T D ’ O N | F 1861
1
he main run of South Dakota’s legislative session is over, and it could be called a season of modest progress. To be sure, there were some disappointments, including the failure again to expand Medicaid to help cover more than 40,000 South Dakotans. The blame for this inability to extend coverage must, to an extent, be shared between Pierre and Washington, but ultimately, the same old roadblocks stood in the way. However, in some ways, legislators played catch-up on several is- sues: • Coming into the session, South Dakota was the only state in the union that did not have a felony penalty for animal cruelty. That changed this winter; • South Dakota’s teachers continue to rank dead last in the coun- try in terms of pay, and lawmakers surprisingly made a small gesture toward addressing that situation. After the Senate silently killed a res- olution earlier this session acknowledging there was a teacher short- age in the state due to the low pay — literally, not one lawmaker voiced opposition to the bill before summarily axing it — lawmakers were able to throw a little money toward teacher pay on the final day of the session. An extra $2.2 million was provided to schools this year that will allow the districts to give an average raise of $230 to the state’s 100,000 teachers. Of course, South Dakota’s average wage was about $2,800 behind 49th Mississippi for 49th place in the country, so the $230 boost doesn’t nearly erase that gap. But it’s a small start. • The Common Core educational standards withstood various po- litical assaults to remain standing at session’s end; • South Dakota FINALLY passed a texting ban, which is remarkable considering that the legislation — which a great many lawmakers sup- ported in one form or another (which is a tricky and important phrase) this session — basically died last Tuesday when two oppos- ing measures could not be reconciled. But then something extraordi- nary happened — the kind of thing from which lawmakers in Washington could learn. After the final bill went down to defeat, law- makers decided to try again to come up with a compromise, which they did 48 hours later. The compromise — which makes the texting ban a secondary offense but allows communities to enact their own, tougher rules — passed the House and Senate Thursday and will likely be signed into law. In the compromise, both sides give in on key elements in the name of the greater good. And with that, South Dakota joins 41 other states with a texting law in the books. But there were other failures besides Medicaid, too. The failure to expand prenatal care to undocumented immigrants. While one can point to immigration politics, one must also acknowl- edge that this state has one of the higher infant mortality rates in the country. Legislation like this would be a start. And lawmakers failed to full restore the cuts the education that were endured by districts in 2011. However, the aforementioned boost earmarked for teacher salaries does help cut the deficit a little bit. So, it’s a start, which for South Dakota, is real progress. And that’s a good statement to take away from the 2014 session. Hopefully, it provides a momentum that can be built upon next winter. kmh Words Of A Patriot Fernande C. Bitsos, Yankton Thank you, Mr. Kerr. This was the country that the “Greatest Generation” gave to the USA. Your “Writer’s Block” proved it! (“This Isn’t The Country I Fought To Preserve,” Press & Dakotan, March 6). When I arrived to the USA in January 1951, the country was booming with coming home World War II GI’s, sad from losing many of their war buddies but happy to rejoin their families. They also had GI loans for homes, college edu- cation and employments. People were happy, the economy was flourishing. My then-Navy husband was able to attend air conditioning/heating school in Omaha under the GI Bill. I became an American Citizen in Omaha in 1954 and had no problem finding a job at a bis- cuit company starting at a minimum wage of $1.25 per hour and at Calendra’s picture devel- oping company. There were jobs ... jobs ... jobs. And men didn’t have to work at two or three jobs for their families not to go hungry. Men worked and women didn’t have to work, but take care of their children. The war was over and the USA was at its greatest in many aspects. We had a Democratic- led government, our great President F. D. Roo- sevelt had passed away replaced by President Harry S. Truman (1945-1953). Most of the World War II vets that I have met since I arrived here in the USA were Democrats and appreciative of what American presidents had prepared for their return to civilian lives. Unfortunately, many of our younger con- gressmen or senators were not living in those years or never served in the US military. They are the “Newest Generation,” pampered and $$$$$$$ funded to spread their dreadful wishes. Thank you, Mr. Kerr, for your service to our country, your