones are used to store many types of personal information. The measure has a maximum penalty of 30 days in jail and a $500 fine. Despite some of those concerns, the measure did pass the Senate 26 to 9. It now moves over to the House of Representatives for debate.
There is a full docket for the Senate this week. Some of the more controversial bills will probably be debated as we are quickly approaching "cross-over" day. "Cross-over" day is Feb. 23 and that is the deadline for bills to leave their house of origin. In other words, if there is a bill that was introduced in the Senate, it must either be defeated or moved over to the House of Representatives.
The Appropriations Committee will continue conducting agency hearings for the next two weeks. Some of the bigger agencies still remain, including the Department of Corrections, the Department of Education, the Board of Regents and the Department of Social Services.
It is always nice to see the young students of our district do great things. This past week Mary Martin of Mobridge won second place for her business plan at the annual Banker's Association reception. Congratulations Mary... it was exciting to see our district so well represented!
The Senate is also very lucky to have Frankie Lux, Eureka, serving as a page for these two weeks. I met Frankie a couple of years ago and she is another fine example of why we should be so very proud of South Dakota's future.
Thank you to all who were able to attend the cracker barrels in Mobridge and Gettysburg. There were great crowds and questions at both events. I certainly appreciate the help the Mobridge Tribune, KOLY, the Mobridge-Pollock School District, the Potter County News and the Gettysburg Chamber of Commerce gave us in setting up the events. We will be in Eureka and Faulkton on Saturday, Feb. 26 and in Highmore on March 5. Hopefully we'll have a chance to see you there.
As one of your voices in Pierre, I hope that you will contact me as these issues are debated throughout the session. You can reach me via email at: coreywbrown@gmail.com, by my cell phone at: (605) 769-0540, or by mail at: 316 S. Potter Street, Gettysburg. S.D., 57442. If you will be in Pierre during the session, please let me know, as I always like to meet up with people from the district.
REP. JUSTIN CRONIN: Crossover Day is fast approaching
The tension is increasing in Pierre as we approach crossover day. Crossover day is Tuesday, Feb. 22. It is the last day for bills to leave their original house of origin or crossover the halls of the capitol. If a bill is submitted in the House of Representatives it receives an HB and must reach the Senate by Wednesday, Feb. 23.
If a bill is submitted in the Senate it is stamped with SB and must reach the House of Representatives by Feb. 23.
Any bill failing to crossover will die for lack of action. As a result we have a long list of debated bills below that reached the House floor this week.
HB1002 if passed would make the law match the current processes that are being allowed currently in the adjustment process by allowing comparable sales of agricultural land to factor into productivity adjustments. This bill received little debate and passed the House floor 51-16.
HB1152, an act to provide drug testing to TANF recipients would allow the Department of Social Services to test for controlled substances and in the event of drug use this bill would allow the DSS to deny benefits to the drug user. 1152 was heavily debated and later died 32-36.
HB1139 would allow non-elected "officer(s) to act or register as a lobbyist, other than a public employee lobbyist, during a period of one year after the officer's termination of service in the state government." 1139 passed with a majority vote of 48-20.
HB1154 states, "The court shall order any person convicted of a crime involving domestic violence or domestic abuse to remit costs in the amount of twenty-five dollars to...the county domestic violence program fund." This fine was questioned and called precedent setting before it passed by the narrow margin of 38-29 and will be further debated in the Senate.
Hunting legislation, HB1074, would revise nonresident hunting license policy. Currently a nonresident is allowed to hunt for two periods of up to five consecutive days. This bill received heavy proponent and opponent debate before dying on the house floor 28-41.
