It was a treat to have my granddaughters Rebecca and Rachel sing the national anthem at the opening of session on Tuesday!
We are starting to wrap up bills and here are just a few that I will highlight.
HB 1052 - Legislators spoke and stood with the landowners farmers and ranchers in defense of the private property rights against eminent domain abuse. It passed on the Senate floor 23 to 12 and now the Governor has signed it into law.
SB 145 aims to increase government transparency and fiscal oversight. Leases lasting more than 15 years or totaling more than 5 million or monthly rent of $50,000 would need approval from both legislative chambers. This passed with full support of all 70 members of the House.
SB 191 protect Fair and uniform property taxation in SD. I do not support this as it shifts the tax burden to others. It would allow for two nearly identical homes in the same neighborhood to be taxed differently. We will be taking up several bills this week dealing with property tax relief.
HB 1131 passed that would provide one time money for restoration, maintenance and repair of our beautiful State Capitol.
Governor Rhoden has set up a special session to discuss any new proposals that come from the Project Prison reset working group. This group has three questions to answer. Do we need a new prison? How big it should it be? Where should it go? Recommendations made by this working group will be presented to the special session on July 22.
We have only one week left in this session. It has been my honor to represent the voters in District 25. You can reach me with any comments or questions at Les.heinemann@sdlegislature.gov, or call 605-773-3851 or my cell 605-864-1274.
