April 12th ... From the Black Hills
Guns in Fall River County Courthouse. As promised from last week, this is our subject. I know, I know, aren’t there more important issues than guns in the courthouse? There are, but its hard to put a price on our constitution and the amendments to the constitution, which make it part of our constitution. Men and women have fought and died for it. So, yes, it is very important!
In question here is the Second Amendment, “A well regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed.”
Going back to this past legislative session, we had HB1156 Capitol Carry. In a nutshell, it would allow you to carry a pistol, concealed, into the capitol for protection. The House majority leader was the prime sponsor. This was not just for legislators, but more importantly, the personnel that work inside the capitol 12 months of the year. I visited with the Secretary of State Shantel Krebs, and the Commissioner of School and Public Lands, Ryan Brunner, and they both were in favor of being able to defend themselves, should the need arise. The other three constitutional officers, the State Treasurer, State Auditor, and Attorney General (Marty Jackley), all were in favor of HB1156 Capitol Carry.
The governor asked us to amend the bill to “if you are carrying in the capitol, you have to pass the enhanced carry course (cost $200 approx.), and give the capitol security a list of who is carrying in the capitol. So we amended it. The gnashing of teeth amongst us conservatives was considerable. We passed the bill on the House floor, as did the Senate. Once this happened, it went to the governor’s desk for his signature to become law.
Well, as most of you know, the governor vetoed it. WTH? I was more than upset!! So I asked the particular lobbyist who was liaison for the governor on this bill what happened. It was his amendment that we compromised to get his approval. The answer I received was, “The governor has the right to change his mind.”??!! In my opinion, in this case, no, he doesn’t! He told the legislature what we needed to do to get his signature, and we did it. We tried to override the veto on the last day of the session, and failed by 5 votes.
Getting back to Fall River County. I was in the court room (that’s where the county commission meetings are held) when Circuit Judge Craig Pfeifle asked the commission to reconsider their earlier 3-2 ruling allowing guns in the courthouse on days court was not in session. The commission did reconsider, quite rapidly I might add, on a 4-1 vote to not allow guns in the Fall River County Courthouse.
Now, I believe government is best kept at the lowest level, therefore I am not second guessing the county commissioners reversal. They work for you, the residents of Fall River County, and you hired them, and if you disagree with their decision, you can fire them.
What I am wanting us to think about is the Constitution, specifically the 2nd Amendment, which I quoted earlier. What gives any elected official the right to override the Constitution? Now these pro-constitution-over riders always start out with “I’m a card-carrying NRA member. I own several guns. I love to hunt. Asking the public to pay $10 for a concealed carry permit is only $2 per year, etc.” Okay, with that analogy, let’s go to the First Amendment, Freedom of Speech.
Let’s implement a Free Speech permit. We’ll keep the cost the same, $10. Of course, you will need to fill out an application at the Sheriff’s Office, and you will be vetted to see if you should be allowed to speak freely in public. (I probably would be denied.) We could even add an enhanced speech permit that we could say is needed if you speak in front of a group of 20 or more people. It’s only $200; that’s only $40 per year. IT’S AGAINST THE CONSTITUTION YOU YELL!! My point exactly!
Until next week…
Tim R Goodwin, Representative for District 30
Tgoodwin1955@gmail.com or 605-390-5324
April 4th ... Back in the Black Hills
Greetings from the beautiful black hills. Fact: Not a more majestic place in the entire state than District 30 (Fall River, Custer and southern Pennington counties). Some of my fellow (east river) legislators would tease me and say they were going to retire in District 30 and then run against me for the legislature?! I’d laugh, then look them straight in the eye and tell them to make sure they mention they’re from east river, and see how many votes that gets them.
On a serious note, I was on KIMM radio last week and was asked by the host Brian Fisher how I would grade the legislature this year. The question took me by surprise. So I thought a moment and blurted out a grade of C. The host was, as well, surprised because I’m sure he thought my answer would be D- or F. So I went on to justify my grade.
