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South Dakota Searchlight •

Ballot group sues state over shorter petition circulation window • South Dakota Searchlight

A ballot question committee is suing South Dakota’s top election official over a new law that shortens the window for petition circulation by three months.
Dakotans for Health filed the lawsuit Tuesday in federal court against Secretary of State Monae Johnson.
“This new law is just another effort to silence the voices of South Dakotans and deny them the right to make decisions that impact their lives,” said Dakotans for Health Chairman Rick Weiland in a news release.
South Dakota’s Republican-d...
South Dakota Searchlight •

Legislature sustains veto of geographic signature requirement for constitutional amendment petitions • South Dakota Searchlight

Petitioners hoping to put state constitutional amendments on the ballot won’t need signatures from each of South Dakota’s legislative Senate districts.
After the governor vetoed a bill containing the requirement last week, the state Senate sustained the veto Monday at the Capitol in Pierre. The House voted earlier Monday to override the veto, but agreement from both chambers is required to overturn the governor’s action.
Michael Rohl, R-Aberdeen, was among the senators who opposed the bill and s...
South Dakota Searchlight •

State loan brings help to school preparing for Air Force base growth, but unknowns remain  • South Dakota Searchlight

BOX ELDER — A new state law brought a degree of certainty Friday to a situation filled with unknowns for the Douglas School District.
The law, signed by South Dakota Republican Gov. Larry Rhoden, authorizes a $15 million, zero-interest loan to the district from the state’s housing infrastructure fund. The money will help pay for the construction of a third elementary school.
The extra school is needed because the federal government is developing B-21 stealth bombers, and some of them will be sta...
South Dakota Searchlight •

Noem’s successor hits ‘reset’ after she insisted there was ‘No Going Back’ • South Dakota Searchlight

For a condemnation of Kristi Noem’s performance as governor, just look at what her former lieutenant governor is doing.
You won’t get him to admit that, of course. Larry Rhoden insists Noem did “great things” for South Dakota.
Yet Rhoden has also positioned himself as Governor Reset after taking inspiration from a Native American tribal leader, Chairman J. Garrett Renville of the Sisseton Wahpeton Oyate.
Noem’s departure to serve in President Donald Trump’s Cabinet was imminent when Renville del...
South Dakota Searchlight •

South Dakota governor asks Trump to build promised statue garden and put it near Mount Rushmore • South Dakota Searchlight

South Dakota Gov. Larry Rhoden sent President Donald Trump an invitation Tuesday to fulfill a promise from five years ago: the creation of a “National Garden of American Heroes.”
And Rhoden wants Trump to put the statue garden in South Dakota’s Black Hills.
“In fact, we have a plot of land available in sight of Mount Rushmore that would be ideal for this fantastic effort,” Rhoden wrote in a letter to Trump.
That plot of land, according to Rhoden, is privately owned by the Lien family, which is w...
South Dakota Searchlight •

Former Yellowstone, Rushmore, Badlands superintendents say DOGE wiped out a generation of leaders • South Dakota Searchlight

If Dan Wenk had been fired during his first year in a permanent job with the National Park Service, the agency would’ve lost his many later accomplishments.
He would not have gone on to help lead a public-private partnership that raised $75 million to redevelop visitor facilities at Mount Rushmore National Memorial, or a $300 million negotiation to improve amenities at Yellowstone National Park with private funds, or the acquisition of the United Flight 93 crash site in Pennsylvania for a nation...
South Dakota Searchlight •

New version of bill to aid Ellsworth Air Force Base specifies $15 million loan for school • South Dakota Searchlight

The effort to win state financial support for a new elementary school necessitated by growth at Ellsworth Air Force Base won a legislative endorsement Thursday at the South Dakota Capitol in Pierre.
The state House of Representatives’ 41-28 vote was the latest twist in a multi-year struggle. Legislation to provide $15 million of state funding for the project failed last year.
Earlier this week, Sen. Helene Duhamel, R-Rapid City, tried a new approach. She convinced the Senate to pass a bill that...
South Dakota Searchlight •

South Dakota should protect students from a dual-credit price hike, state Senate committee decides • South Dakota Searchlight

The state should maintain its subsidy for dual credit students, a group of South Dakota legislators decided Tuesday at the Capitol in Pierre.
The Senate Education Committee voted 4-3 to defeat a proposed reduction of the subsidy. That means the reduction is likely dead, barring the use of any procedural maneuver to revive it during the last two weeks of the annual legislative session.
Sen. Jamie Smith, D-Sioux Falls, was among the committee members who voted to retain the existing level of suppo...
South Dakota Searchlight •

