Bill prohibiting required campus living for SD university students fails in the House
State Rep. Phil Jensen, R-Rapid City, on the South Dakota House floor during the 2024 legislative session. (Makenzie Huber/South Dakota Searchlight)
The South Dakota House of Representatives voted down a bill Tuesday at the Capitol in Pierre that would have prohibited public universities from requiring students to live on campus the first two years of their education.
Republican Rapid City Rep. Phil Jensen introduced House Bill 1193, calling the South Dakota Board of Regents policy 'unnecessary' because 'dorm life isn't great' and legal adults should be able to choose where they live and what they eat. He added that students face an 'incredible amount of debt' to earn college degrees, with required on-campus housing and meal plans adding to that debt.
SD university students wouldn't be required to live on campus under committee-endorsed legislation
Heather Forney, vice president of finance and administration for the state Board of Regents, which oversees the university system, told lawmakers during the bill's committee hearing last week that the system relies on student housing fees and meal plans to help pay for infrastructure for dining, housing, student unions, book stores and wellness centers at South Dakota's six public universities.
The system could lose up to $87 million annually if the legislation passes, Forney told lawmakers, which would cause a default on roughly $263 million in bonds used to build those facilities.
The Bureau of Finance and Management also opposed the legislation because of concerns that a potential default would impact the state's AAA bond rating. A state's bond rating is used by investors to evaluate the risk of a bond investment for projects, with a higher rating leading to better rates for taxpayers.
Opponents of the bill said the policy helps students transition to college living, increases retention among students, and improves networking among students. About 93% of students who ask for an exemption are granted it, according to the regental system. Other students are granted modifications to fit their needs, said Rep. Amber Arlint, R-Sioux Falls.
The House rejected the bill 42-28.
SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
Texas lawmakers pass medical marijuana bill that includes chronic pain
A bill expanding Texas' medical marijuana program is headed to Texas Gov. Greg Abbott's desk. The latest version was negotiated by members of the Texas House and Senate, including several lawmakers representing parts of Tarrant County. A compromise version of House Bill 46 advanced on Sunday, June 1, as negotiated in a conference committee made up of lawmakers from both chambers. It includes a number of recommendations from supporters of medical marijuana on how to improve the program, called the Texas Compassionate Use Program. The bill's measures include: Permitting satellite locations where dispensing organizations can securely store medical marijuana for distribution. Currently the products can only be stored overnight at an organization's main location, creating distribution challenges. Requires the state to have 15 dispensing organizations. At least three are required now, according to the Texas Department of Public Safety. Allows inhaling medical marijuana as an aerosol or vapor. Smoking is still not allowed. It also expands qualifying medical conditions to include: A condition that causes chronic pain. A traumatic brain injury. A terminal illness or condition that requires hospice or palliative care. The version that passed out of the House in May also included glaucoma, degenerative disc disease and spinal neuropathy, and included language specifically folding veterans into the program. The bill defines chronic pain as 'pain that is not relieved with acute, post-surgical, post-procedure or persistent non-chronic pain treatment and is associated with a chronic pathological process that causes continuous or intermittent severe pain for more than 90 days and for which a tetrahydrocannabinol is a viable method of treatment.' The Senate's version had included language that would have required patients to be on an opioid for 90 days before qualifying for the medical marijuana program. That requirement wasn't acceptable to the House, said Rep. Ken King, a Republican from Canadian who authored the bill. 'While we were not able to find agreement on degenerative disc disease, glucoma, spinal neuropathy and veterans, we believe with the new definitions of chronic pain, most of these patients will be covered,' King said. Tony Tinderholt, an Arlington Republican, who was a member of the conference committee, maintained that veterans are covered under the bill. 'The veterans out there watching need to know that the Texas Compassionate Use Program has been protected,' Tinderholt said. The expansion comes as Texas is positioned to ban consumable TCH products, like the delta-8 and delta-a gummies, vapes and drinks that can be found at stores and gas stations across Texas. The ban was a top priority of Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, who on May 28 held a news conference blasting the THC products. Members of the hemp business community have called for new regulations, like age restrictions, and better enforcement of existing regulations, rather than a ban of the products. The Texas Hemp Business Council has called on Abbott to veto the legislation.
