By Denise Ross

In my most recent newspaper column I wrote about the prospects for permanent drought aid, or a Disaster Title, becoming a reality. My take is that were it not for the entire Farm Bill being on the ropes, a Disaster Title would be moderately controversial but would pass.

But the entire Farm Bill is on the ropes, and, therefore, a Disaster Title is unlikely to materialize. And if not now, will there be a next time?

If the farm bill weren’t teetering on the brink, a disaster title might be one of those compromises that would pass with grumbles from those who don’t like spending the money. But with the whole farm bill more than six months behind schedule, The Washington Post reports that the House, Senate and White House have started squabbling over how to extend the 2002 farm bill provisions, making a return to 1949 farm policy more of a possibility than anyone cares to contemplate. 

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By Denise Ross

I’m putting together my weekly newspaper column (Mitchell, Spearfish, RC Weekly) about the Farm Bill, and more specifically about the would-be Disaster Title (guaranteed drought aid) that Sen. John Thune is working hard to get passed.

Writing a guarantee of those disaster payments into the Farm Bill isn’t terribly popular outside of a few enclaves. This map from the Environmental Working Group might explain why.

This map shows where disaster checks are sent almost as a matter of course - like every other year. It’s us here in SD and ND in a dramatic fashion. And now I have the Gear Daddies song African Killer Bees Are Coming running through my head. (If you squint, you can see Frank Kloucek’s dot on the map.)

The disasters waiting to happen (but not waiting long) are the Dakotas, west Texas, Oklahoma, to a slightly lesser extent Georgia and Alabama and then something’s going on in northern Arkansas.

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By Denise Ross

South Dakota’s sanctioned 529 college savings vehicle, run by Allianz, gets high marks from MorningStar, which has released rankings for the nation’s 529 plans.

Says MorningStar:

This plan … has plenty of appeal. Investors are charged just for the underlying funds, which in most cases are in the form of reasonable-priced institutional share classes. Plus, South Dakota is currently capping

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By Denise Ross

When Rapid City school administrators sounded the funding alarm, Stan Adelstein got out his checkbook.

Stan Adelstein put his money where his mouthpiece used to be, but the Rapid City Area School District is still well short of the money it’s going to need in the near future.

Adelstein pledged $165,000 to pay for elementary band and orchestra.

That is the lead of the lead story at the Rapid City Weekly News. Meanwhile, the Rapid City Journal also reported on Tuesday’s packed school board meeting as the winged prayers of SD’s school funding formula came home to roost in the state’s second-largest city.

“For years, music has been an essential part of my life,” said the politician and philanthropist Stanford Adelstein. “This opportunity must not be taken away from our children.”

Oh, what I wouldn’t give for a photo of Stan at the mic.

Meanwhile, Sen. Tom Katus, the incumbent Democrat who will face Stan, a Republican, in November, also took to the microphone, after

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By Denise Ross

Tuesday was the deadline for Americans to pay the IRS, and Sen. John Thune, R-SD, took the opportunity to promote the GOP’s desire to make President Bush’s tax cuts permanent.

Except it should be noted that they aren’t calling them “President Bush’s” tax cuts any longer. Wonder why? Could it be that, as Joe Klein noted over the weekend, the prez’s approval rating is “below freezing”?

Anyway, here is what the GOP, and by extension, Thune IS saying about “the largest tax increase in history,” brought to you by the Democrats.

Under the Democrat’s proposal, tax rates beginning on January 1, 2010 will be increased in most tax brackets. The increased child tax credit will expire, the marriage penalty will be reinstated, and the death tax will increase to pre-2001 levels, making it among the highest in the world.  

Read the full press release on the jump.  

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By Denise Ross

What’s a US Senator to do when gas prices hit prices that are not only record highs but that seemed impossible during their last election campaigns?

Since the price of gas is, short of some serious hearings and legislation, not directly within their sphere of influence, a senator is left to express a bit of I-feel-your-pain and then move on to the blaming portion of the program.  (Not blaming SUV-driving voters, however. That would be imprudent.)

During calls with reporters Wednesday, both Sen. Tim Johnson, D-SD, and Sen. John Thune, R-SD, acknowledged the pain and placed some blame, with the villians being identified as the Bush administration, oil companies and their profits, Congress and OPEC countries.

Said Johnson:

$4 gas would be devastating for the people of SD, with the agriculture and tourism industries getting hit extra hard. I will continue to support ethanol and cellulosic ethanol and wind energy. That is a long-term agenda.

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By Denise Ross

On Monday morning, South Dakotans got one step closer to having real access to information about state government spending after the SD House of Representatives overrode Gov. Mike Rounds’ veto of House Bill 1233. The bill would create an online searchable database that would track state dollars - sorta like a checkbook.

Now HB1233 will go to the Senate, which passed HB1233 but was 3 votes shy of a veto-proof margin. We’ll know by the end of the day if this bill survives. The Hoghouse is rooting for it.

Before the House cast its 61-8 vote, Rep. Hal Wick, R-Sioux Falls, handed out definitions to further explain the language in the bill. The handout was a direct response to the governor’s veto letter, which said:

The provisions of this bill do not adequately define the information to be made available.  

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By Denise Ross

Open government is a hot topic this year.

I am a self-identified open government advocate, but at Saturday’s crackerbarrel in Rapid City, two lawmakers described two open government bills as a conflict between common sense and the battle cry of open government. I cannot argue with them.

Rep. Mark Kirkeby, R-Rapid City, noted that under current state law, a majority of the local school board, city council or county commission cannot legally show their faces at the crackerbarrel meetings.

They could not attend a forum such as this.

Senate Bill 199 seeks to change that, so that members of the school board, for example, could attend crackerbarrels without the worry of violating the state’s open meeting’s law. Technically, they could do so now if they followed all the rules of publishing an agenda ahead of time.

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By Denise Ross

It’s down to the wire an a slew of education funding bills. Tuesday’s committee action should be both exciting and excruciating at the same time.

The Hoghouse has tried to pick the 3 most interesting of those bills, but that’s like trying to pick the 3 best varieties of chocolate.

I’ve written about Senate Bill 193 before, and I do believe this is the final chance for its sponsors to unveil their plan to save the world.

Right now, the bill simply reads: “Education in South Dakota is hereby enhanced.” Then again, maybe that’s a perfectly fine bill just the way it is. Who could vote against that?

House Bill 1214 would set the minimum public teacher’s salary at $30,000 by FY2010. I picked it over the other minimum teacher salary bills because this one hasn’t yet had a hearing.

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By Denise Ross

That South Dakota Gov. Mike Rounds takes every opportunity to pound the bully pulpit about what a disgrace it is that some school districts are suing the state - claiming woefully inadequate K-12 funding - might grow annoying for its repetition. But Rounds is perfectly within his rights as a political leader to make his case however and however often he sees fit.

That Rounds is running from the one opportunity to put his money where his mouth is, to say something in the one venue that will truly matter in this lawsuit - that he is trying to duck a deposition and testimony in the lawsuit itself - that is its own disgrace. 

The Mitchell Daily Republic broke the story and said Rounds is citing “executive privilege” in asking for a protective order - a protective order! I know it’s all legalese, but that terminoligy will translate to the wider world that Rounds is afraid to testify, that he needs protection.

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