Bill would transfer $15 million from SD housing fund to support Air Force base growth • South Dakota Searchlight

The South Dakota Senate advanced legislation Monday at the Capitol in Pierre that would take $15 million from a statewide housing infrastructure program and put it in a fund supporting the growth of Ellsworth Air Force Base.
The base near Rapid City is undergoing an estimated $2 billion worth of construction to accommodate the future arrival of B-21 bomber planes, which are under development. That activity is expected to grow the base and its surrounding civilian population significantly, puttin...
South Dakota Searchlight •

Lawmakers will ask SD voters for permission to end Medicaid expansion if federal support declines • South Dakota Searchlight

South Dakota voters will decide next year whether to continue requiring Medicaid expansion if federal support for the program declines.
The state House of Representatives voted 31-3 on Monday at the Capitol in Pierre to support a resolution that will send the question to voters. The Senate had already approved the measure, which does not require a signature from the governor.
The question will appear on the ballot in the November 2026 general election.

Medicaid is government-funded health insur...
South Dakota Searchlight •

South Dakota lawmakers send Mickelson Trail e-bike limitation to governor • South Dakota Searchlight

The two chambers of the South Dakota Legislature agree that only the slowest class of e-bikes should be allowed on the scenic Mickelson Trail.
They sent that limitation Wednesday to Republican Gov. Larry Rhoden, who will decide whether to sign it into law.
The trail, named for the late Gov. George Mickelson, runs 109 miles through the Black Hills on a former railroad route. As Rapid City Republican Rep. Tim Goodwin said Wednesday in the House of Representatives, e-bikes were “not even thought of...
South Dakota Searchlight •

Failure of task force bill complicates South Dakota’s prison construction impasse • South Dakota Searchlight

South Dakota lawmakers have reached an impasse on prison construction talks: They have a stalled $825 million plan, and no path to a new plan for replacing the aging penitentiary or addressing prison population growth.
The latest twist happened Tuesday at the Capitol in Pierre when the state Senate voted 20-15 against the formation of a task force to study new options.
Sen. Kevin Jensen, R-Canton, summarized the situation as he tried unsuccessfully to save his task force proposal.
“What next? We...
South Dakota Searchlight •

SD House endorses student-teacher stipends to address educator shortage • South Dakota Searchlight

With about 200 teacher openings statewide and neighboring states aggressively recruiting young educators, South Dakota needs to step up, said Rep. Chris Kassin, R-Vermillion.
The South Dakota House of Representatives agreed, voting 59-11 on Monday at the Capitol in Pierre to budget $500,000 for the creation of a statewide student-teacher stipend program. The legislation goes to the Senate next.
“Folks, this is a simple and strategic step to strengthen our education workforce,” Kassin said.
The s...
South Dakota Searchlight •

It’s not hard to figure out why young South Dakotans don't want to be teachers • South Dakota Searchlight

The leader of South Dakota’s public universities gave a telling answer recently when a legislator asked him why the higher education system isn’t churning out enough teaching graduates.
“We’re seeing a drop-off in interest,” said Nathan Lukkes, executive director of the Board of Regents. “If you go back 10, 20 years and you look at the percentage of students that were coming and wanted to be teachers versus today, the interest is going in the wrong direction.”
Gee, I wonder why.
Maybe it’s becau...
South Dakota Searchlight •

Lawmakers advance carbon pipeline moratorium and bill regulating land agents • South Dakota Searchlight

South Dakota lawmakers advanced bills Friday at the Capitol in Pierre that would put a moratorium on carbon dioxide pipelines until new federal safety rules are finalized, and would authorize landowners to sue pipeline companies for the alleged abuses of their land agents.
The bills don’t name Summit Carbon Solutions, but they’re a response to the Iowa company’s proposed $9 billion, five-state pipeline that would pass through eastern South Dakota. It would collect carbon dioxide emitted by more...
South Dakota Searchlight •

Push to ban lab-grown meat fails in South Dakota Senate • South Dakota Searchlight

A legislative effort to ban lab-grown meat in South Dakota failed Thursday at the Capitol in Pierre, after the success of earlier bills to require labeling and prohibit state spending in support of the product.
The ban’s initial failure was Wednesday on a 17-17 vote in the Senate, with one member absent. That was Sen. Kevin Jensen, R-Canton, who had voted for the bill when it advanced out of the Senate Agriculture and Natural Resources Committee.
A supporter of the legislation, Sen. Mykala Voita...
South Dakota Searchlight •

