LETTER: Legislature keeping busy in SD

Talk about it

To the Editor:

It was busy last week. I had three veterans’ organization (VFW, American Legion, etc.) requested bills I sponsored up in State Affairs Committee.

HB-1067 would designate the third Friday of September as POW/MIA, a state working holiday.

It passed committee, received a unanimous vote on the House floor, and now heads to the Senate. HB-1121 required the state to annually publish accurate statistics of how many veterans and disabled veterans are employed by the state, identical to what the federal government currently does, and as reportedly promised by then-candidate Dennis Daugaard in the 2010 election.

The Daugaard administration opposed the bill, and it was killed in committee 9-4.

HB-1221 would have allowed veteran organizations to establish a veterans’ cemetery and memorial park in eastern South Dakota, at no cost to South Dakotans.

The bill had 98 of 105 legislators as cosponsors. The Daugaard administration opposed the bill, and it was killed in committee 9-4.

A constituent-requested bill I sponsored, HB-1122, lifts current restrictions placed only on county commissioners from small counties regarding decisions on county workers’ health insurance.

It passed the Local Government Committee with a unanimous vote, then with 69 of 70 votes on the House floor and now heads to the Senate. HB-1158 was a bill I sponsored that addressed oversights in our open government statutes that require posting of government meeting agendas.

Because it wasn’t in statute, some proposed meeting agendas in the state were leaving off the time, date and locations of the meetings, because it was not explicitly required in statute. The bill fixes those oversights. It passed out of both the Local Government Committee and the House floor with a unanimous vote and now heads to the Senate.

The best way to get in touch with me is via my state email address: rep.nelson@state.sd.us by the legislative fax number (605) 773-6806, or by message on the floor (605) 773-3851.

God bless and Semper Fidelis.

Tags: opinion, updates, letters, legislature