Latest news with #AppropriationsCommittee
Yahoo
5 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Future Fund spending revealed in new report
PIERRE, S.D. (KELO) — The 18 lawmakers who oversee South Dakota state government's budget will have an opportunity on Friday to discuss a required report on a multi-million-dollar funding program that the governor exclusively controls. Container homes face challenges in Sioux Falls market The Legislature's Appropriations Committee will look at how former Gov. Kristi Noem spent from the Future Fund in the final months before she left office in January. Businesses are required to pay into the program, which lawmakers established in 1987 at the suggestion of then-Gov. George S. Mickelson as a means to supplement research and economic development. Lawmakers in 2024 passed legislation requiring semi-annual reports on the Future Fund's use be submitted to the Appropriations Committee. The current report shows that Noem distributed millions from the fund in the weeks before she resigned as governor to become the new federal Homeland Security secretary. Sioux Falls Development Foundation received $15 million on December 9, 2024. The report says the funding was to 'offset the costs associated with siting and constructing the CJ/Schwans facility in Sioux Falls.' South Dakota Community Foundation received $16.8 million on December 17, 2024, for the Build Dakota Scholarship Program, up from $10 million in the original agreement. South Dakota Chamber of Commerce and Industry received $50,000 on December 17, 2024. The report says the funding was 'for winners of the Giant Vision Business Awards Competition to encourage entrepreneurial activity within the state.' South Dakota Trade Association received $3 million on December 27, 2024, to support 'their effort to expand international trade for South Dakota businesses,' according to the report. That was up from an agreed-upon original amount of $600,000. South Dakota Department of Labor and Regulation received $13,940,211 on January 14, 2025, as 'support for the Registered Apprenticeship Program to expand its impact,' according to the report. That was up from an original amount of $7,940,211. The Appropriations Committee meeting starts at 10 a.m. CT. The Future Fund report is the third item on the agenda. A cover letter from Bill Even, who recently was appointed commissioner for the Governor's Office of Economic Development by Gov. Larry Rhoden, states that GOED 'is committed to providing comprehensive and transparent information to the Joint Committee on Appropriations, in line with legislation and South Dakota's economic development goals.' Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
6 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Nebraskans to decide in 2026 whether to allow three four-year terms in Legislature
State Sen. Robert Dover of Norfolk holds a stack of binders containing the budgetary work spearheaded by the Legislature's Appropriations Committee. March 12, 2024. (Zach Wendling/Nebraska Examiner) LINCOLN — Nebraskans now know the first ballot measure or constitutional amendment voters will consider in 2026: whether state lawmakers can serve up to three consecutive four-year terms, instead of two. The change comes with the 39-10 approval Wednesday of Legislative Resolution 19CA, from State Sen. Rob Dover of Norfolk and 22 other senators. Nebraskans implemented the current limits of two four-year terms for state senators via a voter-led initiative in 2000. It passed with 55.8% of the vote. Senators can sit out one term after being term-limited and run again. A term is counted if it lasts more than two years. So an appointed senator, such as State Sen. Rob Clements of Elmwood, who was appointed in 2017, can serve up to 10 years straight. Dover has said term limits have particularly hurt Nebraska because of its Unicameral Legislature, limiting 'institutional knowledge' in the lawmaking body. 'In all other states in the U.S., there are two chambers, so that when a representative is termed out, they go to the other chamber and serve, taking their eight years of experience with them to continue to serve their state,' Dover said in a previous statement. Senators rejected multiple attempts from State Sen. Loren Lippincott of Central City to change LR 19CA so that the three four-year terms led to a lifetime ban or service, or prevented someone from returning to the Legislature until they had sat out eight years. Lawmakers advanced an identical measure to Dover's in 2012, in a 31-14 vote, which failed to pass at the ballot box, garnering 35.4% support. Lawmakers that same year, in a 31-15 vote, also advanced a constitutional amendment to increase lawmakers' salaries to $22,500 (up from $12,000). It failed with 31.6% support. The list of senators who have returned after being term-limited is relatively short: State Sen. Danielle Conrad of Lincoln is the only current senator to have done so, joining former State Sens. Ray Aguilar, Ernie Chambers, Steve Lathrop, Mike Flood and Rich Pahls. Chambers, across 46 years of service in two separate periods, is the only senator to be term-limited twice, in 2009 and 2021. He was a top target of the 2000 ballot measure. If voters approve LR 19CA next year, Dover is one senator who would be able to run for a third term in 2028. He was appointed in 2022, as was State Sen. Kathleen Kauth of the Millard area. Due to the timing of their