truthfulness and detailed column. High schools and universities should read it. It is a “gem” from a World War II patriot. T HE P RESS D AKOTAN THE DAKOTAS’ OLDEST NEWSPAPER | FOUNDED 1861 Yankton Media, Inc., 319 Walnut St., Yankton, SD 57078 Tuesday, 3.18.14 ON THE WEB: www.yankton.net VIEWS PAGE: [email protected] PRESS DAKOTAN PAGE 4 views OPINION Modest Progress Made In Pierre Blessed is the one who does not walk in step with the wicked or stand in the way that sinners take or sit in the company of mockers, but whose delight is in the law of the Lord, and who meditates on his law day and night. That person is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither — whatever they do prospers. Psalm 1:1-2 NIV . Portals of Prayer, Concordia Publishing House, St. Louis FROM THE BIBLE By The Associated Press Today is Tuesday, March 18, the 77th day of 2014. There are 288 days left in the year. Today’s Highlight in History: On March 18, 1974, most of the Arab oil- producing nations ended their 5- month-old embargo against the United States that had been sparked by American support for Israel in the Yom Kippur War. On this date: In 1766, Britain re- pealed the Stamp Act of 1765. In 1837, the 22nd and 24th presi- dent of the United States, Grover Cleveland, was born in Caldwell, N.J. In 1913, King George I of Greece was assassinated in Thessaloniki. In 1937, some 300 people, mostly children, were killed in a gas explosion at a school in New London, Texas. In 1938, Mexican President Lazaro Cardenas nationalized his country’s petroleum reserves and took control of foreign-owned oil facil- ities. In 1940, Adolf Hitler and Benito Mussolini met at the Brenner Pass, where the Italian dictator agreed to join Germany’s war against France and Britain. In 1959, President Dwight D. Eisenhower signed the Hawaii state- hood bill. (Hawaii became a state on Aug. 21, 1959.) In 1962, France and Algerian rebels signed the Evian Accords, a cease-fire agreement which took ef- fect the next day, ending the Algerian War. In 1963, the U.S. Supreme Court, in Gideon v. Wainwright, ruled unani- mously that state courts were required to provide legal counsel to criminal de- fendants who could not afford to hire an attorney on their own. In 1965, the first spacewalk took place as Soviet cosmonaut Alexei Leonov went outside his Voskhod 2 capsule, secured by a tether. In 1980, Frank Gotti, the 12-year- old youngest son of mobster John Gotti, was struck and killed by a car driven by John Favara, a neighbor in Queens, N.Y. (The following July, Favara vanished, the apparent victim of a gang hit.) In 1990, thieves made off with 13 works of art from the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston (the crime remains unsolved). Ten years ago: Addressing thou- sands of soldiers at Fort Campbell, Ky., President George W. Bush warned that terrorists could never be appeased and said there was no safety for any nation that “lives at the mercy of gangsters and mass murder- ers.” Overruling its staff, the Federal Communications Commission de- clared that an expletive (the “F-word”) uttered by rock star Bono on NBC the previous year was both indecent and profane. (The commissioners did not propose a fine for Bono’s expletive during the 2003 Golden Globe Awards.) Five years ago: Under intense pressure from the Obama administra- tion and Congress, the head of bailed- out insurance giant AIG, Edward Liddy, told Congress that some of the firm’s executives had begun returning all or part of bonuses totaling $165 million. Tony-winning actress Natasha Richardson, 45, died at a New York hospital two days after suffering a head injury while skiing in Canada. One year ago: A plan to seize up to 10 percent of savings accounts in Cyprus to help pay for a massive fi- nancial bailout was met with fury. (That proposal was rejected by the Cypriot parliament; authorities ended up seizing large portions of uninsured savings in the country’s two largest banks and imposing capital controls.) A mortar shell explosion killed seven Marines from Camp Lejeune and in- jured eight other people during moun- tain warfare training at Hawthorne Army Depot in Nevada. Today’s Birthdays: Composer John Kander is 87. Country singer Charley Pride is 80. Nobel peace lau- reate and former South African presi- dent F.W. de Klerk is 78. Country singer Margie Bowes is 73. Actor Kevin Dobson is 71. Actor Brad Dourif is 64. Jazz musician Bill Frisell is 63. Singer Irene Cara is 55. Movie writer- director Luc Besson is 55. Actor Ge- offrey Owens is 53. Actor Thomas Ian Griffith is 52. Singer-songwriter James McMurtry is 52. Singer-actress Vanessa L. Williams is 51. Olympic gold medal speedskater Bonnie Blair is 50. Country musician Scott Saun- ders (Sons of the Desert) is 50. Actor David Cubitt is 49. Rock musician Jerry Cantrell (Alice in Chains) is 48. Rock singer-musician Miki Berenyi is 47. Actor Michael Bergin is 45. Rap- per-actress-talk show host Queen Lat- ifah is 44. Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus is 42. Actor-comedian Dane Cook is 42. Country singer Philip Sweet (Little Big Town) is 40. Rock musician Stuart Zender is 40. Singers Evan and Jaron Lowenstein are 40. Actress-singer- dancer Sutton Foster is 39. Singer Devin Lima (LFO) is 37. Rock singer Adam Levine (Maroon 5) is 35. Rock musician Daren Taylor (Airborne Toxic Event) is 34. Olympic gold medal fig- ure skater Alexei Yagudin is 34. Actor Adam Pally is 32. Actress-dancer Julia Goldani Telles is 19. Thought for Today: “I take a sim- ple view of living. It is keep your eyes open and get on with it.” — Laurence Olivier, British actor (1907-1989). ON THIS DATE MANAGERS Gary L. Wood Publisher Michele Schievelbein Advertising Director Tonya Schild Business Manager Michael Hrycko Circulation Director Tera Schmidt Classified Manager Kelly Hertz Editor James D. Cimburek Sports Editor Beth Rye New Media Director Kathy Larson Composing Manager Published Daily Monday-Saturday Periodicals postage paid at Yankton, South Dakota, under the act of March 3, 1979. Weekly Dakotian established June 6, 1861. Yankton Daily Press and Dakotian established April 26, 1875. Postmaster: Send address changes to Yankton Daily Press & Dakotan, 319 Wal- nut, Yankton, SD 57078. *** *** *** *** MEMBERSHIPS The Yankton Daily Press & Dakotan is a member of the Associ- ated Press, the Inland Daily Press Associa- tion and the South Dakota Newspaper Association. The Asso- ciated Press is entitled exclusively to use of all the local news printed in this newspaper. 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Yes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .59% No . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .37% Not sure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3% TOTAL VOTES CAST . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .330 The Press & Dakotan Internet poll is not a scientific survey and reflects the opinions only of those who choose to participate. The results should not be con- strued as an accurate representation or scientific meas- urement of public opinion. ——— CURRENT QUESTION: Should communities be allowed to ban the own- ership of certain breeds of dogs? To vote in the Press & Dakotanʼs Internet poll, log on to our website at www.yankton.net. Online Opinion BY SEN. JEAN HUNHOFF R-District 18 (Yankton) The last two weeks of the session get “testy” as money becomes the prime focus, and priori- ties of the governor and Legislature for funding have to merge to a conclusion. During the past two weeks in Health and Human Services, the committee amended an HCR resolution urging Congress to repeal and de- fund Obamacare and amended the bill to pro- hibit the practice of sex-selective abortions. The original HCR for repeal and defunding of Obamacare was five pages long and contained fact and opinion regarding perceptions of our state government’s position on PPACA. Two pro- ponents presented both sponsors of the bill and no opposition. The amended resolution coming out of committee focused on the themes of the five pages and directed our congressional dele- gation to repeal and defund PPACA. It came through the Senate but, since amended, went back to the House. The sponsor in the House convinced the House to send the bill to a confer- ence committee. This again resulted in more de- bate and, as a result, the resolution basically died because the committee did not make a rec- ommendation. The short of this is that way too much time was spent on a resolution — was it for purpose or personal gain? If it was for purpose, then the message was the same, just concise and to the point. The sex-selective abortions bill was, in a sense, prevention for this to occur. That was much of the debate from the opponents who asked, would a woman admit to wanting an abor- tion because of the sex of the child? Then there is the issue of patient/physician protection of in- formation. The one factor that seemed to play into the discussion was the changing technology for accessing prenatal information regarding the fetus. So much can be learned about the baby very early in the pregnancy. So the bill passed and the message sent: Abortions for sex selec- tion are illegal in South Dakota. Two bills in Local Government gleaned the most debate. HB 1164 revised certain provisions regarding school board opening day decision petitions. This was a hoghouse coming from a Sioux Falls representative to change the number of voters needed to file a petition with the school board to refer an election to change the start date of school. The intent was to change the eligible number of voters needed to sign the petition from those registered voters in the district, based on total number of registered voters in the last preceding general election, to the total num- ber of registered voters voting in the last preced- ing