A unique procedure occurred last week during the second reading of HB1061, an act providing for the practice and regulation of registered midwives. 1061 was opposed because of the costs that may be associated with this regulation and the precedent of making a state agency the certifying body of midwives. Supporters believed the costs would be minimal and that the ability to have a certified midwife present during a home birth is paramount. A misinterpretation of the procedure associated with this bill called for a two-thirds vote on the house floor Tuesday where 1061 failed to receive two-thirds with a vote of 36-31. Representative Hunt asked for the vote to be reconsidered at a later date and the reconsideration was granted on the grounds that the bill did not incur a general fund cost that needed a two-thirds vote and would only need to receive a majority vote. Wednesday the reconsideration was supported 66-3 and after further debate the bill passed 37-32.
Another bill where nearly everyone spoke either for or against it on the House floor was HB1161 an act to prohibit certain photo detection systems and monitoring devices narrowly passed 43-24.
The Board of Education has adopted Common Core State Standards Initiatives for certain high school subjects. HB1153 would not allow the state to adopt CCS Standards for the subject of History. 1153 was amended and passed 43-26.
Senate bills are starting to make their way across the rotunda and are slowly released into the calendar to allow time for house bills to leave their house of origin before crossover day. The senate bills that are currently being sent to the calendar are usually on consent or are likely to receive little debate and pass nearly unanimously. SB14 an act to require mandatory reporting of abuse or neglect of elderly or disabled adults is one such bill and it unanimously passed the House floor 68-0. We will begin to see more Senate bills next week as we move further into the second half of session.
If you have any questions or comments as we continue to move forward please contact Justin Cronin at JustinRCronin@gmail.com or call 605-773-3845.
REP. CHARLIE HOFFMAN: We lost a good friend in Pierre this week
This past week we lost a great friend to anyone involved with the legislature in the passing of Jeremiah D. Murphy. I called him Murphy Sr. as his son named after him is also a lobbyist in Pierre who I got to know very well in the past two years. One day a couple of years ago I sat down with Murphy Sr. and in visiting he told me I reminded him of my father but that I had one thing over on him. And that was that I was a better "Mixer". I took that as a compliment and our friendship grew every time I sat down and took his wisdom for what it was worth; the truth. We will all miss Jeremiah standing above the Speaker during floor debate listening to the direction bills were going with that poised and intent look of time honored knowledge he possessed. God Speed to the entire Murphy family.
In the Ag and Natural Resource committee this past week we passed a bill after amending it which gives clarity to what a loaded firearm actually is. House bill 1129 came with verbiage making any firearm with any bullet in a magazine or clip or cylinder or chamber considered loaded. We did not like that strict interpretation and amended to actually needing a bullet in the chamber or cylinder to be called loaded. The bill was amended and it now goes to the floor for final consideration and hopefully on to the Senate
HB 1047, which amends the prairie dog season on federal lands also passed out of committee. Unless one lives near a prairie dog colony and sees firsthand the infestation and denuding of the land dogs do this is not a huge issue but to those who are battling them every opportunity is needed in controlling their numbers.
HB 1148 passed which revises the minimum wage law for seasonal employees to follow federal law and it gives latitude in hiring for those job providers.
HB 1222 would have enacted a temporary sales tax to fund education was sent to the 41st day which. Any tax that is of temporary nature cannot fund ongoing expenses for we will be cutting after the tax is taken off and right back to where we are now.
HB 1166 would have stopped the federal government from entering into any contractual land easements of a permanent nature of 30 acres or more until the county commission approved the sale or lease after hearing public testimony. The power given to the commissioners warrants a constitutionality check of their actual powers over private landowners and pits the individual against the state as the ultimate approval would go to the legislature for final approval if denied. The bill was sent to the 41st day.
On the House floor we took over legislating what Sioux Falls can do with its own law enforcement of traffic related crimes by passing HB 1161 which outlaws the use of cameras in giving stop light violation tickets. I voted against this but it did pass with a majority vote and is on to the Senate. The Midwife bill passed the house and is now heading to the Senate. We also passed HB 1153, which blocks the Dept. of Education from forcing South Dakota teachers in adopting federal standards of teaching history. HB 1074 would have allowed the splitting of non-resident small game licenses into five two-day periods failed after the retailers called us and told us the nightmare they have with the present system of two five-day periods.
