HURON — At Saturday’s “Coffee with the Legislators” at City Hall, all three District 22 legislators mentioned the impending revenue projections report that is due Wednesday to the House and Senate as being key to the remainder of the session.

Representative Roger Chase led off the opening remarks. He noted that the legislature has now crossed the halfway point of the session. Chase mentioned the Tuesday singing of the national anthem and playing of bagpipes in the House chamber to open the day as a reminder of the purpose of the legislature serving the people.

He also noted that crossover day, when all bills must be passed through their originating chamber of the legislature in order to be heard by the other chamber, is coming up on Feb. 20, and that often spurs movement on bills.

Senator David Wheeler acknowledged the action taken by both houses regarding the proposed constitutional amendment regarding abortion and also regarding the border “crisis” that led to a joint session with Gov. Kristi Noem sharing her recent experience at the Texas border.

Rep. Lynn Schneider expressed how busy the session has been and how quickly things are moving. He noted that many of the bills coming before committee truly do have two sides to the issue.

The first question from the audience regarded House Bill 1134 regarding scheduling school board bond votes and school board election votes at the same time as the primary ballot, and a later question was asked regarding HB 1162 that intended to move school board ballots to the November election.

Chase noted the desire to emphasize local control. The intent of these bills is to put more on the ballot, which is assumed to bring in more of a portion of the voting populace rather than the typically-low turnouts at civic and school elections, and he expressed that it is a good ambition, but it does stick state statute into local elections.

Wheeler noted the bill could force bond elections to be delayed up to a year and a half in order to get on the proper ballot, which could miss potential construction seasons and other issues that could be negative for schools, so he would not support the measures.

A pair of questions were also asked regarding HB 1197 regarding rewording current statutes on restrictions on materials deemed obscene. Wheeler explained that the bill changes the wording from “or” to “and” on the current statute on ensuring public access computers have software to block obscene material and for schools and libraries to have a policy for obscene material that is available to children.

Wheeler also noted that there is a three-pronged test in statute already that helps to determine and identify what constitutes obscene, which is what libraries and schools would abide by in their determination.

Tim Van Berkum asks a question of the legislators.

The legislators were then asked whether there was anything the legislature could do to stop Gov. Noem from sending South Dakota’s National Guard to Texas, using taxpayer dollars, to assist at the Texas border. Chase acknowledged that there really is nothing that the legislature can do outside of limiting the amount of money available to the Governor’s discretionary fund, and that has been approached without success among the legislature. He also noted that she is the Commander in Chief of the National Guard, so she can make the choice to send troops in that role.

Sen. Wheeler was asked about SB 203 which legalizes carrying a weapon in a school for anyone who is over 21 and holds an advanced carry permit. He explained that there is a process in place for school districts to set up for district employees to carry as part of protection. However, he is against the idea of anyone having the ability to walk into a school with a concealed weapon and then require the school secretary to determine who does and does not have the appropriate permit.

A question was posed to the legislators regarding HB 1065, which would fund the SHED project. Chase noted that legislators recently received a sheet of all one-time funding request bills, and that HB 1065 is something that he and his fellow District 22 legislators will need to lobby fellow legislators about. He also expressed that sheep farmers across the state getting ahold of their legislator to advocate for the need for a facility in Huron will be important.

The final question for legislators regarded HB 1231 regarding foreign ownership of agricultural land. Rep. Chase spoke extensively on the bill, discussing the negotiation that it took to get the bill to finally pass the House ag committee. He noted that he does still have some concerns on the reach of the bill, though he also noted that any concern with foreign countries “spying” on this country, it’s going to be much simpler to purchase a home near Ellsworth Air Force Base or near the Sioux Falls airport, for instance, and those are still legal purchases for a foreign buyer to make.

At closing statements, Wheeler noted that no questions were asked regarding pipelines. He noted that multiple bills regarding pipelines passed the House last week and that the Senate will be taking them up this coming week.