Last November, voters ordered South Dakota to expand Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act starting July 1. But CNN reports that South Dakota is one of five states leaping at the chance to boot people off Medicaid this month: Millions of Americans are at risk of losing their Medicaid coverage in coming months, but residents in Arizona, Arkansas, Idaho, New Hampshire and South Dakota will be the first to bear the brunt of the terminations. States have been barred by Congress from winnowing their Medicaid rolls since the Covid-19 pandemic began. That prohibition ends on Saturday, and some stat ..read more

Governor Kristi Noem’s latest Friday propaganda piece, fatuously titled “Making the Best State in the Nation Even Better”, refers to “our-record-breaking economy”. So what kind of record is our economy breaking by having the biggest fourth-quarter GDP decrease in the nation? U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, Real GDP: Percent Change at Annual Rate from 2022 Q3 to 2022 Q4, 2023.03.31. With yesterday’s release by the federal Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) of a state-by-state comparison of gross domestic product (GDP) for the 4th quarter of 2022, we get a look at how badly South Dakota’s econ ..read more

Former Republican legislator and failed 2008 U.S. Senate candidate Joel Dykstra helped pass South Dakota’s near-absolute abortion ban back in 2005. Now he’s helping Representative Jon Hansen and anti-abortion propagandist Leslee Unruh campaign against the proposed constitutional amendment that would restore South Dakota women’s Roe-era abortion rights: Mercer: Currently there is a petition drive to initiate a state constitutional amendment that would restore abortion rights in South Dakota. It would overturn the 2005 trigger law. There is also a ballot-measure committee opposing the effort, t ..read more

Yesterday, Attorney General Marty Jackley released his final revised version of his official title and explanation for the proposed initiated amendment to strike the single-subject rule for initiated amendments that voters approved in 2018. After taking comment from the public, he added three sentences to his first draft: Title: An Amendment to the South Dakota Constitution Removing the Limitation That a Proposed Constitutional Amendment Embrace Only One Subject. Explanation: The South Dakota Constitution provides that a proposed constitutional amendment may not embrace more than one subject ..read more

Four East River Republicans want more government and more taxes, in the form of new taxes imposed by a new water project district around Lakes Thompson and Henry in Kingsbury County: Rural residents from the flood-prone Lake Thompson and Lake Henry area of Kingsbury County have received the green light to hold an election on whether to form a water project district that would have taxing power and local financial support and could seek state and federal assistance to reduce or respond to new flooding. The state Board of Water and Natural Resources on Thursday approved a resolution recognizing ..read more

Senator Lee Schoenbeck (R-5/Lake Kampeska) says the abrupt departure of Lorraine Polak from her position as executive director of the South Dakota Housing Development Authority was no resignation. He says Governor Kristi Noem fired Polak to further delay a $200-million investment in housing infrastructure: Several lawmakers say Polak’s resignation was not voluntary. They worry the move will delay getting infrastructure grants and loans out to communities. State Sen. Lee Schoenbeck, R-Watertown, called Polak’s departure a firing and says it “absolutely” has to do with differences over the hous ..read more

One of South Dakota’s medical cannabis suppliers is suing the state for an allegedly improper inspection that put the business in peril. In a Facebook post yesterday, 605 Cannabis says the Department of Health inspected its Worthing facilities on January 19. The Sioux Falls area had another significant snowstorm that began January 18 and tapered off on the morning of January 19. 605 Cannabis closed its Worthing shop on the 19th, but apparently Department of Health inspectors still managed to ski out to Worthing and identify 19 violations of state law and administrative rule. “In conjunction wi ..read more

Statewide referendum petition drives may begin the moment the Legislature adjourns on Veto Day. Three days after that final gavel, no one appears to have filed a referendum petition with the Secretary of State to launch a petition drive, which tells me no one—not the transgender activists and allies who are positively outraged at House Bill 1080, South Dakota’s new ban on gender-affirming health care for young people; not the RVers and their mailbox vendors, who ought to be outraged at Senate Bill 139, which will likely result in their removal from South Dakota’s voter rolls—is going to use So ..read more

Lorraine Polak joins the list of officials who have recently left the Noem Administration: Executive director Lorraine Polak is leaving the South Dakota Housing Development Authority. Polak confirmed that she has submitted her resignation to Governor Kristi Noem. Her final day is Friday. The governor promoted her to the housing agency’s top spot two years ago, following the retirement of Mark Lauseng. Comment was sought from the governor’s communications chief, Ian Fury. “We have no personnel announcements to make at this time,” he said [Bob Mercer, “Polak Steps Down at SDHDA,” KELO-TV, 2023 ..read more

Last week, Beth Warden reported that Secretary of Corrections Kellie Wasko is having penitentiary inmates build a $13,000 solid red oak desk. That beats the fancy gun-and-footrest desk Governor Kristi Noem had inmates build for her by $4,000. Senator Jean Hunhoff (R-18/Yankton) offers this amusing justification for such extravagant officeware: I did a follow-up on the purchase of the desk, and I concluded that the decision was within the norms of the requested purchase. The purchase of the desk had four furniture components with it for the desk efficiency and organization, following the order ..read more