First off, the state budget that we approved was 10 million less than last year. Not a huge improvement, but at least we didn’t increase the budget like happened in two previous legislative sessions, where they broke records for budget increases. Secondly, we reined in government. What I’m referring to was granting permission to sell a lot of state property. The list includes STAR Academy by Custer, one building and 20 acres on the new state veterans home campus in Hot Springs, two buildings across Hwy. 44, south of new Western Dakota Tech Institute in Rapid City, several buildings on the campus of the state facility in Redfield, the entire campus of the School for the Deaf in Sioux Falls, and lastly, the facility in Plankinton.
Once this is accomplished, all these properties go back on the tax rolls, generating much needed income to each county. Also, in some cases like STAR Academy and the School for the Deaf, bringing much needed businesses, creating jobs. The monies from the sale go back into the state treasury and in some cases, earmarked for the property that was sold. Now as I’ve stated before, the motive to shut down these facilities, like STAR Academy, for example, were flawed. None the less, we are limiting the government footprint, which is what conservatism is all about.
I have asked to be with the School and Public Lands Commissioner Ryan Brunner when the STAR Academy is appraised. Not that I don’t trust the appraisal, it is just good government to make sure Custer County gets a fair and reasonable price once it is sold. So a C grade you ask? Well, that’s my answer, and yes, that’s my final answer, a C it is!
Thanks again for giving me the pleasure to serve as your legislator in Pierre. Next week’s topic? Constitutional Carry in the Fall River County Courthouse. Until then….
Tim R Goodwin, Representative, District 30
March 27, 2017 (Last Legislative Day)
Greetings from the capitol floor of the House of Representatives for the great state of South Dakota. It's been a bittersweet day. The 3 bills I was hoping to override from the governor's veto didn't make it. HB1156, allowing a concealed pistol in the capitol with an enhanced concealed pistol permit, received 42 yea votes out of a possible 70. We needed 47 yea votes or 2/3 majority to override this veto. Likewise HB1072, to reprise certain provisions relating to permits to carry a concealed pistol, commonly called "Constitutional Carry", received 36 yea votes, again needing 2/3 or 47 yeas. And HB1149, to revised the tax in certain telecommunication services and devices (in other words, a tax DECREASE), also failed, getting 41 yeas and needing 47. I would like to note that all three of these bills received a majority vote from the members of the House. We representatives represent you the people, our constituents who hired us to come to Pierre and represent you!
It's apparent that until a new governor is elected, which will happen in the fall of 2018, these two gun bills and this tax decrease, along with two tax decrease bills I brought (HB1131 and HB1151), will not pass. We have enough votes to get a majority, but evidently not enough to sustain a 2/3 vote for any veto overrides. So if we get a new governor who is for the people and listens to those elected by the people to represent them, we can pass those bills with a simple majority vote.
What happened today that surprised me more than anything this session, happened to a resolution, introduced by me, Rep. Dennert from Aberdeen, Rep. DiSanto from Rapid City and my District 30 seatmate Julie Frye-Mueller. Our resolution urged Congress to repeal and de-fund the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, also known as ObamaCare. In order to get a debate on this resolution, we had to have a motion to suspend the rules. I made that motion, and there was a second from Rep. Dennert. Back story: I had a copy of the resolution placed on each representative's desk, and I also spoke to this resolution in the Republican caucus. The 60 so-called Republicans listened to what the resolution was about. The 10 Democrats were not present, as they have their own caucus meeting. So in order to suspend the rules, to enable us to debate and vote on the resolution, we needed a 2/3 vote or again 47 yeas, before the vote took place. Several members of the leadership positions (I call them followership, as they lead from behind), spoke against the hearing of the resolution, keeping this very Republican resolution from coming before the body. This resulted in 23 yeas and 46 nays and one excused. I'm not making this up. A totally Republican resolution, asking the President of the United States to repeal and replace the biggest failure in our lifetime, ObamaCare, didn't even get a vote on the House floor!
I think I'd better cool off a bit, so until next week.....
Tim R Goodwin, Representative for District 30
tgoodwin1955@gmail.com or 605-390-5324
WEEK 10
Governor Vetoes Five Bills!! HB1072, HB1156, HB1149, SB35, SB164
Now for the life of me, why in the world would a republican governor with a super majority republican senate of 29 republicans to 6 democrats and a super majority republican House of Representatives of 60 republicans and 10 democrats, veto any legislation passed by both chambers?