general election. The bill came out of committee but was defeated on the floor. There was a motion to reconsider, which proved to be positive. The calls started coming in from small school districts that, in some districts, it would only take 15 signers to get the petition to the school board. School start dates are one of those topics that have not resulted in the state doing any mandate on schools. This continues to be left alone as a local matter. This resulted in an amendment that said petition signer numbers would be registered voters in the last general election only if the school district has more than 5,000 registered voters. The amended version squeaked through with a 19 to 16 vote. I followed my school district’s request and voted no on the amended bill. HB 1213 was a bill that would promote eco- nomic development for Native Americans and es- tablish a task force. It was sponsored by both House and Senate members. I supported the concept but raised the question why the Tribal Relations Committee could not take on the task force since the purposes for the task force is what statute provides for in that committee. There was an attempt to amend the bill with Tribal Relations Com- mittee taking this on. The amendment failed and the bill went to the floor. It was amended on the floor to move to a gover- nor’s task force. This passed and moved over to the House, where they put it into conference committee. The bill came back in the originally amended format and the task force, under the legislative auspices, then passed the Senate. One other bill that drew much discussion was the autism bill. This was an attempt to mandate coverage for treatment of autism that had been previously provided for by some insurance carri- ers. This was a highly emotional topic that brought many parents of autistic children to Pierre. Many stories were told — both by propo- nents at the hearing and emails — about the cov- erage needed for a specific treatment modality used in the treatment of autism. It was the insur- ance carriers who provided the main opposition to the bill. Both sides perceived that those facts were not being presented accurately by each other. The bill was originally heard in House Health and Human Services, but once it reached the Senate, it was sent to the Commerce Commit- tee. The bill was sent to the 41st day, but there was enough momentum to get a study of serv- ices and insurance coverage for the treatment of autism spectrum disorder for children passed by both houses. The end result was very disap- pointing to the parents who had lost insurance coverage. Right or wrong, the process for a study provides the time to adequately review all infor- mation and options for the best outcome for the child. This last week was spent on attempting to gain consensus between the Houses on amended bills. HB 1169 was reconsidered to allow a home- stead exemption for property that was listed for sale during a bankruptcy proceeding. The Home- stead Act was established so that individual would not lose their home if they filed bank- ruptcy and were going to continue to live in the home. By inserting this new verbiage of “listing for sale,” this indicates that the individual is not planning to remain in the home so the exemption should not continue. The bill was defeated in the reconsideration. SB 177 is a bill that would provide for a con- tingency fund for medical services. This bill is an attempt to limit DSS from having excess dollars available at the end of each fiscal year to free up for state spending. The department, over the course of time, has budgeted for more enrollees or utilization each year. Trending of this data in- dicates dollars always left over. This would result in oversight by Joint Appropriations for use of the contingency funds. This was passed by both Houses. HB111 provides for payment of the design, construction and equipping of the veterans home in Hot Springs. These dollars ($16 million) come from the general fund along with ($23 mil- lion) federal dollars for the project. At the end, there will be a balanced budget with no tax increases. It has been a privilege serving as your state senator. This summer, I will be attending GOAC and Interim Rules committees. Please contact me with issues/concerns. Pierre Report | Jean Hunhoff Money Matters And Testy Times In Pierre J. Hunhoff n The PRESS & DAKOTAN Views page provides a forum for open discussion of issues and interests affecting our readers. Initialed editorials represent the opinion of the writer, but not necessarily that of the PRESS & DAKOTAN. Bylined columns represent the view of the author. We welcome letters to the editor on current topics. Questions regarding the Views page should be directed to Kelly Hertz at [email protected]. THE VIEWS PAGE
Transcript of T D ’ O N | F 1861
he main run of South Dakota’s legislative session is over,and it could be called a season of modest progress.
