Press Releases

Who’s paying for a group of South Dakota Republican legislators attending the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) Spring Task Force convention in Oklahoma City this weekend?

That’s the question South Dakota taxpayers deserve to know after Republicans enacted a new travel policy in effect as of May 1, 2013, that allows them to use tax dollars for travel to the corporate controlled ALEC conferences. ALEC matches Republican legislators with corporate special interests to write anti-democratic, anti-education, anti-taxpayer accountability model legislation for Republicans to enact in their home states. The organization is funded by conservative billionaires including the Koch brothers.

“Who is paying for Republican legislators to attend the ALEC convention in Oklahoma this weekend?” South Dakota Democratic Party Chairman Ben Nesselhuf asked. “South Dakotans have made it clear that we don’t want tax dollars to be used for dues or travel to ALEC conventions. Yet just two days after Republicans gave themselves the right to use tax dollars for travel to ALEC conventions, five Republicans are already showboating at the ALEC Spring Task Force meeting. So, we need answers from the Republicans at the ALEC convention right now. Who’s paying your travel and membership dues to ALEC?”

At least five Republicans are at the ALEC convention in Oklahoma City right now: Rep. Charlie Hoffman (R-Eureka), Rep. Brock Greenfield (R-Clark), Rep. Don Kopp (R-Rapid City), Sen. Phil Jensen (R-Rapid City), and Sen. Dan Lederman (R-Dakota Dunes). Rep. Charlie Hoffman and Senator Dan Lederman both tweeted from the ALEC Spring Task Force this morning.

They are attending the ALEC convention just two days after a the new travel policy allowing legislators to attend ALEC conventions on the taxpayer dime went into effect.

And the bill to taxpayers could add up quickly. A one night stay at the Renaissance Oklahoma City Convention Center hotel amounts to $250 per person, and flights to Oklahoma City from Sioux Falls are as much as $450.

“In two short days, five Republicans may cost South Dakota taxpayers thousands of dollars that they could have invested in seniors, middle class families, or veterans,” said Ben Nesselhuf. “Democrats refuse to use tax dollars for ALEC dues and travel. South Dakota’s newspapers have followed our suit in asking for the same thing. South Dakota taxpayers deserve to know right away who’s paying for Republican legislators at the ALEC convention. We’ll be waiting for their response.”

Chairman’s Note: We join the Argus Leader editorial board in thanking Senator Tim Johnson for all he has done for South Dakota and for the SD Democratic Party. We all grew up on the legend of Tim Johnson and knew him from afar. In this position we were all blessed to get to know him and his staff on a personal level. You can not find a group of people more dedicated to the state of South Dakota. We will miss Tim as our senator, but we know that we will see him much more often back home. Congratulations on your retirement, Senator, and thanks for all you’ve done. – From Ben, Abby, Jen, Zach, and Jeff.

Sioux Falls, SD (Jan. 3, 2013) – South Dakota Democratic Party Chairman Ben Nesselhuf released the following statement after Rob Skjonsberg, a top campaign aide for Governor Mike Rounds’ US Senate campaign, was appointed to the South Dakota Board of Economic Development by Gov. Dennis Daugaard:

“Do you believe in coincidences? The man running Gov. Mike Rounds’ campaign for US Senate just got appointed by Governor Daugaard to help dole out state tax dollars for economic development. Whose interest is being served here? It’s just another ongoing example of Republicans leaders in Pierre using state tax dollars to support Republicans running for office.

“I am calling on Governor Dennis Daugaard to rescind his offer to Mike Rounds’ campaign aide for a seat on the state Board of Economic Development.

“Politics has no place in managing state tax dollars for economic development. South Dakota cannot afford to question whether Mike Rounds’ campaign aide is serving South Dakota or Governor Mike Rounds’ US Senate candidacy.”

Rob Skjonsberg helps lead Rounds for Senate, the US Senate campaign for Governor Mike Rounds. Skjonsburg was appointed by Governor Daugaard today to serve on the state Board of Economic Development, effective Jan 8.

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Pierre, SD (December 5, 2012) – Democratic Appropriations committee members pointed out today that Governor Dennis Daugaard’s budget address failed to mention 107 new full-time equivalent (FTE) positions being added to the state payroll, while leaving schools and nursing homes without adequate staff after the 2011 budget cuts.