Let me give you a quick rundown about how a bill is vetted before arriving on the governor’s desk. First a legislator has to have a bill drawn up. There is a group of legal “beagles” located in the capitol whose sole purpose is to help him/her with that. Once the ill is written, the representative or senator gets sponsors to sign onto his/her bill. In the House, the bill is HB+4 numerals. In the Senate, it is SB+3 numerals. Once this is done, the bill is submitted and the Speaker of the House or the President of the Senate assigns it to a committee for a hearing. (Sometimes rotten things happen here but that’s for another writing.)
During the hearing, both opponent and proponent testimony is heard. Committee members are members of the House for house bills (HBs), and members of the Senate for senate bills, respectfully. Once all testimony is heard, the committee debates the bill and ultimately votes on the bill. It takes a simple majority for a bill to pass. So if there are 13 members of a committee, a 7-6 vote would pass the bill to the floor for debate.
Once the bill hits the chamber floor for example, it takes a simple majority to pass. Two exceptions are if there’s an expense to the taxpayers, it takes a 2/3 vote or if there is an emergency clause, that also takes a 2/3 vote.
Once the bill passes the House, it is sent over to the Senate, and vice-versa. Once the bill passes both the House and the Senate, it is sent to the Governor for his signature. He either signs the bill and it becomes law, or he doesn’t sign the bill. This is called a veto. If the bill is unsigned, or vetoed, it goes back to both chambers and it takes a 2/3 vote in each chamber to override a veto. In the House, that would be 47 representatives and in the Senate, 24 senators. Make sense?
So I repeat: WHY WOULD A REPUBLICAN GOVERNOR WITH A SUPER MAJORITY REBUBLICAN HOUSE AND REPUBLICAN SENATE VETO ANY LEGISLATION?
Let’s take HB1072, vetoed by Gov. Daugaard. This bill is tabbed Constitutional Carry, meaning no approval or permit or data base is needed to carry a weapon on yourself or in your vehicle or in your home. It is called Constitutional Carry because the 2nd Amendment of our Constitution states: “A well regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed”. Eleven states have passed Constitutional Carry already.
New let me show how our rights are slowly eroding; the difference between 1972 and 2017:
1972: I go duck hunting before school and pull into the parking lot at Watertown High School with my Remington 870 shotgun in the gun rack of my dad’s 1963 GMC pickup. The principal comes over and looks at the mallards and asks how I like my 870 shotgun that’s in the pickup gun rack. The principal offers to take the ducks to the cleaning station a couple miles from school, so that I won’t be late for class.
2017: School goes into lock down, FBI called. I’m hauled off to jail and pickup and shotgun are confiscated, never to be seen again. Counselors are called in for traumatized students and teachers.
The 1972 part of this scenario is true. It shows how far our freedom has eroded little by little, drop by drop. Imagine if you were Rip Van Winkle and went to sleep in 1972, and woke up today. Sure, there are all kinds of technological advances, but we also have lost a lot of freedom, guaranteed by our Constitution, in just the last 45 years. If this erosion of our Constitution continues, what freedom will our grandchildren have in another 45 years?
Where do we go from here? It’s time to dig in and fight. I’m going back to Pierre on March 27th, the last day of this session, and do my level best to get 47 of my peers to override all five of the governor’s vetoes!! Prayer is needed. Until next week…
Tim R. Goodwin, Republican Representative for District 30
Tim.Goodwin@sdlegislature.gov or call 605-773-3821 or my cell 605-390-5324
WEEK 9
CALL THE GOVERNOR!!
Greetings! We all need to call Governor Daugaard at 605-773-3212 in regard to Spearfish Canyon, Bismark Lake and Camp Bob Marshall. Why? The governor didn’t ask the legislature for the $2.5 million to seal the land swap and has said he was getting the money from other sources! (I believe from the Game, Fish and Parks.) Also, he has said that the opposition is softening. Really?! Wait until the next meeting, and he will get a reality check big time!!
The session is over, so each week I plan on breaking down bills that passed this session. This Week SB35. Due to lower than anticipated sales tax revenue, the 0.5 cent sales tax increase generated the revenue needed to raise teacher pay to $48,500. If the legislature had left the original language from statue in SB-35, then the appropriations committee would have needed to cut $3,724,672 from the FY17 and $1,182,033 from the FY18 K-12 general education budget.