To be sure, there were some disappointments, includingthe failure again to expand Medicaid to help cover morethan 40,000 South Dakotans. The blame for this inability to
extend coverage must, to an extent, be shared between Pierre andWashington, but ultimately, the same old roadblocks stood in the way.
However, in some ways, legislators played catch-up on several is-sues:
• Coming into the session, South Dakota was the only state in theunion that did not have a felony penalty for animal cruelty. Thatchanged this winter;
• South Dakota’s teachers continue to rank dead last in the coun-try in terms of pay, and lawmakers surprisingly made a small gesturetoward addressing that situation. After the Senate silently killed a res-olution earlier this session acknowledging there was a teacher short-age in the state due to the low pay — literally, not one lawmakervoiced opposition to the bill before summarily axing it — lawmakerswere able to throw a little money toward teacher pay on the final dayof the session. An extra $2.2 million was provided to schools this yearthat will allow the districts to give an average raise of $230 to thestate’s 100,000 teachers. Of course, South Dakota’s average wage wasabout $2,800 behind 49th Mississippi for 49th place in the country, sothe $230 boost doesn’t nearly erase that gap. But it’s a small start.
• The Common Core educational standards withstood various po-litical assaults to remain standing at session’s end;
• South Dakota FINALLY passed a texting ban, which is remarkableconsidering that the legislation — which a great many lawmakers sup-ported in one form or another (which is a tricky and importantphrase) this session — basically died last Tuesday when two oppos-ing measures could not be reconciled. But then something extraordi-nary happened — the kind of thing from which lawmakers inWashington could learn. After the final bill went down to defeat, law-makers decided to try again to come up with a compromise, whichthey did 48 hours later. The compromise — which makes the textingban a secondary offense but allows communities to enact their own,tougher rules — passed the House and Senate Thursday and willlikely be signed into law. In the compromise, both sides give in on keyelements in the name of the greater good. And with that, SouthDakota joins 41 other states with a texting law in the books.
But there were other failures besides Medicaid, too.The failure to expand prenatal care to undocumented immigrants.
While one can point to immigration politics, one must also acknowl-edge that this state has one of the higher infant mortality rates in thecountry. Legislation like this would be a start.
And lawmakers failed to full restore the cuts the education thatwere endured by districts in 2011. However, the aforementioned boostearmarked for teacher salaries does help cut the deficit a little bit.
So, it’s a start, which for South Dakota, is real progress.And that’s a good statement to take away from the 2014 session.
Hopefully, it provides a momentum that can be built upon next winter.kmh
Words Of A PatriotFernande C. Bitsos, Yankton
Thank you, Mr. Kerr. This was the countrythat the “Greatest Generation” gave to the USA.Your “Writer’s Block” proved it! (“This Isn’t TheCountry I Fought To Preserve,” Press &Dakotan, March 6).
When I arrived to the USA in January 1951,the country was booming with coming homeWorld War II GI’s, sad from losing many of theirwar buddies but happy to rejoin their families.They also had GI loans for homes, college edu-cation and employments. People were happy,the economy was flourishing. My then-Navyhusband was able to attend airconditioning/heating school in Omaha underthe GI Bill.
I became an American Citizen in Omaha in1954 and had no problem finding a job at a bis-cuit company starting at a minimum wage of$1.25 per hour and at Calendra’s picture devel-oping company. There were jobs ... jobs ... jobs.And men didn’t have to work at two or threejobs for their families not to go hungry. Menworked and women didn’t have to work, buttake care of their children.
The war was over and the USA was at itsgreatest in many aspects. We had a Democratic-led government, our great President F. D. Roo-sevelt had passed away replaced by PresidentHarry S. Truman (1945-1953).
Most of the World War II vets that I have metsince I arrived here in the USA were Democratsand appreciative of what American presidents
had prepared for their return to civilian lives.Unfortunately, many of our younger con-
gressmen or senators were not living in thoseyears or never served in the US military. Theyare the “Newest Generation,” pampered and$$$$$$$ funded to spread their dreadful wishes.
Thank you, Mr. Kerr, for your service to ourcountry, your truthfulness and detailed column.High schools and universities should read it. Itis a “gem” from a World War II patriot.