It’s another clear instance of state government taking care of itself without taking care of its residents first, said Rep. Susan Wismer (D-Britton), who sits on the House appropriations committee. “We learned yesterday that these are good times for South Dakota state government: 40 of the 131 employees cut in Pierre two years ago are being added back for some great causes: drug courts, drivers licensing, highway patrol, corrections and corrections health, parole officers, fire fighters, accountants, plus a PhD program in physics, and maintenance and repair catch-up,” said Wismer. “But those good times aren’t extending to education and Medicaid providers. There’s no catch-up provision for them, as they recover only 3% of the cuts they suffered. They are the ones still stuck with ‘the new normal.’”

Sen. Billie Sutton (D-Burke), who sits on the Senate Appropriations committee, added, “Bringing back these positions is an encouraging sign of recovery, but kids depend on schools for a quality education, and seniors depend on the nursing homes in communities across our state – we simply can’t ask them to carry on with massive budget cuts while state government uses our taxes to expand its payrolls.”

Both lawmakers emphasized the necessity of the positions, noting that the additional workload has been hard on remaining state employees, but stressed that if there’s enough funding to bring the state back to pre-recession levels, there’s enough to help schools and nursing homes get to that level as well.

“The budget is not just pages of abstract numbers and line-items; it fundamentally outlines our priorities as a state,” said Sutton.  “The question is this: do we care more about growing state government, or do we care more about investing in kids and caring for seniors?”

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Pierre, SD (December 4, 2012) – Democratic leaders said the state budget proposed today by Gov. Dennis Daugaard looks out for the interests of state government in Pierre, but it largely ignores the two major problems in our communities and it even threatens to hurt the South Dakota economy.

“Communities across South Dakota are sinking from the state’s budget cuts, and Pierre is hoarding all the lifeboats,” said Democratic House leader Rep. Bernie Hunhoff (D-Yankton). “While our state’s bottom line is booming, Governor Daugaard isn’t tackling the issues facing our people and communities — adequately funding education at the state level, avoiding a shift of education costs to property taxpayers, and making health care affordable and accessible.”

“Uncertainty can’t stop us from tackling South Dakota issues right now”, said Sen. Jason Frerichs (D-Wilmot). “Every day uncertainty stops us from taking action is a day we aren’t making college more affordable, training our kids for open jobs and providing affordable health insurance for everyone,” said Frerichs. “Our tax dollars are fueling state government in Pierre. Let’s put them to work for all South Dakotans right now.”

Hunhoff and Frerichs said their Democratic colleagues’ two main concerns include:

A failure by the Republicans to acknowledge that they caused an educational crisis by slashing K-12 spending by 8.6% in 2011.
The refusal to adopt health care reforms that add coverage for low income adults.
“Republican leaders seem to be taking the stand that the current school spending is a new norm,” Hunhoff said. “Few if any candidates said that during the election, but now that the votes are counted they’re back to the same mindset that if the schools need more money they can go to property taxpayers for it. That’s terrible policy. Some districts don’t have the property wealth to even consider it and home owners are paying more than their share already in all school districts. The state is shirking its responsibility for public education, and it is already costing us in economic development. We aren’t preparing our youth for the job skills they need to compete for open jobs right here in South Dakota.”

Frerichs said health care reform is a moral issue and an economic issue. “We can’t afford to not participate in the Affordable Care Act. We have 48,000 uninsured South Dakotans. Our county governments, community hospitals and clinics are doing all they can to provide emergency care for these folks, which is much more expensive than providing preventative care through Medicaid. Most of them are working in low wage jobs that don’t provide insurance, or they’ve had the misfortune of becoming sick or hurt and they can’t get insurance. These are real people with real stories,” Frerichs said. “It’s a moral issue but it’s also an economic issue. The $200 million provided through the Affordable Care Act will be a bargain for our state, perhaps one of the biggest boons to our economy that we could hope for. The $200 million in new spending means hundreds of new jobs in communities across the state.”

The Democrats said the administrative costs for the $200 million revenue stream to the state will amount to less than $20 million. “We simply can’t afford not to do this,” added Hunhoff. “It’s the right thing to do and it will be an immense boost to our economy in a year when we have a lot of uncertainties.”

Turning the money down, said Frerichs, would be akin to turning down the federal farm program or asking that Ellsworth Air Force Base be closed. “Health care reform is the law of the land. We have a responsibility and an opportunity to make it work for South Dakota. Let’s meet the challenge.”