-Due to the removal of the language, the general education budget was held HARMLESS and on top of that, was given a 0.3% increase for FY18.
-Important to remember that the formula is driven by 3% or CPI, whichever is less and in turn raises teacher pay target.
-Also important to maintain base by keeping the state share at 60% and local share at 40%. This ensures that education maintains the base funding the ¼ cent tax increase provided.
It’s a myth that taking the language out of the education formula will take money away from education. Because of this, I voted yea on SB35.
Until next week, don’t forget to call the governor at 605-773-3212.
-Tim R. Goodwin, Representative for District 30
WEEK 8
Greetings! As mentioned, nine of us representatives in the House, Frye-Mueller and myself included, 3 senators including Sen. Lance Russell, wrote the attorney general in regard to the constitutionality of vehicle bills. Well, Marty Jackley made a ruling that they are not unconstitutional (darn!). The legislature as a body could pass a bill stopping vehicle bills in the future (not all bad).
This leads into SB176, you guessed it, a vehicle bill. This bill was introduced in the Senate on Feb. 3rd, the last day that bills could be introduced. It was 32 words long, with the thrust being, “the protection of the safety of the citizens of SD.” By Feb. 15th, this 32-word bill had become a 1500-word bill, with 7 sections to it. (Look up SD176 at www.sdlegislature.gov . This bill has passed the senate, 21 yeas and 14 nays, (Sen. Russell was a nay). What concerns me is that this bill is aimed at protestors against the Keystone Pipeline, once it starts in west river and the Dakota Access pipeline, once it starts east river.
For the record, I’m for pipelines and truly believe it is the most efficient and environmentally safe way to transport oil. I’m not for adding additional laws on the books when we have more than enough laws now. This hog-housed vehicle bill, SB176, has language that gives the governor the authority to declare public safety zones, and make it a felony for anyone who trespasses in these zones more than twice in 2 years. There is also language that no more than 20 people can gather near these safety zones.
I’m sure the governor’s intentions are good, as he’s trying to get out ahead and not let what happened in North Dakota happen in South Dakota. For this I applaud his efforts. I’m just not willing to give him authority to create safety zones and turn peaceful protestors into felons.
Monday, March 6th, starts the last week of the 92nd legislative session, so SD176 has to be voted on in the House, and if I have anything to do with it, defeated. It will take 35 other representatives to vote with me to stop this bill. In my opinion, it is government overreach big time.
We do go back to Pierre for one day, March 27, to address any vetoes the governor has signed. He has gone public and said that he would veto HB1072 and HB1156, Constitutional Carry and Capitol Carry, respectively.
A few potpourri items: At the Chamber Crackerbarrell, in Rapid City March 4th, the question was asked if the legislature would be in favor of a state income tax.?! After this question was asked, the crowd erupted in applause! The other Rapid City legislators did their best tap dance, talked about raising 4-1/2 cent sales tax to 5 cents, but didn’t throw out the state income tax idea. I took the mic and said that not only was I totally against the state income tax, but that as long as I was in the legislature and still breathing, it would never pass!! I know I probably came across a bit strong, but give me a break!! This governor with the approval of the last two legislative sessions, has raised taxes $335 million. Go back to 2015 and read SD1. It will make your blood boil!! My point is that if you keep feeding this alligator, it will only grow bigger, and bigger, and it will never be satisfied.
The reason I ran to represent the citizens of District 30 was to rein in government, not grow it. Thanks for reading, and thank you for giving me the opportunity to represent you in Pierre. Until next week…
Tim R. Goodwin, Representative, District 30
WEEK 7
Whew! This last week included Crossover Day. What that means is that all House bills that passed through committee have to be heard on the House floor by midnight, Feb. 23. After Crossover Day, we tackle all Senate bills that passed in the Senate chamber, and the Senate does the same with House bills that passed the House of Representatives.
We started Session at 1pm and worked until 9:10pm. It was a long day. Before 1pm, we had committee meetings and caucuses to work. In my opinion, this day is a total set-up. The bills are thrown at us with little time to debate, with machine gun style rattling the thought processes, intended to convince us to vote the way they want us to. I say this because we had many days when we were in session less than 2 hours.
We conservative republicans met separately and discussed bills, had our sheets and positions done, before session started. We felt well read on issues and we weren’t rattled by this hurry, hurry, “no time” political stunt.
