Week No. 6 is coming to an end. This was a very busy week as we prepared for Crossover Day next Tuesday.
We had lots of challenging bills that had lots of different views. I am once again picking a few of the bills that seem to draw the most attention.
HB 1138 to require licensure of non-medical home care agencies – this would require eight hours of training and a background check. The agency would be required to be licensed up to a cost of $100. Opponents said that we are requiring too much of people to do this job; my argument is that we seem to forget about the people that are needing this care. We should protect them, but, the opponents just wanted to focus on the caregiver, I voted yes. To protect our vulnerable citizens, this isn’t a huge ask. It’s common sense.
HB 1171 to establish provisions related to disclosure of Covid 19 or mRNA vaccines in blood donations – this would have put a strain on blood banks, causing them to add labeling, storage and delivery systems when citizens are in need. I am concerned that next, we will starting requiring label for other items such as food when someone has an allergy, or drugs that may have been taken by the donor. There is no proof that if someone took the vaccine that it would still be in the donated blood. I voted no as this causes a major strain on the blood banks, donors and most importantly the people needing this valuable item.
HB 1173 requires certain applications that seek a permit from the Public Utilities Commission of SD to prepare and pay for an environmental impact statement. This is for a CO2 pipeline issue, and it could be ordered by the PUC but this bill would require it. I voted yes
HB 1222 to prohibit members of the Board of Economic Development from having interest in moneys from or approved by the Board of Economic Development – this bill was trying to do exactly what is in South Dakota Codified law under 3-12-1. There is absolutely no reason to pass a bill for this when it is already covered in law. If they want to change anything it should have been the conflict-of-interest statements and the frequency of filing them. I voted No
On HB 1287, we listened to both proponents and opponents. Both state the following:
1) ATF regulates possession and storage of explosives,
2) MSHA (Mine Safety and Health Administration) regulates when, how and how often explosives are used,
3) DANR permits mines, and
4) Meade County does not have zoning ordinances for mining.
A Meade County commissioner testified that twice they tried to pass zoning ordinances and it was referred to the people and it failed, with 80 percent of voters rejecting the ordinances.
There are plenty of other mines East and West River in counties that have zoning ordinances. They comply with the ordinances and there are no problems. The issue here is not a State of South Dakota issue. It is a Meade County issue.
We are using the phrase local control every day in the Capitol, multiple times, This is truly a local control issue and Meade County is who should handle this, not the state.
Don’t put more regulation on every other county in the state when the issue is with Meade County. I voted No.
Tuesday, February 24, is Crossover Day, where all bills from the originating must be passed to the over side. This could be a very late night to make sure that they are all taken care of.
As always, Senator Wipf, Representative Greenfield and I will continue to work for District 22.
Representative Kevin Van Diepen
Leave a Reply