South DaCola

Editorial Cartoonist from South Dakota

State Legislature

Road Funding Rounds State Funding State Legislature

I suppose I better comment about this . . . blah.

l3wis 8Comments

Smilin’ Mike Rounds is just full of ample advice;

For that to happen, Rounds told lawmakers at the opening of the 2009 legislative session Tuesday, the Legislature will need to resist the urge to spend more.

Thanks Mike. Good thing there wasn’t a mirror in front of you when you said that, cuz it would have freaking exploded!

Rounds held out hope that money from a federal stimulus plan could help South Dakota with some of its backlog in highway and bridge projects, but he said an increase in federal funding won’t solve all of the state’s problems. He asked lawmakers to review the situation with highway funding before proposing any increase in the state gas tax.

Cuz, God forbid I have to get on my hands and knees and kiss Obama’s ass. Well you better start puckering up.

Legislators are expected to consider fee increases for government services and licensing across a broad spectrum, including vehicle registration costs. He warned lawmakers that groups affected by fee increases would lobby them.

“These people and groups will argue they’re special and should continue to receive special treatment,” he said.

Like all of your campaign contributors?

“The State of the State is traditionally a time when the governor presents new directions – new initiatives,” Senate Minority Leader Scott Heidepriem said. “There was none of that.”

What governor are you talking about Scott?

Rounds compared several areas in South Dakota from where they were in 2002 – the year he first was elected – to where they are now. He said schools have made proficiency gains in both reading and math scores. And fewer high school graduates than before require remedial math and reading classes when entering college.

Yeah, test scores go up, when you don’t have all those High School dropouts bringing down your averages. South Dakota has one of the highest dropouts rates in the nation.

But in the end, the main concern for lawmakers isn’t what might be, but what is. And Rounds told lawmakers they would have to make tough choices.

“We can’t spend more than what we have,” he said.

Can you let Mayor Munson know that, I think he didn’t get the memo.

Kristi Noem State Legislature VP Palin

South Dakota has it’s very own Sarah Palin. Great!

l3wis 2Comments

You betcha I was a snow queen!

So I’m watching Doug Lund’s favorite TV station last night while practicing drums and listening to the litany of State Representatives comment to a reporter about Rounds’ budget (BS) address, which Heidepriem called a “Wasted opportunity.” or more like a wasted politician. Then all of sudden, Sarah Palin pops on screen. Yeeeeeeeoooooowwwwwww! It scared the living crap out of me. It’s like she won’t go away, now she is telling SD what to do!

Nope, it’s representative Kristi Noem from Castlewood (where is that anyway?). So I look her up;

Noem, 34, lives with her husband, Bryon, and three children, Kassidy, Kennedy, and Booker, on a ranch near Castlewood. She ranches, raising Angus cattle and showing Quarter Horses. She is a retired farmer and hunting lodge owner. She is a business woman whose experience includes managing a restaurant and administering a blog for a national publication. Kristi is a published writer and public speaker. She is currently a media consultant and public relations liason for a company located in Colorado.

A retired farmer? Huh? Don’t we have enough of them in Pierre, or is that lawyers, I can’t remember.

Well Kristi, keep up the good work, maybe Sarah will ask you to run with her in 2012, just don’t mention you have a blog. Nice layout BTW.

economy Education funding Governor Rounds Heidepriem Rounds State Funding State Legislature

SD education funding three ring circus

l3wis 7Comments

Once again Mike Rounds refuses to cut his do nothing-big government programs in Pierre to help fund education;

Democrats have said they want to cut elsewhere in state government to find money for aid to schools. Senate Democratic Leader Scott Heidepriem of Sioux Falls said state government in previous years has forced agencies to cut spending by a certain percentage, and that approach could work again.

“It’s so simple it’s amazing to me,” Heidepriem said, adding that he doesn’t believe the Republican governor is willing to control the size of state government.

It doesn’t surprise me one bit. Even when the economy was good, Rounds refused to properly fund education, now he has an excuse and he is going to run with it.

While more than 90 percent of Democrats said they wanted to boost state aid to schools by more than the 3 percent recommended by Rounds, only about a quarter of Republicans said they believed state aid should increase by more than that.

Even if the legislature gets a super-majority to be veto proof on an education bill (which I don’t see) Rounds will still find a way to overstep the legislators, just like he did with the blender pump tax and laptops (how did that work out for yah, Mike). He simply doesn’t like to be told what to do. This will be a true test for the legislators. Will the typical Republican cheerleaders like Krebs cave to their favorite state Republican? Will the Dems do more then mouth off to the media and internets about how much of a brat Mike is? (seriously, that’s my job, not yours.)