THE PRESS DAKOTANTHE DAKOTAS’ OLDEST NEWSPAPER | FOUNDED 1861
Yankton Media, Inc., 319 Walnut St., Yankton, SD 57078
Tuesday, 3.18.14ON THE WEB: www.yankton.net
VIEWS PAGE: [email protected] DAKOTANP A G E 4
views
OPINION
Modest ProgressMade In Pierre
Blessed is the one who does not walk in step with the wicked orstand in the way that sinners take or sit in the company of mockers,but whose delight is in the law of the Lord, and who meditates onhis law day and night. That person is like a tree planted by streamsof water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does notwither — whatever they do prospers. Psalm 1:1-2 NIV . Portals ofPrayer, Concordia Publishing House, St. Louis
F RO M T H E B I B L E
By The Associated PressToday is Tuesday, March 18, the
77th day of 2014. There are 288 daysleft in the year.
Today’s Highlight in History: OnMarch 18, 1974, most of the Arab oil-producing nations ended their 5-month-old embargo against theUnited States that had been sparkedby American support for Israel in theYom Kippur War.
On this date: In 1766, Britain re-pealed the Stamp Act of 1765.
In 1837, the 22nd and 24th presi-dent of the United States, GroverCleveland, was born in Caldwell, N.J.
In 1913, King George I of Greecewas assassinated in Thessaloniki.
In 1937, some 300 people, mostlychildren, were killed in a gas explosionat a school in New London, Texas.
In 1938, Mexican PresidentLazaro Cardenas nationalized hiscountry’s petroleum reserves andtook control of foreign-owned oil facil-ities.
In 1940, Adolf Hitler and BenitoMussolini met at the Brenner Pass,where the Italian dictator agreed tojoin Germany’s war against Franceand Britain.
In 1959, President Dwight D.Eisenhower signed the Hawaii state-hood bill. (Hawaii became a state onAug. 21, 1959.)
In 1962, France and Algerianrebels signed the Evian Accords, acease-fire agreement which took ef-fect the next day, ending the AlgerianWar.
In 1963, the U.S. Supreme Court,in Gideon v. Wainwright, ruled unani-mously that state courts were requiredto provide legal counsel to criminal de-fendants who could not afford to hirean attorney on their own.
In 1965, the first spacewalk tookplace as Soviet cosmonaut AlexeiLeonov went outside his Voskhod 2capsule, secured by a tether.
In 1980, Frank Gotti, the 12-year-old youngest son of mobster JohnGotti, was struck and killed by a cardriven by John Favara, a neighbor inQueens, N.Y. (The following July,Favara vanished, the apparent victimof a gang hit.)
In 1990, thieves made off with 13works of art from the Isabella StewartGardner Museum in Boston (the crimeremains unsolved).
Ten years ago: Addressing thou-sands of soldiers at Fort Campbell,Ky., President George W. Bushwarned that terrorists could never beappeased and said there was nosafety for any nation that “lives at themercy of gangsters and mass murder-ers.” Overruling its staff, the FederalCommunications Commission de-clared that an expletive (the “F-word”)uttered by rock star Bono on NBC the
previous year was both indecent andprofane. (The commissioners did notpropose a fine for Bono’s expletiveduring the 2003 Golden GlobeAwards.)
Five years ago: Under intensepressure from the Obama administra-tion and Congress, the head of bailed-out insurance giant AIG, EdwardLiddy, told Congress that some of thefirm’s executives had begun returningall or part of bonuses totaling $165million. Tony-winning actress NatashaRichardson, 45, died at a New Yorkhospital two days after suffering ahead injury while skiing in Canada.
One year ago: A plan to seize upto 10 percent of savings accounts inCyprus to help pay for a massive fi-nancial bailout was met with fury.(That proposal was rejected by theCypriot parliament; authorities endedup seizing large portions of uninsuredsavings in the country’s two largestbanks and imposing capital controls.)A mortar shell explosion killed sevenMarines from Camp Lejeune and in-jured eight other people during moun-tain warfare training at HawthorneArmy Depot in Nevada.