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
Frank Chopp, a force that reshaped Washington's political landscape
House Speaker Frank Chopp delivering remarks in the House of Representatives on Jan. 11, 2016, the first day of the legislative session. (Photo courtesy of Legislative Support Services) Frank Chopp, a citizen activist who became the state of Washington's longest-serving House speaker, spent a half-century relentlessly agitating for social change. It seemed fitting then that Chopp, who died in March, would deliver a final call for action to hundreds attending his memorial service in Bellevue on Sunday. 'We have made so much progress, but let us also remember how lucky we are,' he says in a taped excerpt of a speech on the opening day of a legislative session. 'None of us go without a paycheck, none of us go hungry, none of us go homeless, none of us lack health care, none of us lack the opportunity to get an education.' 'The people we represent just want what we have,' he said. 'So we have a lot to do. Let's get to work.' Applause and cheers erupted through the crowd of lawmakers past and present, community leaders, current and former governors, and family friends gathered in the Meydenbauer Center to celebrate Chopp, whose death March 22 at the age of 71 stunned them, coming less than three months after his political retirement. For two hours, they told stories and paid tribute to the mustachioed maestro of politics, a streetwise and strategic solon who sought no higher office than the Seattle legislative seat he occupied for three decades. A Democrat, he managed to be both high-profile and behind the scenes, fomenting change without leaving visible fingerprints. 'With Speaker Chopp, we witnessed a rare fusion: the heart of an organizer, the strategy of a legislator and the savvy of a political mastermind,' said Teresa Mosqueda, a King County Council member. 'Frank blended these elements into a force that reshaped our social contract.' Former Gov. Jay Inslee said Chopp's blend of personal passion and strategic ability was the 'rocket fuel' that drove significant housing, health care and social justice policies across the finish line. Though only one person with one vote, his role in pushing the state to strengthen the social safety net, build affordable housing and improve public schools is unmatched, they said. 'Frank Chopp was the greatest legislator in the last century. Period,' proclaimed Lt. Gov. Denny Heck, a close friend and fellow Democrat. Chopp had two North Stars. There was his family: Nancy Long, his wife of 41 years, and Ellie and Narayan, their children. Chopp would tear up when he'd mention them on the House floor, for they were his touchstone. He was 'an equal partner at home,' doing the laundry and shopping and 'showing up for the small stuff,' Long recounted. Amid the steady seriousness of the job, she said he was funny and 'sometimes downright goofy.' His other North Star was adapting government to serve the state's most vulnerable. 'His daily focus from the time he was in college to the very day he died was improving the lives of others,' Long said. 'Frank started with no connections, no positional power, no money, no real standing. What he had were these very adaptive personal traits, a very solid understanding of history, a curious and amazingly agile mind and a total disregard for the status quo.' Chopp was first elected to represent Seattle's 43rd Legislative District in 1994, an election that proved catastrophic for many other Democrats. His party lost more than two dozen seats, going from a near supermajority in the House to a 62-36 minority. He ascended to leader of the House Democratic Caucus and, in 1999, became co-speaker with Republican Clyde Ballard of East Wenatchee when there were equal numbers of Democrats and Republicans in the House. Democrats won a special election in Snohomish County in 2001 to gain control of the chamber and installed Chopp as speaker in 2002, a job he kept until stepping aside in 2019. He won two more elections before retiring last year. Chopp understood persistence and patience could achieve lasting progress while impatience could trigger a political recoil. 'He believed it only mattered to be right if you were getting results,' Long said. As speaker, Chopp's sometimes cautious approach, or pragmatism, depending on one's perspective, incited the pique of the caucus' more caffeinated progressives. 'He was not an incrementalist,' declared Mosqueda, who emceed the portion of the memorial devoted to building on Chopp's legislative and political legacy. 'He knew that bold, progressive victories require smart, strategic steps. He was relentless in his drive to dismantle inequity, and his strategies were thus layered and often multi-year.' Inslee said Chopp recognized the potential that a temporary victory could derail policies and cause Democrats to lose seats. 