Hunhoff and Frerichs said the governor will likely find solid bi-partisan support on corrections reforms, investments in workforce training, state park improvements, the Sanford Mine improvements and the addition of a physics program.

Hunhoff and Frerichs said they also hope to find common ground on school funding, health care reform and economic development initiatives in the 2013 session. “We’ll propose some ideas of our own and we’ll critique and amend the Republican proposals, including this budget,” Frerichs said. “We all want the same thing at the end of session, a plan for a better South Dakota.”

Pierre, SD (November 30, 2012) –  Health care is a “life and death” issue for South Dakota, and making the federal reforms work for South Dakotans will be one of the top budget priorities for Democrat lawmakers in the 2013 legislative session.

An estimated 48,000 South Dakotans are uninsured, and tens of thousands of others face affordability and accessibility issues. The Affordable Care Act will provide over $2 billion over the next 10 years to provide health care. “Not only is this a critical issue for families without access to health care, but it’s also critical to our state’s economy. That is a huge transfusion of income for communities large and small across our state,” said Rep. Bernie Hunhoff, the House minority leader in the state legislature.

Hunhoff said it’s time to end political gamesmanship over the Affordable Care Act. “The program was passed by both houses of Congress, signed by the president and affirmed by the U.S. Supreme Court. Now the president who signed it has been re-elected. The program has been very politicized. It’s not perfect, but it’s not going away so let’s make it work for South Dakotans.”

Sen. Jason Frerichs, the Senate minority leader, said Democrats want to work with the administration and Republican colleagues to expand Medicaid eligibility and take full advantage of the benefits for South Dakotans. “For pennies on the dollar we can give working South Dakotans the security that comes with affordable health insurance. Expanding Medicaid will reduce rates of expensive emergency room care and literally save lives across South Dakota. Expanding Medicaid is our number one budget priority.”

More importantly, said the Democratic leaders, the reform will save lives. According to a study by the New England Journal of Medicine, one life is saved for every 176 adults covered through the expansion. That equates to the prevention of up to 272 deaths, based on the 48,000 South Dakotans likely to receive coverage.

“Nothing could be more pro-life than to expand Medicaid as soon as possible,” Hunhoff said.
The costs to South Dakota state government are minimal. According to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, Medicaid expansion will bring in $2.1 billion federal dollars to South Dakota over 10 years at an average annual state cost of $15.7 million. Including net savings from uncompensated care, the average annual cost could drop to $9.5 million over 10 years, according to the Kaiser Foundation.

“We want to do this with our eyes open,” Hunhoff says. “Let’s get all the facts and figures on the table. Part of the debate should be based on the fact that the uninsured are already costing us dearly as taxpayers, both on the state and local level. We’re paying the costs through higher taxes, higher insurance premiums and higher health care costs. This is an exciting challenge for state government and we should not shrink from the opportunity to make it work for South Dakota.”

Hunhoff and Frerichs said other Democrat budget priorities will include l) efforts to help school districts recover from their budget crises caused by drastic state aid cuts, and 2) smarter economic development investments tailored to improving peoples’ job skills, workforce development, infrastructure and entrepreneurship.

“We hope we can found common ground with our Republican colleagues on all these important issues,” said Frerichs.

South Dakota Democratic Party Chairman Ben Nesselhuf released the following statement after former Governor Mike Rounds announced he would run for the US Senate seat currently occupied by Senator Tim Johnson:

“Governor Mike Rounds is a nice guy with the wrong priorities for the U.S. Senate. Rounds clamored for hundreds of millions in stimulus dollars to mask his record of deficit spending, oversaw explosive growth in state government, and abused state resources for personal gain. What legacy did he leave for the state of South Dakota? A broken corporate giveaway program, a new Governor’s mansion, and a $127 million budget deficit in 2011. Senator Tim Johnson has delivered for the state of South Dakota. Governor Mike Rounds has not.”

Governor Mike Rounds is challenging Senator Tim Johnson for his Senate seat in 2014. Senator Tim Johnson has never lost an election in his political career starting in the South Dakota state house in 1979. He has defeated Republican titans, including Senators Larry Pressler and John Thune.

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Background

Merry Go-Round, SD Alliance for Progress, Vol 2 Issue 9
–State spending increased a stunning 53 percent during Rounds’ tenure – a number that heretofore had been unheard of in “conservative” South Dakota state government.

