HURON — Legislators will consider bills in the 2018 session that members of a summer workforce/housing committee believe could ease the housing crunch across South Dakota, a District 22 representative said Monday.
Rep. Roger Chase, R-Huron, said the interim study he was a part of heard testimony on the struggle communities are having in attracting workers.
Proposals would increase funding to enhance housing opportunities, he said at a Beadle County Republican Party luncheon.
Chase, Rep. Bob Glanzer, R-Huron; and Sen. Jim White, R-Huron, shared their thoughts on what they expect to be some of the major issues in the upcoming session.
Along with housing and the state budget, they include juvenile justice and the rising problems of substance abuse, navigable waters and a possible resolution regarding federal electronic log legislation for truckers.
White heads to Pierre next month to continue work on the Appropriations Committee, which will try to match revenues with expenses at a time of sluggish sales tax revenues.
“It’s been quite an eye-opening experience,” he said of his eight years on the committee. “We’ve seen the highs and the lows.
“As we move through the process, it’s going to take common sense with all people involved to accomplish the end result of a balanced budget,” White said.
Low commodity prices for producers are contributing to budget problems in South Dakota.
Agriculture impacts the economy at a level of 70 to 75 percent.

“So there’s no question as South Dakota’s agriculture goes, so goes our economy in a lot of ways,” White said.
Glanzer, who like Chase is in his first term, is concerned about the direction of the juvenile justice system and the number of youthful offenders who have little or no future.
“I think the biggest problem that I see going forward is that I don’t think the anticipation of the magnitude and the explosion of all the drugs and opioid use and trying to manage our juvenile system through the courts and through rehab and going back to their own communities for outpatient therapy, I don’t think we anticipated that it would be such a huge problem today,” Glanzer said.
He said he’s not sure that throwing more money at it will solve any issues when it’s perhaps more of a family problem.
“As long as the families are going to be disjointed and broken up like we have them today, a lot of these kids just don’t have a chance,” Glanzer said.
At some of the smaller schools, truancy and drop-outs are on the rise. When they don’t finish high school, kids have no hope or resources to go on to college, he said.
“These kids are going to be 21 years old pretty soon and what are we going to do with them?” Glanzer said.
White predicts legislators will once again take up issues related to juvenile justice. He chaired a summer study on it a few years ago.
Voters will decide an initiative in November 2018 to legalize marijuana for medical use.
Without exception, states that first legalized medical marijuana went on to legalize marijuana for recreational use within three years, he said.
“The thought process of the general public is becoming more open to this type of galaxy drug and so how is this going to impact us?” White said.
One of the bills the summer study on workforce and housing that Chase served on is proposing to reduce from five to three years the timeline for when counties can take ownership of property with unpaid property taxes.
“We think three years is long enough,” he said.
When it takes five years to take ownership, structures have deteriorated to the point where counties are more likely to face liability issues because of vandalism or injuries.
After three years, it may be possible for some of the properties to be salvaged without having to tear them down, Chase said.

Photo:

As Rep. Roger Chase, R-Huron, left, and Rep. Bob Glanzer, R-Huron, look on, Sen. Jim White, R-Huron, talks about what District 22 legislators expect to be the major issues in the upcoming legislative session at a Beadle County Republican Party lunch on Monday.

Photo by Roger Larsen/Plainsman