Legislative committee endorses prosecution of librarians who lend books deemed harmful to children • South Dakota Searchlight

A South Dakota legislative committee advanced a bill Wednesday at the Capitol in Pierre that would subject schools, universities, museums, libraries and their employees to criminal prosecution and jail time for allowing children to view material defined in state law as obscene or harmful to minors.
An opponent of the bill said it would put “librarians in handcuffs” for lending a book to a child that some adults might consider inappropriate. One member of the House Education Committee who voted i...
South Dakota Searchlight •

The simple solution for South Dakota’s budget woes: Restore the sales tax rate • South Dakota Searchlight

South Dakota legislators are suffering from all sorts of angst this winter over a seemingly complicated budget situation that many believe can only be solved by cuts.
In reality, the solution isn’t complicated at all. It’s incredibly simple: Just move the state sales tax rate back to 4.5%. That would wipe out all of the budget problems with money left to spare.
Confused? Don’t be. There’s an easy explanation for how we got here.
In the fall of 2022, then-Gov. Kristi Noem, a Republican, sensed th...
South Dakota Searchlight •

Mount Rushmore fireworks to return next year, mixing a spectacle with fire risks and other problems • South Dakota Searchlight

Mount Rushmore will host an Independence Day-themed fireworks display next year, bringing worldwide attention to the national memorial and South Dakota, but also bringing concerns about potential forest fires, water pollution, litter and other problems.
South Dakota Republican Gov. Larry Rhoden announced Monday that the state has reached an agreement with the federal government to host a fireworks display at the mountain carving next year in celebration of the nation’s 250th birthday. Rhoden sai...
South Dakota Searchlight •

Lawmakers advance bill requiring SD schools to teach Native American history, culture • South Dakota Searchlight

South Dakota public schools would be required to teach a specific set of Native American historical and cultural lessons if a bill unanimously endorsed by a legislative committee Tuesday in Pierre becomes law.
The bill would mandate the teaching of the Oceti Sakowin Essential Understandings. The phrase “Oceti Sakowin” refers to the Lakota, Dakota and Nakota people. The understandings are a set of standards and lessons adopted seven years ago by the South Dakota Board of Education Standards with...
South Dakota Searchlight •

Property tax credits rise from the ‘ashes’ of failed SD school choice legislation • South Dakota Searchlight

A bill described as an “opportunity for a phoenix to rise out of the ashes” of South Dakota’s school choice debate advanced out of a legislative committee Tuesday at the Capitol in Pierre.
The legislation from state Sen. John Carley, R-Piedmont, would provide property tax credits to help families pay for private school, homeschooling or other forms of alternative instruction.
Rapid City resident Tonchi Weaver, representing the conservative political action group Citizens for Liberty, made the “p...
South Dakota Searchlight •

SD lawmakers consider higher license fees for drivers and tradespeople • South Dakota Searchlight

Fees for drivers, plumbers, cosmetologists, electricians and accountants would increase if lawmakers adopt a package of bills pending in the South Dakota Legislature.
A state Senate budget committee advanced several of the bills Monday at the Capitol in Pierre and delayed action on one.
The trade-specific bills are recommended by state boards and commissions consisting of industry representatives. Those bodies oversee licensing and inspections that are funded by fees, with caps set in state law....
South Dakota Searchlight •

Attempted cap on SD school administrator pay fails, but highlights disparity with teachers • South Dakota Searchlight

PIERRE — A state senator brought attention to a disparity in educator compensation in South Dakota but lost her attempt Friday to cap administrator salaries at three times the average pay of teachers.
The Senate vote against the bill from Sen. Sue Peterson, R-Sioux Falls, was 22-13.
Peterson said South Dakota’s teachers rank 49th nationally in average pay, while administrators rank 16th.
“Our teachers are last and our administrators are near the top. That’s wrong,” Peterson said.
In opposition c...
South Dakota Searchlight •

Busloads of public broadcasting supporters make case to avoid $3.6 million state budget cut • South Dakota Searchlight

PIERRE — Supporters of South Dakota Public Broadcasting made their pitch Friday at the Capitol to avoid a $3.6 million budget cut that they said would undermine public safety, government transparency, education, high school activities and local storytelling.
The state agency receives state and federal funding, along with money raised by its affiliated nonprofit, the Friends of SDPB. Friends CEO Ryan Howlett told members of the Legislature’s budget committee that the state funding cut would imper...
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