Money Growing on Trees

Planting a Tree: SB 155 and SJR 505 lay the groundwork for establishing an unclaimed property trust fund. For years the state has been receiving unclaimed property monies into our general fund. The state now has an unfunded liability of $1.2 billion. Imagine the interest that would have been generated if that money had been placed into a trust fund years ago. Senator Taffy Howard (R), Representatives Chris Kassin (R) and Erik Muckey (D), Lt Gov Tony Venhuizen, along with Treasurer Josh Haeder and his staff deserve credit for this fiscally responsible legislation. The state treasurer continues to diligently search for the rightful owners of these monies (unfortunately, it’s impossible to identify many of the owners). If you think you may be entitled to any of those monies, please go to the state treasurer website.

Private Property Rights Protected: HB 1052 simply states that carbon oxide pipelines can’t use eminent domain. I did vote YES for this bill. A big thank you to Governor Larry Rhoden, for displaying bold leadership by signing this bill into law. Many legislators thought the governor was going to veto this bill. His reasons for allowing the law to stand are outlined in a letter which was read to the legislators.

Property Tax: SB 191 is getting a lot of attention. The House will vote on this bill on Monday. My email account is experiencing an avalanche of pros/cons to this bill. My concern is that it doesn’t really give homeowners relief. Property taxes are calculated in the following way: Net Taxable value x Mill Levy = Tax. If the taxable value goes down, then the mill levies (there are some caps in statute) will most likely go up in order to collect additional tax dollars. I do understand that there will still be shortfalls in the counties.

Budget Setting: As we head into our final week, many legislators will be in the “hurry up and wait mode.” In contrast, appropriators (of which I am one) will be hard at work setting the budget. I am encouraged that we have been implementing cuts and working hard to be good stewards of the taxpayers’ dollars.

Insightful: The legislative interns hosted a dinner for and roast of the House legislators. Most of the memes were hilarious, while a minority were cringe-worthy. The one that resonated with me was about the number of new felonies passed this session. The last count I saw was about nine new felony-related bills. I’ve gotten to the point where I refuse to vote for anymore felonies. In fact, many of those bills I voted against. Do I believe the worst of the worst should get the maximum. Absolutely, yes. But are we simply warehousing individuals in prison or are we trying to rehabilitate? I know there is a time and place for tough penalties, but when everything is a felony what is the human and societal cost? (I probably should have voted for felony convictions for voter fraud).

Update Library Obscenity Bill: HB 1239 is up for a vote on the Senate floor this week. All persons, including librarians, have protections if they accidentally give out obscene material under Statute 22-24-29. I recognize that librarians can’t know what is in every book. This statute protects them.

Insider Tip: When you email legislators, please reference what the bill is by explaining what it does, rather than just listing the number. For example, SB 216 is the governor’s proposed property tax relief bill. When I, and other legislators, see a number with no explanation we may just delete it. We get hundreds of emails and can’t stop to look up every bill number.

Please pray that I walk in humility and have wisdom as I serve all South Dakotans. Thank you for trusting me to serve you.

God bless,

District 29 Representative Terri Jorgenson