appointments, Kauth had to run in a 2022 special election, but Dover did not have to run until 2024. Both supported LR 19CA. The remaining four-member class of senators elected in 2020 also would be allowed to run for a third term if voters approve LR 19CA: State Sens. John Cavanaugh of Omaha, Terrell McKinney of Omaha, Eliot Bostar of Lincoln and Rita Sanders of Bellevue. All four approved the measure. LR 19CA has supporters that include Civic Nebraska, the Civic Engagement Table, League of Nebraska Municipalities, Nebraska Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Nebraska Farm Bureau and the OpenSky Policy Institute. Civic Nebraska has also been working with State Sen. Ben Hansen of Blair to increase lawmaker pay through LR 25CA. This time, the proposal would create an independent lawmaker compensation commission that could more regularly raise (or lower) senators' pay. In efforts to not repeat the dual electoral defeats of measures to increase term limits and increase lawmaker pay in 2012, Hansen sought to get his lawmaker compensation change on the November 2026 ballot. He steered Dover's term-limit proposal to the May 2026 primary election instead. Such a tactic would have required Dover's LR 19CA to pass with at least 40 votes. Dover abandoned seeking a primary election vote when some supporters began to get cold feet at that approach. Had it passed unchanged and been approved by voters next May, the 10 senators who will be term-limited after 2026 could have instead run a write-in campaign for a third term that November. Hansen's effor to create the lawmaker compensation commission will not move forward in 2025 but could return in 2026. Other bills that passed on Wednesday include: LB 192, from State Sen. Dan Quick of Grand Island, to extend the current SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program) income eligibility before it would return to pre-pandemic levels this October. An amendment from State Sen. Bob Andersen of north-central Sarpy County prohibited the Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services from waiving SNAP work requirements. DHHS 'may' require SNAP recipients to participate in an employment and training program. Passed 41-8. LB 290, from the Urban Affairs Committee and led by committee chair State Sen. Terrell McKinney of Omaha, to allow flexibility for a planned North Omaha area business park to be located outside a two-mile radius of Eppley Airfield. Problems complicated two proposed sites that a development team had prioritized for the project, which is seeded with a $90 million state grant. Passed 31-18. LB 346, from Speaker John Arch of La Vista at the governor's request, to eliminate or modify the membership or duties of 39 boards, commissions, committees, councils, task forces and panels. These range from the Nebraska Potato Development Committee and Advisory Council on Public Water Supply to the Women's Health Initiative Advisory Council and Whiteclay Public Health Emergency Task Force. Entities that faced opposition, such as the Racial Profiling Advisory Committee, were preserved as LB 346 worked through the Legislature. Passed 49-0. LB 371, from State Sen. Wendy DeBoer of Omaha, to provide civil damages for the creation and release of computer-generated or digitally manipulated intimate, 'private' or nude images without the depicted person's consent. DeBoer created the underlying civil law for the nonconsensual sharing of any intimate images in 2019. Passed 49-0. LB 382, from State Sen. Glen Meyer of Pender, to appropriate $4 million over the next two years for the state's eight designated agencies on aging in part to help keep Meals on Wheels afloat. The bill at one point included McKinney's LB 48, to create a family resource and juvenile assessment center pilot program in Omaha, which had previously failed to advance. McKinney's LB 48 was revived and removed from Meyer's bill. Passed 48-1. LB 398, from State Sen. Mike Moser of Columbus, chair of the Legislature's Transportation and Telecommunications Committee, would increase fees for driver and vehicle records beginning July 1. It also includes bills to create license plates honoring Arbor Day (LB 568, from State Sen. John Fredrickson of Omaha) and for those who have served or are serving in the U.S. Space Force or have been awarded a U.S. Army Inherent Resolve Campaign Medal (LB 134, from State Sen. Rick Holdcroft of Bellevue). Holdcroft's provisions would also allow disabled veterans or recipients of a Purple Heart to apply for specialty license plates. Passed 45-4. LB 504, from State Sen. Carolyn Bosn of Lincoln, and a priority of Gov. Jim Pillen and Attorney General Mike Hilgers, requires online services to explicitly protect minor users' data and personal information in the physical design of certain applications or websites, including social media. It would require default parental tools up to their child's 13th birthday, including ways to crack down on screen time, external communications, 'unnecessary' design features, in-game purchases, personalized recommendations and geolocation tracking. Notifications and push alerts for minors would also be prohibited during certain hours of the day. Passed 42-7. LB 513, also from Bosn, to give all 148 judges in the state a 1.5% raise each of the next two fiscal years. Judges have gotten increases in 30 of the past 36 years back to 1989, the last time that state lawmakers got a raise. Passed 38-11, the