Greetings! We had a productive week, in my opinion. In education, we reviewed a bill that requested that schools be able to use property insurance payments as part of the 45 per cent capital outlay that is currently used for building projects, This does not increase the capital outlay per cent but rather just permits schools to be able to pay.the high insurance premiums which are being incurred. So far, they have had to come out of their general budgets. I was astonished to learn that schools have ONE company that insures all schools (unless schools are privately a part of a pool). This coverage is liability only; thus our South Dakota schools are helping to pay for catastrophic conditions that happen across the entire country. With severe weather conditions incurred across the U.S,, ultimately affecting educational structures, it is no wonder that liability rates continue to rise. This bill (HB1130) passed and will be sent over to the Senate. Side note: I think it is time to overhaul this monopoly in the insurance industry.
SB8 was presented by Health Secretary, Melissa Magstadt. It asked that, along with injections, we allow epinephrine nasal spray to be administered in our schools to students who are experiencing a severe allergic reaction. The bill states that the person who administers must be a health official or someone who has been trained in this area. Our committee voted unanimously for its passage; however, it was pulled off consent and will now go to the floor for further review.
SB84 requested an increase in the threshold for Partners in Education. Here is a little background: there is a 5 million dollar savings account available to accredited private schools for providing private school scholarships to those who match eligibility requirements. The scholarship money is a tax incentive to insurance companies who wish to participate. This bill asks for the threshold to increase the income standard of eligibility from 150 to 200 per cent of poverty guidelines. Once the student meets eligibility, it is good for the next 3 years, despite a rise in future income. The aforementioned statement is a bit bothersome, but this was passed in both chambers.
In Commerce and Energy we voted that a silencer is not a controlled weapon. By definition, a controlled weapon is a machine gun or short shotgun. A silencer is a piece of plastic that fits on the end of a fire arm. No one seemed to have a problem in voting in favor of this bill.
HB1038 asked for the PUC to be able to assess actual costs of electricity to large customers and defined in the amendment as data centers. There has been much talk about data centers possibly being built in Duel and Minnehaha Counties. Before we jump on board it is wise to see how much electricity will be used and whether it will put a strain on the grid,. This is not the only thing we need to study but is one aspect to be addressed. I have been following the interwoven data companies for about 8 months now. It appears that there is a link and funneling of money from one to another as the stock in one or the other begins to fall. In other words, they are trying to bolster each other and make the projects more attractive to the investors. I will leave it at that for now.
Rep. Wittman and I attended a drug court presentation. The judge had 8 people come forward to visit with them about their progress in the program, and all answered her questions with honesty. Accountability is first and foremost, and participants are tracked to keep them on the right path. One person said that she had gotten a ticket for driving without a license that day. Further explanation was that her son needed to go to the hospital and the grandmother could not drive them as she had alcohol in her system. The judge told her she would have to appear on the charge and explain what happened. It was not left there. The violator was also asked what she could have done instead of making this harmful choice. I appreciated the judge asking her to think about preventable solutions.
On the floor we debated adulterated meat (fake), selling farm beef directly to the customer, submitting to the voters a ballot measure to repeal Medicaid expansion (which is now exceeding our budget funding for education). As we already have a measure on the future ballot regarding Medicaid, many of us thought we should not add yet another, thus causing confusion.
As we continue our debates, there seems greater passion and lack of civility, which keeps things hot and disjointed. Hopefully, we can push some of that heat to eastern South Dakota in order to get rid of our cold spell!
It has been good to see people from back home this week. I encourage you to come out and visit the People’s House. If you do not know how a bill becomes a law, now would be a good time to learn.
Until next week, may God bless you and keep you well.
Rep. Lana Greenfield.
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