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Thank you to the Alexandria Development Corporation for hostingacrackerbarrel.Itwas great to see so many people involved in the process and to hear their feedback.
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Two weeks of the 2023 legislative session remain with the completion of Week 7. This week had several bills important to South Dakota’s number one industry which is Agriculture. Senate Bill 185 would have created a new government board and increased government regulations on Ag land owners in South Dakota. All the major Agriculture groups in South Dakota along with several business groups opposed SB 185. Government at all levels seems to grow and increase regulations all the time. I voted against SB 185; it was defeated in the Senate, 23 to 11.
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Week 7 Rocky Blare Legislative Report The biggest item this year was passing HB1137 which will reduce the state sales tax rates in South Dakota from 4.5% to 4.2%. This will reduce the tax burden for citizens by $100 million, the largest tax decrease in SD history. We can do this because of the increased revenue received and projections of the ability to sustain growth without adversely effecting other programs. This would honor a promise made to SD citizens when the ½% sales tax was approved in prior years. At that time a promise was made that we would reduce that tax once sufficient tax revenue from internet sales was achieved, at that point we would reduce the rate increase. This was known as the Partridge amendment. This will now go to the Senate for their approval.
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We passed three more election bills off the Senate floor this week. HB 1112 is an act to modify provisions for a statewide runoff election. This will require a runoff election to occur 8 weeks from the date of the first primary election. HB 1124 is an act to modify provisions pertaining to the testing of automatic tabulating equipment. HB 1165 is an act to modify certain provisions pertaining to absentee voting. This bill bans prefilled absentee voting forms and prevents ballot drop boxes which are an avenue for election fraud.
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One summer during my college years, another premed student and I got a job at the Swedish Hospital in Minneapolis, as nurses’ aides. At that time, the guys were called orderlies, but we were part of the nursing department. We were taught how to clean patients’ private parts without making the patient feel self-conscious, and how to place urinary catheters mostly in old men with prostates that had overgrown and were blocking urinary flow.
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ATTORNEY GENERAL MARTY JACKLEY ANNOUNCES 184TH GRADUATION CLASS OF THE SOUTH DAKOTA BASIC LAW ENFORCEMENT CERTIFICATION COURSE
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Every year the American Legion Auxiliary does an Americanism poem and essay contest. This year's poem theme was 'Thanking our Veterans for our Freedom' and grades 3rd through 6th were eligible to participate. This year's essay title was 'What does patriotism mean to you?' Only our 4th graders under the guidance of their language arts teacher, Mrs. Stephanie Hill participated. We appreciate all the students that took the time to participate, and their hard work representing Wagner so well with your creativity and sharing their thoughts about what Americanism means to you. The winners of the poem and essay contest will now be sent on to Districts. Poems and more photos on page 4.
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