A few notes about Medicaid of interest follow. In the next two years South Dakota will be obligated to fund 50 million more into the Medicaid program. One in seven South Dakotans are now are on Medicaid. One in three children in S.D. are either on Medicaid or CHIP. Fifty percent of all babies born in S.D. are on Medicaid and by 2014, 50,000 more South Dakotans are expected to be on Medicaid.
One does not need to look to far into the future to see that our current structure will need some revision in order to cover all these new additions to the Medicaid program. What we do will determine the fiscal health of S.D. for many years to come.
Crossover day when all House bills need to be in the Senate and Senate bills to the House is in a little over one week so the intensity of the session will beginning to crank up. Thank you for the emails and calls and please do come to Pierre and take in the legislative process first hand if you can.
Please call me anytime with questions on my cell phone at 605-216-0027, home at 605-577-6530, or email me at hmanangus@valleytel.net
Senator Corey Brown: Most of the debate issues re ont he table
With three weeks of the legislative session complete, I expect the pace is going to increase substantially. Monday, January 31 is the last day for legislators to introduce any bills. At that point, most of the major discussion items will be on the table.
Up to this point, most of the bills that have made it to the Senate floor have been relatively non-controversial. In large part, this first round of bills were changes brought forward by the various agencies. In many cases they simply made changes to language or clarified a few issues. This next week will be a bit different as we will be debating the now infamous hunting of coyotes on a snowmobile. We will also debate a couple of bills that allow K-12 schools to use their capital outlay funds for other purposes like transportation, utilities, and insurance.
Occasionally, there may be particular bills that you are interested in. If you have access to the internet, the Legislative Research Council has an excellent website that allows anyone to search for bills and track the progress. That website is: http://legis.state.sd.us/index.aspx There is even the option to set up custom tracking of bills and you will be notified of upcoming votes and hearings.
The Appropriations Committee continues to hear departments and agencies. This past week we heard from the State Treasurer, the State Auditor, the Secretary of State, the Attorney General and the Game Fish & Parks. Two of the more talked about budgets, education and Medicaid, will occur later in February. Considering that the proposed cuts to these two areas total $85 million out of the $127 million worth of cuts, it is clear that they will be major items for discussion.
As one of your voices in Pierre, I hope that you will contact me as these issues are debated throughout the session. You can reach me via email at: coreywbrown@gmail.com, by my cell phone at: (605) 769-0540, or by mail at: 316 S Potter ST, Gettysburg SD 57442. If you will be in Pierre during the session, please let me know as I always like to meet up with people from the district.
Respectfully,
Corey Brown
District 23 Senator
Representative Justin Cronin… Legislature is in full swing
The eighty-sixth legislative session is in full swing now with thirty-four bills passing the House floor last week. HB1028 is a bill that revised tax return policies to accommodate for legal holidays and tax deadlines that fall on a weekend. The bill listed above and five other consent calendar items passed 67-0 on the House floor Monday.
HB1009, an act to repeal the authority of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources to regulate public swimming places and bulk water haulers, solves a misallocation issue where DENR has been forced to process regulation documents for entities they do not oversee. This correction clarifies responsibilities and saves DENR over $20,000.
HB1022 specifies South Dakota Retirement Services credit services and benefits policy for veterans returning to service for short-term periods. HB1037 allows landowners near the Black Hills Fire District to post "no hunting" signs to distinguish their property without the requirement to post the land owner's personal contact information.
Last Tuesday, Jan. 25, was a special day for the House legislature. Representative Bolin headed a House Concurrent Resolution declaring Feb. 6, 2011 Ronald Reagan Day in South Dakota. This resolution is part of a nation-wide movement to commemorate the 100th anniversary of Ronald Reagan's birth and it passed the House floor unanimously. Also on Tuesday, an act to define the small claims court judiciary amount, HB1043, was passed limiting the court to jurisdiction in cases under $12,000 not including court and legal fees.
