South DaCola

Editorial Cartoonist from South Dakota

South Dakotans

Smoking Ban South Dakotans

Smoking ban update

l3wis 0Comments

Dear Advocate,

I wanted to share a brief summary of where things stand regarding the smoke free law lawsuit.

The smoke free law lawsuit will be heard by the circuit court judge on November 12th. The hearing will cover a variety of issues raised by the opponents of the smoke free law concerning the validity of the signatures they turned in as well as the legal argument by the American Cancer Society and our partners with the South Dakota Tobacco Free Kids Network that the law is not referrable because of the constitutional clause that prohibits referring laws that are for the immediate preservation of public health.

The judge will hear legal arguments on the referability issue first and if she agrees with us, the trial will conclude and the law, in theory, would go into effect. We are expecting there to be an appeal from the circuit court regardless of the outcome and the implementation of the law will likely be delayed pending all legal steps.

If the judge does not agree with us about the referability issue, the trial will focus on the petition signatures to determine if, in fact, the opponents gathered enough valid signatures to place the law on the 2010 ballot. The issues that will be examined in this area have to do with proper notarization, lack of complete information, and other areas in which we contend the petitions are deficient. Depending on how many of these signatures are ultimately deemed valid, the judge will either rule that the law does not get referred or that the law is referred until the November 2010 election.

This is a big picture summary, as there are many technical issues to be determined during this process. The American Cancer Society and the South Dakota Tobacco Free Kids Network will be part of the process and will offer our legal arguments and insight as appropriate to help the judge make a determination on the issues outlined above.

If you have specific questions, please let me know.

___________________
Erik Gaikowski
Senior Field Government Relations
American Cancer Society
4904 South Technopolis
Sioux Falls, SD 57106
1.800.660.7703
605.323.3545

Help make South Dakota smoke free, visit our website http://www.smokefreesd.com

economy South Dakotans

Rounds starts his annual autumn ‘Doom & Gloom’ speaking tour

l3wis 9Comments

Somethings never change in South Dakota; fall harvest, pheasant hunting, influenza scares and Mikey’s ‘The Sky is Falling’ speaking tour;

Revenue to the state of South Dakota was down by $33 million in the first three months of this fiscal year, Gov. Mike Rounds said Monday, setting the stage for a painful legislative session next year.

At the same time, thousands of people have been added to the Medicaid entitlement program, which pays some medical expenses for the poor. The 6,400 people who have qualified for the state/federal program since August of last year could represent another $40 million to $50 million in expenses, creating a “huge budget problem,” Rounds said.

Yes, blame the poor for all of our problems, nevermind the rich in the state don’t pay their fair share of taxes or that we handout no bid contracts like candy.

It wasn’t all gloom and doom. Business optimism is on the rebound, and unemployment in South Dakota remains low compared with the national average.

Yet we have the highest number of working moms and the lowest hourly pay of any state in the nation. Unemployment may be low, but underemployment is high.

Heidepriem said he opposes any increases.

“For my part, I don’t think you can tax yourself out of a recession,” he said.

And imagine that, it is the democrat who is the fiscal conservative in all this.

South Dakotans State Funding State Legislature

The SD Legislature actually has a fair taxable idea, let’s see if the rest of the yahoos support it

l3wis 4Comments

From StormLand TV News:

A South Dakota legislative committee has recommended a substantial boost in taxes used to build and maintain state and local roads, but some lawmakers say the full Legislature will never pass such a large tax increase.

The panel voted 11-6 to pass a bill that would raise road taxes in two stages, with half the increase imposed next year and the other half in 2012.

The state gas tax would rise from 22 cents to 32 cents a gallon and the excise tax on vehicle sales would increase from 3 percent to 4 percent by 2012 to give the state an extra $75 million a year.

Annual vehicle registration fees would rise to give counties, cities and townships an additional $31 million.

While new taxes are never good, I still think that a gas tax and vehicle registration fees are the fairest way to pay for roads. Of course, I’m sure some legislators would prefer to pay for new roads by taxing food more.

Democrats South Dakotans

Yeah! The South Dakota Democratic party gets it, now will the party of no follow suit?

l3wis 5Comments

6a00d834515c6d69e200e54f22f74d8834-640wi

This is great news, but I have a feeling this has more to do with swinging indies towards their candidates then anything;

South Dakota Democrats are opening their primary elections to independent voters, as the state’s minority party reaches out to a growing segment of voters with increasing ballot clout.

And how are those NEW Republican registrations coming?

The state Republican Party currently holds a registration edge of more than 35,000 over the Democrats. But the gap has been shrinking in recent years. Democrats gained more than 13,000 registered voters between general elections in 2006 and 2008, ending that election cycle with 204,413. Republicans gained about 1,400 during that period, ending up at 241,528.

Looks like people are flocking to the party of NO . . . BAHAHAHAHAHA!

Employee Free Choice Act South Dakotans State Legislature Unions

State Republican Legislators plan to waste more time on meaningless legislation. Like their failed attempt at criminalizing abortion they will fall flat on their faces again

l3wis 13Comments

UPDATE: Joel Dykstra is spreading lies right now on KCPO (Sunday 10:30 AM – Cable channel 2)

90602382

Kind of sounds like someone is posturing for the Governor’s race;

Two powerful Republican state legislators say they will fight a bill now in Congress that would allow unions to organize without a secret ballot. State Senate Majority Leader Dave Knudson, who also is running for governor, and House Majority Leader Bob Faehn of Watertown will introduce a bill in the next Legislature that would put the issue before state voters. The measure would amend the state constitution to require secret ballots in all political and labor organizing elections.

Only in SD, where we rank 50th in hourly wages, would legislators try to limit union participation and thumb their noses at Federal Law. I’m glad they want to put it on the ballot, because it will fail, just like the stupid abortion ban.

If their effort is successful, the state almost certainly would end up in federal court to defend its authority to require secret ballots in labor votes, Knudson acknowledged.

What’s the point? Instead of trying to limit worker’s rights, why not introduce legislation that actually expands worker’s rights? Oh that’s right, I forget SD’s motto, “Big Business and Special Interests first, citizens second.”

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