Today’s Birthdays: ComposerJohn Kander is 87. Country singerCharley Pride is 80. Nobel peace lau-reate and former South African presi-dent F.W. de Klerk is 78. Countrysinger Margie Bowes is 73. ActorKevin Dobson is 71. Actor Brad Dourifis 64. Jazz musician Bill Frisell is 63.Singer Irene Cara is 55. Movie writer-director Luc Besson is 55. Actor Ge-offrey Owens is 53. Actor Thomas IanGriffith is 52. Singer-songwriter JamesMcMurtry is 52. Singer-actressVanessa L. Williams is 51. Olympicgold medal speedskater Bonnie Blairis 50. Country musician Scott Saun-ders (Sons of the Desert) is 50. ActorDavid Cubitt is 49. Rock musicianJerry Cantrell (Alice in Chains) is 48.Rock singer-musician Miki Berenyi is47. Actor Michael Bergin is 45. Rap-per-actress-talk show host Queen Lat-ifah is 44. Republican NationalCommittee Chairman Reince Priebusis 42. Actor-comedian Dane Cook is42. Country singer Philip Sweet (LittleBig Town) is 40. Rock musician StuartZender is 40. Singers Evan and JaronLowenstein are 40. Actress-singer-dancer Sutton Foster is 39. SingerDevin Lima (LFO) is 37. Rock singerAdam Levine (Maroon 5) is 35. Rockmusician Daren Taylor (Airborne ToxicEvent) is 34. Olympic gold medal fig-ure skater Alexei Yagudin is 34. ActorAdam Pally is 32. Actress-dancer JuliaGoldani Telles is 19.
Thought for Today: “I take a sim-ple view of living. It is keep your eyesopen and get on with it.” — LaurenceOlivier, British actor (1907-1989).
O N T H I S DAT E
MANAGERS Gary L. Wood
Publisher
Michele SchievelbeinAdvertising Director
Tonya SchildBusiness Manager
Michael HryckoCirculation Director
Tera SchmidtClassified Manager
Kelly HertzEditor
James D. CimburekSports Editor
Beth RyeNew Media Director
Kathy LarsonComposing Manager
Published Daily Monday-Saturday
Periodicals postagepaid at Yankton,South Dakota, underthe act of March 3,1979.
Weekly Dakotianestablished June 6,1861. Yankton DailyPress and Dakotianestablished April 26,1875.
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LATEST RESULTS: Should communities be allowed to enact texting
bans with penalties that are tougher than statelaw?Yes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .59%No . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .37%Not sure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3%TOTAL VOTES CAST . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .330
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CURRENT QUESTION: Should communities be allowed to ban the own-
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Online Opinion
BY SEN. JEAN HUNHOFFR-District 18 (Yankton)
The last two weeks of the session get “testy”as money becomes the prime focus, and priori-ties of the governor and Legislature for fundinghave to merge to a conclusion.
During the past two weeks in Health andHuman Services, the committee amended anHCR resolution urging Congress to repeal and de-fund Obamacare and amended the bill to pro-hibit the practice of sex-selective abortions.
The original HCR for repeal and defunding ofObamacare was five pages long and containedfact and opinion regarding perceptions of ourstate government’s position on PPACA. Two pro-ponents presented both sponsors of the bill andno opposition. The amended resolution comingout of committee focused on the themes of thefive pages and directed our congressional dele-gation to repeal and defund PPACA. It camethrough the Senate but, since amended, wentback to the House. The sponsor in the Houseconvinced the House to send the bill to a confer-ence committee. This again resulted in more de-bate and, as a result, the resolution basicallydied because the committee did not make a rec-ommendation.
The short of this is that way too much timewas spent on a resolution — was it for purposeor personal gain? If it was for purpose, then themessage was the same, just concise and to thepoint.
The sex-selective abortions bill was, in asense, prevention for this to occur. That wasmuch of the debate from the opponents whoasked, would a woman admit to wanting an abor-tion because of the sex of the child? Then thereis the issue of patient/physician protection of in-formation. The one factor that seemed to playinto the discussion was the changing technologyfor accessing prenatal information regarding thefetus. So much can be learned about the babyvery early in the pregnancy. So the bill passedand the message sent: Abortions for sex selec-tion are illegal in South Dakota.
Two bills in Local Government gleaned themost debate.