HB1018, an act to allow for "a partial final early discharge" from parole states, "A partial early final discharge is a reduction of the sentence term in an amount less than the amount to discharge the inmate from supervision." This act would allow for a better allocation of the resources currently used to monitor parolees in good standing.
HB1019 is a similar act granting members of the Board of Pardons and Paroles the legal protections of a "law enforcement officer." HB1024, an act eliminating an unneeded short-term election for an interim appointee to the South Dakota Retirement System Board of Trustees was removed from the consent calendar on Monday and debated on the House floor. An act to permit the Interim Rules Review Committee to revert a rule if the rule imposes unreasonable costs, HB1003, was differed to another legislative day by rule 5-17 and will be debated on the House floor on a later date.
HB1038 is an act allowing for electronic mail transmission of court records and materials by the Clerk of Courts and the collection of its respective fee. The above bills and two others passed the House and will move across the hall to be debated on the Senate floor.
Finally on Wednesday, Jan. 26, three bills and one commemoration passed the House floor with only one descending vote. These bills included: HB1060 an act revising the distribution of motor vehicle licensing fees in unorganized county territories; HB1010 revised the definition of "bulk" pesticides by removing the specific weight requirements; HB1016, the act receiving the only dissenting vote, is an act to revise certain provisions regarding the licensing and regulation of grain buyers, grain warehouses, and weigh masters.
Two hundred and eighteen bills have been submitted to the House of Representatives and one hundred and seventy-six to the Senate. We appreciate all of the input and support we have received on a wide variety of issues, so far and we encourage everyone to stay involved in the legislative process.
If you have any questions or concerns please contact me at JustinRCronin@gmail.com or by phone while I am in Pierre at the following numbers, 605-773-3845 office, 605-769-1017 cell.
Representative Charlie Hoffman: Bill plate still not fully loaded
Week three of the 2011 Legislature was still not fully loaded with bills coming to the floor and one of the reasons may be because of our budget being tightly controlled this year. With all appearances it looks as though the number of House bills may in fact be 80 below average with the certainty that any "Spender"; a bill requiring a funding source from the General Fund, is DOA this year and was not introduced.
In the House Ag and Natural Resources committee we were introduced to our new Secretary of Agriculture; Sec. Walt Bones from Parker, South Dakota. Secretary Bones' father served with my father in the legislature back in the 1970's so we have some history repeating itself over 40 years. We did have some good discussion on a number of bills in the House Ag and Natural Resources committee with one bill; HB 1005, changing the allowable inspection of hunting preserves to be inspected instead of searched. HB 1006 also passed out of committee allowing the hunting of certain animals with air rifles; mostly small varmints and predators. I am assuming their passage on the floor. In the Senate Ag committee they passed out a bill allowing landowners 18 or older to carry firearms on a snowmobile on their own land and once stopped to shoot coyotes. This will get much further discussion on the Senate Floor and I am hoping we get to look at it in our House Ag committee.
In the House State Affairs committee we looked at a bill to nullify the National Health Care Bill and after much testimony and discussion it was moved to the 41st day. In testimony the fact that we do not have the constitutional power to nullify any Federal legislation was brought up and the fact that once we start down that slippery slope who is to say that counties and cities will not try to nullify State Law. Two bills; HB 1068 and 1086 were brought attempting to force the Legislature to approve any GF&P land purchases and once again the constitutional rights of an individual to sell his or her land to anyone they please was brought up in testimony thereby killing the bills. HB 1075 was brought to us from Rep. Bolin and it would have turned any legislative district covering more than four counties to split the district into two areas; one for each representative. In discussion it was brought to our attention that the process of splitting districts in the past was forced by the Federal Government due to the nature of Indian Reservations surrounding those districts and for equal representation needed to have an A and B half to the area. HB 1075 was moved to the 41st day.
Please call me anytime with questions on my cell phone at 605-216-0027, home at 605-577-6530, or email me at hmanangus@valleytel.net
Sincerely,
Representative Charlie Hoffman
District 23
