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TOP NEWS STORIES
DO I HEAR SEVEN? SEVEN STATE AIRPLANES? NINE AIRPLANES? HOW ABOUT 13?
How many airplanes are now known to be owned by state government? Last week, the number grew to nine. The number grew to 13 today when it was revealed before the Senate Appropriations Committee by legislators who want to sell off some of the air fleet to fund essential services. How many state airplanes does it take to haul one Governor? If you're Mike Rounds, the answer is three King Airs and another passenger plane. Senator Scott Heidepriem disclosed the number of state planes during his attempt to pass Senate Bill 137, which would sell state airplanes to help cover the financial shortfall which Rounds claims has forced him to kill the S.D. State Fair, the S.D. School for the Deaf, the S.D. Arts Council and essential health services like the Birth to 3 Program. Jason Dilges, who heads the Bureau of Finance & Management, led the testimony against the budget austerity measure by calling the bill, offered by Heidepriem and Republican Sen. Gene Abdallah, R-Sioux Falls, as "politics." Heidepriem questioned Dilges' claim, saying the legislature is expected by the Governor to make "hard choices" when it comes to approving Rounds' slashing Birth to 3, the Arts Council, the School for the Deaf and other essential needs to citizens, but the Governor's office considers it "politics" when legislators seek funding remedies by reducing the state air fleet. Heidepreim responded:
Here we have three pressurized twin-engine King Airs, all valued at more than one million dollars. Do we need all three of them, or do we need the Birth to 3 Program? Compared to what? That's the question the appropriations process is all about and that's why we entrust you to make those decisions.The measure lost 4-3 on a party line vote. Voting to kill the bill by deferring it to the 41st legislative day were Sen. Al Novstrup of Aberdeen, Sen. Jean Hunhoff of Yankton, Sen. Jeff Haverly of Rapid City and Sen. Corey Brown of Gettysburg.
GOP SENATORS EMBRACE CORRUPT NO-BID CONTRACTING IN PARTY-LINE VOTE
Republican State Senators Bob Gray of Pierre, Russ Olson of Madison, Larry Rhoden of Union Center and Gene Abdallah, Dave Knudson and Tom Dempster of Sioux Falls this week endorsed the politically corrupt "pay to play" tactics of the Gov. Mike Rounds administration which gives lucrative no-bid contracts to political pals who hand out big contributions. They voted as a bloc this week in Senate State Affairs against Senate Bill 168 to reform contract awards in state government. The bill would have forbidden no-bid contracts for state projects in excess of $25,000, and would have required those contracts to be awarded through a public bidding process.
The most notorious no-bid contract arrangement in the Rounds/Daugaard administration is with Lawrence & Schiller which has benefited from a cozy arrangement which gave $23 million for contracts that were not put up for bidding. Daugaard, whose daughter works for Lawrence & Schiller, hired the firm to provide media campaign services to his governor campaign.
The bill, offered by Democratic leaders Sen. Scott Heidepriem and Rep. Bernie Hunhoff, sought to outlaw large contract payoffs to contributors. For details, look up Senate Bill 168 on the Legislative Research Council website. There'a an AP story from the Yankton paper about this, too.
HEINEMAN VOTE DELAYED TO NEXT WEEK. WHY? NOT ENOUGH VOTES? HMMMMMM.
Republican legislators who care about a high quality education program in South Dakota are as upset as Democratic legislators about Gov. Mike Rounds' decision to appoint former House member Phyllis Heineman to the state education board. But will they sprout a spine to vote against Heineman's nomination to the board or wimp out? That's the buzz in the Capitol today. The Heineman nomination might have been in trouble if it had gone forward with the expected vote in the State Senate today. However, the vote was pulled off the calendar for Tuesday when the legislature reconvenes after the holiday. Heineman was no friend to education when she served four terms in the House. She lost in an expensive and hotly contended race last fall against Sen. Scott Heidepriem, mainly because of her unsavory positions on supporting a quality education system in the state. Why the vote was delayed was not explained, except that observers noted that many legislators went home early today and she may not have had enough votes in the Senate. Her nomination survived a one-vote margin earlier this week in the Senate Education Committee.
Here's an Associated Press quote about Heineman's controversial nomination from GOP Senate Leader Dave Knudson, who serves in neighboring District 14:
"I've seldom agreed with Rep. Heineman on educational issues, as we've had for four years sharp differences on the Senate views on education and the House's views."With ringing endorsements like that, it'll be interesting to see the count when the Senate votes next week.
AROUND THE STATE
By Amanda Mattingly, SDDP Field Organizer
Now is the best time to make the biggest difference to winning back the Statehouse in the 2010 election. That's because county party elections are required to be held in April throughout South Dakota. The only people who can vote in county party elections, according to our SDDP Constitution, are the county party officers, Democratic office holders and precinct committee women and men.
This makes a wonderful incentive to recruit a full slate of precinct committee women and men in each county. Why?
- They get to vote in the April elections. Those elected as Chair, Vice Chair, and State Central Committee Men and Women get to vote for regional representatives to the SDDP Executive Board at McGovern Day's State Central Committee meeting on April 25 in Aberdeen.
- They will be useful to electing new Chairs and Vice Chairs in each of the 35 State Legislative Districts throughout South Dakota during May, as required by the SDDP Constitution.
- They become automatic delegates to the 2010 SDDP State Convention.
- They will perform a vital role in recruiting and organizing new volunteers to help our candidates, to hold events, and get out our Democratic message during 2009 and 2010.
If you have questions on how to become a precinct leader or you would like help to organize and train precinct leaders in your county, please contact me by email, amandam2282--at--gmail.com
The South Dakota Democratic Party provides professional staff and some of the best consultant support to our Democratic legislators. This newsletter is being sent to you to keep you informed of key issues and major developments in Pierre until April 1, 2009.
By making a difference for the Democratic Party, you will help us and our legislators make a difference for South Dakota. Please make a contribution online, or mail your check to SDDP, P.O. Box 1485, Sioux Falls, SD 57101.
Paid for by South Dakota Democratic Party, P.O. Box 1485, Sioux Falls, SD 57101; Bill Nibbelink, Treasurer. Political contributions are not tax-deductible as a charitable contribution for Federal income tax purposes.
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