It’s time to show Rounds that he has been extremely ineffective as a governor and quite possibly, unethical (another thing legislators are too chicken-shit to do something about).

POVERTY HAS AN EFFECT ON EDUCATION FUNDING

One has to wonder though, maybe education funding is sufficient in South Dakota. Student test scores are always pretty decent, but high school dropout rates are high. One reason may be the growing problem of poverty in our state.

A couple weeks back a SF School district representative gave a presentation to the city council about poverty in Sioux Falls. Some scary stuff, here are a few highlights.

– 40% of caucasion children in the SF school district are on FREE or reduced lunches, and that number is as high as 75% in minority community.

– Supt. Dr. Homan doesn’t like to have late starts with bad weather because she wants to make sure these kids get something to eat for breakfast.

Some of the other numbers are hard to swallow to. A lot of these kids also have little winter clothing to wear, and often go hungry on the weekends. The amazing part about it is, it is not discussed much by our local or statewide politicians, it is kind of a ‘silent problem’. After the presentation, one councilor even had this to say, “Thank you for the presentation, but what is this council supposed to do with this information?” And maybe this is the problem. I think politicians think if at least 51% of people in the community are doing OKAY, we can ignore the minority. I find it ironic that Sioux Falls spends more per year on mowing an acre of parkland then they do educating a child. Who knew grass was more important than a decent education? Nice priorities, Huh? I also wonder how much money in education funding is going towards feeding, counseling and healthcare for some of these kids? Something that parents should be responsible for, that is, if they can afford it. The problem isn’t just funding education properly, it is also about creating a business atmosphere in SD that creates more living wage jobs. Government can’t create higher paying jobs, but they can help attract those kinds of businesses. Just imagine if we spent half the money we do on tourism for business development, what kind of impact that would have on the state? (of course than Lawrence and Schiller would have to go out and find real clients).

It’s time for our legislators (it’s too late for the governor) to realize the root problem of education funding – Poverty and low wages.

1st Amendment South Dakotans State Funding State Legislature

Are beauracrats capable of cutting spending?

l3wis 2Comments

Are we all just a bunch of helpless Prairie Dogs to our state legislators. Prove them wrong.

I’m starting to wonder if politicians are capable of making cuts instead of continuing tax and fee increases?

Increases in taxes and fees that would affect almost all South Dakotans are under consideration, as are cuts to a variety of services and programs.

The $3.67 billion budget Gov. Mike Rounds proposed in December would have spent down reserves and raised user fees that in some instances haven’t been touched since the 1980s.

The rest of us have been making cuts in our personal budgets, I have been for at least for the past 12 months, I would expect the same out of our government.

And the finger-pointing has already started.

Senate Minority Leader Scott Heidepriem of Sioux Falls says the Senate already works cooperatively.

“The problem the last two years was the House,” which ceded its power to Rounds, he said. “Whether they do that again remains to be seen.”

The Republicans just don’t get it.

The problem with poking into every crevice and cranny in government is there is little to be gained, Rave said. Almost 75 percent of the budget is devoted to health, human and social services – such as Medicaid – to schools and local governments or corrections. These are areas where the state has constitutional obligations and where great amounts of federal funding are leveraged by state matching money.

What House Republican leader Tim Rave does not understand is that 25% of a $3.67 Billion dollar budget is a lot of f’ing money. Start cutting chief.

And Charlie Brown steps up to the plate, other SD Republicans need to follow his example (and I’m not just saying this because Dusty likes my site – wink, wink).

Dusty Johnson, Public Utilities Commission Chairman, said the PUC has reduced costs by doing all regulatory filings online.

This next item could be a good move in the right direction for citizens;

Secretary of State Chris Nelson has also heard rumors legislators might be asked to revise the initiative process by which citizens can get issues such as abortion, video lottery and smoking bans on the ballot,

Our legislators don’t represent us anymore. Mark my words, IMO, a total smoking ban will fail. My guess is that it will only go in effect for restaurants, and the powerful video lottery lobby will twist legislators balls into voting against banning them. It is time for citizens to stand up and say “We will decide what is best for us, because you are wasting our f’ing time.”

And let’s finish with this piece of fluff

“I think there will be some key votes in the first couple of weeks,” Heidepriem says. “I can’t predict now what they will be. But there will be clear indications whether people will lay down partisan markers or will work together.”

And once again, a politician has given himself an out. Go figure.

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