News Articles

Chairman’s Note: With another budget bill, Washington Republicans are already threatening yet another government shutdown. Make no mistake – it’s this “my way or the highway” approach from Republicans like Senator John Thune that’s eroding the public’s trust in Congress. And this approach is exactly why we must retain our majority in the Senate and send folks like Congresswoman Kristi Noem back home.

Chairman’s Note: Instead of investing in the middle class, Republicans in Washington again protected the low taxes for millionaires and billionaires. The fact is the ultra-wealthy are paying lower taxes than they ever have in modern American history at the same time that investments in infrastructure, education, and innovation that grow our economy are being slashed by Washington Republicans. High taxes on the middle class, low taxes on the ultra-wealthy, and no investments in our future is a recipe for economic disaster. America needs tax fairness. Our middle class depends on it.

Chairman’s Note: Governor Daugaard attends his first ribbon cutting ceremony for a new seed company slated to receive hundreds of thousands of dollars in state support. Less than a year later, the seed company goes belly up. $2.6 million owed to farmers across South Dakota goes missing. The Governor’s Office of Economic Development withholds information about the company’s impending demise. And the Public Utilities Commission, whose job it is to protect farmers, sits idly, abandoning their only recourse – a $100,000 surety bond – to protect against unforeseen bankruptcy. Something is wrong here. In fact, lots of things are wrong. From the governor’s office to the Public Utilities Commission, we are reminded that we need better leadership in Pierre, and we need it now.

Chairman’s Note: With controversy swirling over the influence of shadowy, corporate influence of the American Legislative Exchange Council in state legislatures across America, it should come as no surprise that ALEC has been grooming 33 Republicans in our own state legislature for years. Make no mistake – efforts last year to ban collective bargaining and undermine public education in South Dakota are parts of a national agenda Republican legislators in Pierre are far too eager to push here in South Dakota. There’s only one thing you can do to a legislator who puts South Dakota’s interests behind the corporate influence of ALEC: vote them out in 2012. (See a list of candidates running against these legislators in our 2012 Election Center.)

Chairman’s Note: Tuesday, April 17, 2012, marked Equal Pay Day: To earn what men did in 2011 alone, women would have had to keep working all the way until this past Tuesday — an extra 4 1/2 months. It’s a reminder that we still have much work to do to make pay more fair.

Chairman’s Note: “Know before you owe” is what Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) Director Richard Cordray urged high school students in Sioux Falls at the invitation of Senator Tim Johnson after unveiling a new program to better understand student loans. “I want to thank Chairman Johnson for inviting me to meet his constituents, for whom he advocates so well,” said Director Cordray in Sioux Falls. We couldn’t agree more. Our students, community banks, credit unions, and consumers of financial products are stronger with Senator Johnson chairing the Senate Banking Committee.

Chairman’s Note: It’s unsettling to read a ranking showing South Dakota among the worst states for women based on our laws, average income, and health of women in our state. Taking the issue head on was Senate Democratic Leader Angie Buhl (D-Sioux Falls), who joins 21 other Democratic women running for the state legislature in 2012. More women in leadership is better for South Dakota. Let’s do our part to elect strong women in the SD Legislature this year.

Chairman’s Note: At the end of the 2012 legislative session, Governor Daugaard rammed through House Bill (HB) 1234 - his controversial education agenda – in spite of consistent opposition to the legislation from teachers, parents, students, and even many Republican legislators from across South Dakota. I’m proud to announce now that our State Central Committee has unanimously endorsed the effort to refer HB 1234 to the 2012 general election. The future of our children’s education is at stake. Get your petition packet, and start gathering signatures from your friends and neighbors today!

Chairman’s Note: “Congresswoman Noem: Protecting Millionaires Instead of Medicare.” That’s what reads a giant billboard towering over an I-229 interstate exchange in Sioux Falls. It’s true. Congresswoman Noem has consistently protected tax breaks for millionaires and Big Oil at the same time that she’s voted to end Medicare as we know it.  I could tell you this again and again. But sometimes a picture really is worth 1000 words – especially when it’s plastered on a giant billboard 30 feet in the air over one of South Dakota’s busiest intersections.