–On Rounds’ watch, the good ole boy network flourished. This sad fact is perhaps best exemplified by the fact that Rounds escalated the scandalous practice of conducting state business through the use of no-bid contracts. These contracts worth hundreds of millions of dollars annually were never bid to get the best price for the state. Instead, the Rounds Administration gave these bids to political cronies and supporters too often at inflated prices. It is estimated that the state could have saved as much as $10 million annually by bidding these contracts to the highest and best bidder. When some in the state media called him to the carpet for this practice, he falsely convinced the media that the state was actually bidding state contracts on his watch. It wasn’t. In South Dakota, the state takes what are known as Requests for Proposals (RFPs) from companies who wish to bid on state contracts. But accepting these does not mean that a contract for services or goods has been “bid.” RFPs are meaningless unless the state actually treats all of them seriously and takes the lowest and best bid among them. Our state doesn’t do that. So, we can take all the Requests for Proposal we want but if there is no trigger which mandates that we have to accept the best bids, we can throw all RFPs into the garbage and continue the unsavory practice of giving inflated contracts to our political cronies and campaign contributors. That in fact, is what Rounds did.

–An additional reason for the stunning and unprecedented growth in state government during the Rounds’ years, was that the number of state employees mushroomed by 1,500 in eight years. Seems Rounds needed more workers to implement his bloated state contracts too often given to his campaign donors.

–One perfect illustration of Rounds’ unnecessary and inflated spending practices was that Rounds hired a very highly paid and unnecessary lobbyist during his tenure to lobby for South Dakota in Washington, DC. Our small state had not had a federal lobbyist before and never felt it needed one. Yet, Rounds hired one and paid him over $100,000 a year even though there were reports from our federal delegation that their staffers had never seen this person and did not even know who this person was. So who was he? A major Republican Party donor to Rounds and to other state Republicans.

–In fact, Rounds was such a big spender in state government that seven of the eight budgets Rounds’ submitted were in deficit including the largest budget deficits in state history (Only Dennis Daugaard’s first budget deficit was larger). And no, his deficits were not a consequence of the national recession as he liked to tell reporters – we were in recession only during the final two years of Rounds’ term, not in years one or two or three or four or five or six.

–On the policy front, Rounds displayed very little vision and indeed took dramatic steps backward for the state. In education alone, the best ticket to a brighter future for our children, funding under Rounds was cut from 39 to 31 percent a drop of almost 25 percent in just eight short years which helped sink South Dakota to last in the nation in teacher pay and last in the nation in per pupil funding.

–On Rounds’ watch, South Dakota fell to the bottom and ranked last in wages of all states in America.

–On Rounds’ watch, South Dakota rose to the top of states whose people must hold two or more jobs just to make ends meet.

–On Rounds’ watch, a higher percentage of South Dakota college students carry massive debt coming out of college than students do anywhere else in the nation. This is in no small part because on Rounds’ watch, college tuition rose over 50 percent in just eight years.

–On Rounds’ watch, South Dakota freshman and sophomore college students began dropping out of college faster than freshman and sophomore students anywhere in America.

–On Rounds’ watch, poverty soared and shamefully seven of the poorest counties in America now are South Dakota counties.

–Indeed, on Rounds’ watch, poverty rose over 20 percent in the state with South Dakota’s children and seniors being hit the hardest. The consequences of Rounds’ cuts to Medicaid were that on his watch, poverty rates in South Dakota exploded as did food insecurity among the people of South Dakota with over 20 percent of our kids now going to bed hungry.

–On Rounds’ watch, the Black Hills Playhouse, a 60 year South Dakota educational treasure was boarded up. But the Governor’s own “playhouse” Valhalla, was remodeled for an almost identical amount of $300,000 that it would have taken to save the people’s playhouse in the Black Hills.

–Always a fan of oil companies but much less so a fan of ethanol, Rounds attempted to raise taxes on ethanol during his tenure which, had he been able to do, would have severely undermined this vital and burgeoning South Dakota industry. Meanwhile, Rounds pushed through over $30 million in taxpayer giveaways to the foreign oil company TransCanada to build a controversial and dangerous tar sands oil pipeline in eastern South Dakota that they were going to build anyway. In states like Nebraska where the pipeline was built as well, the state did not give TransCanada a dime.