Here is an example of just one bill: HB1209 Authorize Sale of STAR Academy. This bill was defeated, then through political maneuvering, there is a procedure in which a bill can be brought back one more time. This happened around 4pm. The procedure to bring the bill back passed.
After that happened, my emails lit up as did my phone. I had voted against authorizing the sale, as I wasn’t convinced the STAR Academy should have been closed in the first place. With it’s closure, there isn’t a place for these troubled youth to go to get a second chance.
So…I visited with the Custer mayor and played email tag with Chamber and Economic Development folks from the city of Custer. They ALL recommended that I change my vote to yea, and get as many of my fellow representatives to go along with me. Their convincing argument was that it is just sitting empty, so let’s sell it and get it back on the tax roles for the county. Once sold, a new buyer will bring much needed jobs to the community.
Now, as this is taking place, bill after bill is being debated on the floor. I was also receiving emails and calls from many other constituents on the bills that were a priority to them. Side note that my desk is next to an exit door, so I could slip out and talk to the essential callers at the same time I listen to debate on the floor and run back in to vote. Weighing this argument to sell STAR Academy, I worked the floor to get as many as possible to switch their votes as well. Once the HB1209 came up the second time, I entered the debate, telling them about my phone and email discussions with the leaders from the city of Custer. The end result was that the STAR Academy sale passed 46 yea – 21 nay! Earlier it was defeated 31 yea – 36 nay. Whew!
That’s all for now, until next week, this is
Tim Goodwin, Representative, District 30
Tim.Goodwin@sdlegislature.gov or call 605-773-3821 or my cell 605-390-5324
Week 6:
Congratulations and a big thank you goes out to the grass roots efforts to halt the Spearfish Canyon and Custer County (Camp Bob Marshall, Bismark Lake) Land Swap! My hats off to not only the great citizens of district 30, but also to our friends to the north in their mobilization to bring this proposal to a standstill! The governor made the remark that he hadn’t heard any opposition to the land swap?! Now in his defense, he keeps himself pretty insulated, and it seems has a staff that tells him only what he wants to hear, so I take the man at his word. However, he’s heard all of us now, like we’d say in the Army, “Lima Charlie,” translated to Loud and Clear!
Before we pop the champagne cork, let’s see where we’re at; we have won the battle in putting this proposal on hold, but we have not won the war. It could still appear in the waning hours of this session, or be top priority next session (next year), which is the governor’s last year in office. Sen. Russell, Rep. Frye-Mueller and I will be vigilant in keeping a close eye on this outrageous proposal.
I had two bills defeated in committee (Not Happy!). HB1151 had to do with unused Index Factor funds; basically stopping the county from utilizing any unused index factor funds from the previous three years, and then having the authority to give property owners up to a 10% tax increase. My bill struck this provision, making the county opt out, or in layman’s terms, have a vote of the people before they can implement a property tax increase. The bill was defeated in committee 12-2.
HB1131 had to do with a statute that was put in to pass the ½ cent tax that was passed last year for teachers’ pay increase and commercial tax relief. The statute stated that for every $20 million in internet sales, the ½ cent sales tax would DECREASE 1/10th of a percent, not to exceed ½ cent. So in essence, giving us tax payers the ½ cent sales tax increase back to us, once internet sales his $100 million. We would be back to 4% sales tax, not 4-1/2 like we now currently pay. My bill started the meter, so that this would become reality. It was defeated in committee 9-5. I plan to lobby HARD for both of these bills; to bring them back next year.
A hot topic in the news is a letter 12 of us legislators signed. Rep. Frye-Mueller and I were 2 of the 12. The letter asked Marty Jackley, Attorney General, to make a ruling on the constitutionality of vehicle bills. These bills that have a vague title such as “for the betterment of South Dakota,” but the bill is blank, to be filled in later! I’m not making this up! The establishment legislators are more than upset, so it’s likely they are up to no good. My beef with vehicle bills is that they bypass the committee process, where the public has an opportunity to be a proponent or opponent on every bill.
More to come, stay tuned….
Tim R. Goodwin, Representative, District 30
Tim.Goodwin@sdlegislature.gov or call 605-773-3821 or my cell 605-390-5324
