From the desk of Marty Overweg

Well, we’re in the home stretch as they say, with two weeks left in the Session and most of the work behind us. We still have the budget to finalize but talking to our Appropriators it sounds like things are coming together and we should be able to pass a balanced budget by the end of Session. That doesn’t mean I like everything in it or even that I approve of some of the expenditures or cuts but that’s a budget and it’s how it goes. Nothing is finalized but we should be able to avoid the big cuts that then Governor Noem proposed for SDPB, Veterans burial assistance, and the Libraries. SDPB and the libraries will take some cuts like every department but should be able to keep federal funding as long as it’s available. We decided to not build the new prison that was proposed and will study a new prison plan with the Legislature and Governor’s office working together to determine a plan that we can agree on and will not bankrupt the State. I think this is a good idea and I support it and Governor Rhoden’s leadership on how we come to an agreed plan. One billion dollars is the biggest appropriation the state of South Dakota has ever spent and we shouldn’t take it lightly. Committee work will end this week as all the bills have to be in their original Chambers by Thursday so only a couple meetings left. I’m pleased how the Session has gone and we’ve met every task and deadline on time. I’m also pleased how the new Legislators have grown in knowledge and learning the process. We handled 20 bills on Tuesday ( Cross-over) day and we were done by 6:00 P.M which is moving right along considering the House can get on some talkers, you might say we know how to beat something to death. One of our goals yet this year is to see if we can stop property tax increases. I’ve heard from so many people about how high their property taxes have gone. This is a tough problem to solve because all property taxes are spent locally and nobody wants to cut school and county funds but we’ve got some ideas and hopefully we can come up with a plan to hold it steady for now. We also dedicated some money to the continuing upkeep of our Capital. For too many years the past Legislators let maintenance slip and now there’s some work that must be done. It’s a special building and we don’t want to lose it. If you’re a Mickelson Trail user, only class 1 electric bikes will be allowed on the Trail if the Governor signs SB 79 into law. The Trail was built originally to allow no motorized vehicles but whoever imagined we’d invent electric bikes. We also voted to expand the South Dakota State Veterans Cemetery which is the least we could do for our heroes. If you’ve been reading about the Attorneys General’s bills to fight government corruption in our state then you’ll be glad to hear we had them in committee this past week. I like what they do, bring stiffer penalties to those who don’t report crimes and protecting those that do report them. We’ve had too many people embezzling taxpayers’ money and it’s been going on for years. We also introduced some bills to help transparency in government spending. These laws won’t be a cure all, but you must start somewhere and these bills are as good as it gets right now. We decided all high school functions must except cash for admission and talked about school opt-outs and how much involvement taxpayers should have. The House passed the hunting distance bill that would move it from 660 feet to 1320 feet from a residence, but the Senate did not like it and killed it. Get a hold of me at Marty.overweg@sdlegislature .gov or my cell phone 605-680-0304 if I can help in any way and thanks for all your support. Representative Marty Overweg.