–On Rounds’ watch and on his command, birth to three and pre-Kindergarten programs were opposed even though South Dakota children are some of the most threatened in the nation and study after study indicates that these two programs have been wildly successful wherever and whenever they have been implemented in other states. South Dakota is one of only a handful of states that had no birth to three or pre-Kindergarten programs and as a consequence, South Dakota regularly ranked at the bottom of states in its commitment to our youngest and most vulnerable children during the Rounds’ Administration.

–On Rounds’ watch, the state seemed to stockpile state owned and operated airplanes for Rounds’ and his elite government cronies to use. Rounds, who personally loves to fly, and did so frequently on questionable and personal business, had no problem with the state owning multiple airplanes when surrounding states were selling theirs’ off – including Nebraska (and even states like California).

–Because of Rounds’ irresponsible spending patterns and his massive and record debts during his final years in office, he confiscated nearly $300 million in federal stimulus money sent to South Dakota from the Obama Administration and instead of investing it in programs to help the people of South Dakota ride out the recession, he dumped it into the state’s general fund to mask his deficits and indeed to bail him out of record deficit years. That money was intended to be invested in the people of South Dakota and in projects that would create jobs and increase their quality of life but Rounds had other plans for it.

–Rounds also took $26 million in federal dollars sent to help South Dakota’s children in light of our woefully underfunded educational system in South Dakota. Remember he did this while he was cutting education in the state by 25 percent in his eight years in office. So, what did Rounds do with this federal money that was supposed to be spent on education? He squirreled it away into the state’s general fund to mask his massive debts.

–But Rounds wasn’t done taking federal money destined to our people and using it for his own purposes. He also took $21 million federal dollars sent to help with the thousands of our parents, grandparents and poor children effected by the tough economic times and hijacked it into the general fund to once again mask his massive state debt.

–On Rounds’ watch, transparency in state government took a huge hit. Rounds aggressively fought members of the media who wanted access to the salaries made by state employees. (Perhaps he was hiding things like the fact that during his last two years in office, he froze state employee salaries for all state workers – except for his top 19 executive office staffers to whom he gave $533,000 in bonuses in his last year in office. These staffers were also some of his best campaign contributors – and Dennis Daugaard’s as well. These 19 executive office staffers alone gave Daugaard over $60,000 in campaign contributions in 2010. Those bonuses were clearly in part just a “pass through” of taxpayer money into Rounds and Daugaard’s political pockets.)

–Rounds refused to provide to the media lists of people who stayed for free at the taxpayer built and maintained summer playhouse, Valhalla.

–Rounds refused to provide information on his much ballyhooed trips on South Dakota owned aircraft. He got burned for using state airplanes for personal use early in his administration (flying them to things like his kids’ sporting events around the state). So his response to the legitimate public and media outcry was to simply quit publishing the itineraries of trips he took on state planes even though taxpayer dollars were paying for every one of these trips. With a straight face, he cited security reasons for the change in policy. [Alliance for Progress, Vol 2 Issue 9.]

Sioux Falls, SD (Nov. 3, 2012) – Back room meetings. Secret decisions. Silenced legislators. This is just the beginning of allegations made by a Republican legislator in a tell-all letter about how Republicans in Pierre stifle the voice of the public in the state legislature.

Rep. Lance Russell (R-Hot Springs) sent a letter to state legislative colleagues dated Oct. 29 that decries the secrecy and lack of democracy in the halls of the state capitol in Pierre.

Russell cited a lack of fair and free debate, secret meetings and marginalization of legislators who disagree with the party. Continue Reading »

In a press conference in Sioux Falls today, Democratic leader Rep. Bernie Hunhoff (D-Yankton) identified $329,968 in political contributions to Republicans from corporate directors who received more than $29 million in state grants.

“Even though it’s impossible to determine how much money the state is giving away in the name of economic development, it’s now clear corporate welfare recipients are giving hundreds of thousands right back to Republican leaders in Pierre,” said Hunhoff.

The two-way contributions prove a need for reforms before creating a new large corporate giveaway program with Referred Law 14.

A study conducted by the South Dakota Democratic Party reviewed only the REDI fund between 2007 and 2011 and the futures fund from 2000-2010, two of many economic development programs scattered throughout state departments. Further review was hampered by lack of transparency and open records in state government. Continue Reading »