Senator Tom Pischke Week 6
Week 6 of the 2024 Legislative Sesson ended on February 15th. All of our committees in both chambers have been busy working through the 478 bills that were introduced this year. In South Dakota, every introduced bill gets a hearing in a committee.
For some reason, legislators tend to get evaluated on how effective they are by how many bills they get passed. While I do understand that passing legislation is an aspect of the job and part of the reason that the good people of District 25 voted for me to represent them in Pierre, it’s only part of the job. In fact, I would argue that it’s equally important to vote correctly and help kill poor legislation. Legislation that violates our United States Constitution or our South Dakota Constitution needs to defeated and never seen again.
As a Conservative Republican, I think that Government closest to the people best serves the people of that area. We don’t want the Federal Government telling the City Council of Dell Rapids, Garretson, or Flandreau on what ordinances they can or can’t enforce, just like we don’t want the State of South Dakota enacting laws that restrict counties or townships from passing laws that are best for the people in those counties or townships. But unfortunately, that’s exactly what we have with SB 201 this year. SB 201 preemptively voids any county or township safety standards or setbacks when it comes to the CO2 pipeline. SB 201 says that the Federal Government knows what’s best for your county or your township and the safety of your neighbors when it comes to CO2 pipelines and how far they should be away from your house, or your friends, or your family. Quite honestly, it’s Government overreach and it’s not how we do business here in South Dakota. At the time of this writing, SB 201 has passed a Senate committee and will be debated on the Senate Floor on February 20th or 21st.
As always, if you are interested in following along with any of our committees or chambers this session, there are two great ways to do that. First, visit www.sdlegislature.gov as this is the Legislature's home page where you can find any information about session that you are looking for. On the front page you will find a schedule of committees and when the House and Senate will be meeting and what's on the agenda for each meeting. You can also find listings of all the bills that we will be working on this session. Additionally, if you want to listen into a committee or chamber you can click on the South Dakota Public Broadcasting icon next to that scheduled meeting to listen live. The Second way to listen and watch is to visit www.SD.Net where you can find all the live audio from the committees and the live audio and video streams from the House and Senate Chambers.
Finally, if you have any questions about how to find information about a bill or committee, or any questions at all about session please contact me. I can be reached most anytime by phone at 605-999-2948 and by email at . If you do call and I’m unable to answer, try sending me a text and I will call you back later. Additionally, if you email, please include that you are from District 25 and what town you're from. We get 100s of emails a day and I cannot reply to them all, but if I know that you are from our district, I will get back to you! Lastly, if you are planning a trip up to the Capitol for a visit during session, please let me know so that we can find a time to meet up while you are here! Have a great week and God Bless!
-Senator Tom Pischke
SD Senate – District 25
Senate Education Committee
Senate Local Government Committee
Senate Tribal-Relations Committee
Cell: 605-999-2948
Email 1:
Email 2:
Week 6 2024 South Dakota Legislature Report from Rep. Randy Gross
This week will be busy as February 21st is the last day for non-budget bills to be passed in their house of origin (Senate or House of Representatives) before moving on to the other house for consideration. Bills not passed in their house of origin, by that date, will no longer be considered. The push is on!
Education, education funding and teacher pay are topics addressed at every session. In 2016 a Blue-Ribbon Task Force recommended a state sales tax increase with much of those additional tax dollars going to schools for increased teacher pay. Since that time state aid to education has gone up about 30%. Average teacher pay has increased much less. Cost per K-12 student has gone from $8,369 in 2016 to $10,527 in 2022 (last available data). While South Dakota is 39th in expenditures per student we are once again very near the bottom in teacher pay at 49th in the nation. It is important to remember that the state funds education. Local school boards and administrators determine teacher pay.
Legislators are very aware of the disconnect between increased school funding and teacher pay that has occurred. When we see state aid increased, we want to make sure that it’s finding its way into teachers’ pockets.
Legislation has been introduced that will establish a statewide minimum teacher salary concept for South Dakota, where each district must pay a $45,000 base salary and then increase the base salary each year based on legislative increases to educational state aid. Most districts are at or above the proposed minimum requirement, but 37 school districts are behind. Based on a 4% potential legislative increase this session, the minimum becomes $46,800. That can create challenges in some school districts, but it’s a message from the state that we expect them to prioritize teacher salaries.
The legislation also requires school districts to reach an average teacher compensation goal each year specific to each district. Compensation includes benefits such as insurance, and retirement plans. The inclusion of both average salary and average compensation gives districts the flexibility to prioritize between salaries and other benefits for teachers.
School districts have until 2027 to meet new requirements. Under the proposed legislation, here’s how area school districts would fare. Garretson ($2,924 over requirement), Dell Rapids ($2,102 over requirement), Flandreau ($968 over requirement), Colman-Egan ($280 under requirement), and West Central ($6,220 over requirement). The bill sets financial consequences for school districts that don’t reach their district-specific average compensation or the minimum teacher salary, with the department of Education decreasing state funding to the district by $500 for each teacher employed by the district. There is also a waiver process that may be requested by schools, for valid reasons, when expectations are not met.
Teacher salaries/compensation is an important topic. This is an issue I will monitor closely as we near conclusion of the legislative session.
It continues to be an honor to represent the 25th District. Information on the content and status of bills is available on the state web site https://sdlegislature.gov. I can be contacted at .
-25th District Representative Randy Gross