'He made sure that we didn't get too far out ahead of the people,' he said. Chopp was the grandson of Croatian immigrants. His father began working in the Roslyn coal mines at age 12 and later became a union electrician at the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard. His mother served as a school cafeteria employee. She left school at 14 to work but earned her high school diploma from Green River Community College at age 65, according to his obituary. He grew up in Bremerton and graduated from the University of Washington. He served several years as executive director of the Fremont Public Association, now known as Solid Ground, which offers resources such as food banks, housing and employment programs. In his 30 years as a lawmaker, he focused heavily on housing and homelessness, working to increase the amount of affordable housing across the state, improve access to homeownership and house people with intellectual and developmental disabilities. He helped start the Seattle Tenants Union and the Cascade Shelter Project, living in a geodesic dome in a rented parking stall to bring attention to the need for affordable housing in the area. He helped lead efforts to set up the state's Housing Trust Fund and its Apple Health and Homes program, which uses Medicaid dollars to fund housing. Creation of the state's covenant homeownership program was one of the crowning achievements of his tenure. Chopp also pushed policies to expand behavioral health care facilities, child care access and student financial aid for more Washingtonians. Yona Makowski, a longtime budget analyst with the House Democratic Caucus, said Chopp was 'willing to break tradition and adapt government procedures' to achieve broader objectives. 'I'll lose my composure if I talk about what Frank meant to me,' she said, instead offering what her family members thought of him. 'They knew him from me talking about him at the dinner table.' 'My son thought he was a great strategist in getting meaningful things done to help disadvantaged people. My daughter compared him to the Wizard of Oz behind the curtain, but if the wizard was actually the hero,' Makowski said. 'And lastly, my late husband perhaps said it best, Frank was a very good man.'
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
Trump ally Senator Graham pushes for new sanctions against Russia ahead of G7 Summit
Republican Senator Lindsey Graham, a longtime ally of US President Donald Trump, has announced his intention to push for the introduction of new sanctions against Russia ahead of the G7 summit, which will take place from 15 to 17 June in Canada. Source: Bloomberg Details: In a joint statement with Democrat Richard Blumenthal, he stressed that the sanctions should be imposed by mid-June to send a clear signal to China and other countries helping the Kremlin circumvent international restrictions. "By the G7 summit, we hope to have sanctions put in place – in coordination with Europe – to deliver an unequivocal message to China," they said after talks in Paris with French officials. Graham and Blumenthal noted that their sanctions bill against Russia, which provides for the introduction of a 500% tariff on imports from countries that buy Russian energy resources, has been supported by 82 senators. "Russia indiscriminately kills men, women and children. It's time for the world to act decisively against Russia's aggression by holding China and others accountable for buying cheap Russian oil that props up Putin's war machine. If you want this war to end, push China to help end it," Graham wrote on X (Twitter). Quote from Bloomberg: "It's still unclear whether Trump, who has been pushing for a ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine, is ready to embrace tougher action against Moscow. But in recent days, Trump has been expressing new frustration with President Vladimir Putin." [N.B. Ukrainska Pravda doesn't recognise Putin as president – ed.] Details: Graham and Blumenthal also held a phone conversation with French President Emmanuel Macron. "We assured President Macron and his team that we believe Putin is playing games regarding peace and is actually preparing for a military offensive in the late summer or early fall," they said. Background: Graham expects the upper house of Congress to begin considering new large-scale sanctions against Russia as early as this week due to the lack of progress in achieving a ceasefire in Ukraine. As for the lower house of Congress, whose consent will also be needed to approve the new sanctions, Graham said there are "House members that are ready to move in the House, and you'll see congressional action". The senators have regularly issued threats of what they describe as "bone-crushing" sanctions against Russia, although these have not yet been implemented. Support Ukrainska Pravda on Patreon!