HB 1164 revised certain provisions regardingschool board opening day decision petitions.This was a hoghouse coming from a Sioux Fallsrepresentative to change the number of votersneeded to file a petition with the school board torefer an election to change the start date ofschool. The intent was to change the eligiblenumber of voters needed to sign the petitionfrom those registered voters in the district,based on total number of registered voters in thelast preceding general election, to the total num-ber of registered voters voting in the last preced-ing general election. The bill came out ofcommittee but was defeated on the floor. Therewas a motion to reconsider, which proved to bepositive. The calls started coming in from smallschool districts that, in some districts, it wouldonly take 15 signers to get the petition to theschool board. School start dates are one of thosetopics that have not resulted in the state doingany mandate on schools. This continues to beleft alone as a local matter. This resulted in anamendment that said petition signer numberswould be registered voters in the last generalelection only if the school district has more than5,000 registered voters. The amended versionsqueaked through with a 19 to 16 vote. I followedmy school district’s request and voted no on theamended bill.
HB 1213 was a bill that would promote eco-nomic development for Native Americans and es-tablish a task force. It was sponsored by both
House and Senate members. Isupported the concept butraised the question why theTribal Relations Committeecould not take on the task forcesince the purposes for the taskforce is what statute providesfor in that committee. Therewas an attempt to amend thebill with Tribal Relations Com-mittee taking this on. The
amendment failed and the bill went to the floor.It was amended on the floor to move to a gover-nor’s task force. This passed and moved over tothe House, where they put it into conferencecommittee. The bill came back in the originallyamended format and the task force, under thelegislative auspices, then passed the Senate.
One other bill that drew much discussion wasthe autism bill. This was an attempt to mandatecoverage for treatment of autism that had beenpreviously provided for by some insurance carri-ers. This was a highly emotional topic thatbrought many parents of autistic children toPierre. Many stories were told — both by propo-nents at the hearing and emails — about the cov-erage needed for a specific treatment modalityused in the treatment of autism. It was the insur-ance carriers who provided the main oppositionto the bill. Both sides perceived that those factswere not being presented accurately by eachother. The bill was originally heard in HouseHealth and Human Services, but once it reachedthe Senate, it was sent to the Commerce Commit-tee. The bill was sent to the 41st day, but therewas enough momentum to get a study of serv-ices and insurance coverage for the treatment ofautism spectrum disorder for children passed byboth houses. The end result was very disap-pointing to the parents who had lost insurancecoverage. Right or wrong, the process for a studyprovides the time to adequately review all infor-mation and options for the best outcome for thechild.
This last week was spent on attempting togain consensus between the Houses on amendedbills.
HB 1169 was reconsidered to allow a home-stead exemption for property that was listed forsale during a bankruptcy proceeding. The Home-stead Act was established so that individualwould not lose their home if they filed bank-ruptcy and were going to continue to live in thehome. By inserting this new verbiage of “listingfor sale,” this indicates that the individual is notplanning to remain in the home so the exemptionshould not continue. The bill was defeated in thereconsideration.
SB 177 is a bill that would provide for a con-tingency fund for medical services. This bill is anattempt to limit DSS from having excess dollarsavailable at the end of each fiscal year to free upfor state spending. The department, over thecourse of time, has budgeted for more enrolleesor utilization each year. Trending of this data in-dicates dollars always left over. This would resultin oversight by Joint Appropriations for use ofthe contingency funds. This was passed by bothHouses.
HB111 provides for payment of the design,construction and equipping of the veteranshome in Hot Springs. These dollars ($16 million)come from the general fund along with ($23 mil-lion) federal dollars for the project.
At the end, there will be a balanced budgetwith no tax increases.
It has been a privilege serving as your statesenator. This summer, I will be attending GOACand Interim Rules committees. Please contact mewith issues/concerns.
Pierre Report | Jean Hunhoff
Money Matters AndTesty Times In Pierre
J. Hunhoff
n The PRESS & DAKOTAN Views page provides a forum for opendiscussion of issues and interests affecting our readers. Initialed editorialsrepresent the opinion of the writer, but not necessarily that of the PRESS& DAKOTAN. Bylined columns represent the view of the author. Wewelcome letters to the editor on current topics. Questions regarding theViews page should be directed to Kelly Hertz at [email protected].
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