narrowest passage in about two decades. LB 521, from State Sen. Rita Sanders of Bellevue, as an election 'cleanup' package to allow hospice or disability services patient records to count as photo ID, stop petition signature verification on candidates or new political parties at 110% of the goal, prohibit petition circulation within 200 feet of ballot drop boxes, notify a voter if their voter registration is canceled and permit the Secretary of State's Office to distribute petition pages to counties 'by a secure method' rather than just by mail or law enforcement. The package included LB 659, from Andersen, which would allow political parties to appoint watchers to monitor county election officials' already mandatory three independent tests of vote-counting devices, the results of which would be published online. Also included was LB 19, from State Sen. John Cavanaugh of Omaha, to allow Lincoln or Omaha to move odd-year city elections in April and May to be in line with even-year statewide primary and general elections. Passed 49-0. LB 558, from State Sen. Brad von Gillern of the Elkhorn area, to create an Infrastructure Review Task Force to review past, present and future transportation infrastructure needs every year. The task force would include the governor, a designee of the governor, director of the Nebraska Department of Transportations, the speaker of the Legislature, the chair of the Legislature's Revenue Committee (currently von Gillern), the chair of the Legislature's Transportation and Telecommunications Committee (currently Moser), tax commissioner and three other state senators. Passed 49-0. Nebraska Examiner senior reporter Cindy Gonzalez contributed to this report. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
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Business Standard
21-05-2025
- Politics
- Business Standard
Rubio defends Trump's foreign policy amid Gaza aid, South Africa questions
Rubio told the Appropriations Committee that the Trump administration is encouraging but not threatening Israel to resume humanitarian aid shipments into Gaza AP Washington Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Democratic senators sparred Tuesday over the Trump administration 's foreign policies, ranging from Ukraine and Russia to the Middle East, Latin America, the slashing of the US foreign assistance budget and refugee admissions. Rubio defended the administration's decisions to his former colleagues during a Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing, his first since being confirmed on President Donald Trump 's inauguration day. He said America is back and claimed four months of foreign-policy achievements, even as many of them remain frustratingly inconclusive. Among them, the resumption of nuclear talks with Iran, efforts to bring Russia and Ukraine into peace talks and efforts to end the war in Gaza between Israel and Hamas. America's top diplomat praised agreements with El Salvador and other Latin American countries to accept migrant deportees, saying secure borders, safe communities and zero tolerance for criminal cartels are once again the guiding principles of our foreign policy." He also rejected assertions that massive cuts to his department's budget would hurt America's standing abroad. Instead, he said the cuts would actually improve American status and the US reputation internationally. Hearing opens with a joke, then turns serious Committee Chairman Jim Risch opened the hearing with praise for Trump's changes and spending cuts and welcomed what he called the administration's promising nuclear talks with Iran. Risch also noted what he jokingly called modest disagreement with Democratic lawmakers, who used Tuesday's hearing to confront Rubio about Trump administration moves they say are weakening US influence globally. Yet, Democrats on the committee, including ranking member Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire, Chris Murphy of Connecticut, Tim Kaine of Virginia, and Chris Van Hollen of Maryland, took sharp issue with Rubio's presentation. Shaheen argued that the Trump administration has eviscerated six decades of foreign-policy investments and given China openings around the world. I urge you to stand up to the extremists of the administration, Shaheen said. Other Democrats excoriated the administration for its suspension of the refugee admissions program, particularly while allowing white Afrikaners from South Africa to enter the country. Some Republicans also warned about the drastic foreign aid cuts, including former Senate leader Mitch McConnell and Susan Collins. They expressed concern that the US is being outmaneuvered by its rivals internationally after the elimination of thousands of aid programs. The basic functions that soft power provides are extremely important, McConnell told Rubio at a second hearing later in the day before the Senate Appropriations Committee. You get a whole lot of friends for not much money. Rubio says the US is encouraging but not threatening Israel on Gaza aid Rubio told the Appropriations Committee that the Trump administration is encouraging but not threatening Israel to resume humanitarian aid shipments into Gaza. He said the US is not following the lead of several European countries that have imposed sanctions against Israel for the dearth of assistance reaching needy and vulnerable Palestinians. However, he said US officials have stressed in discussions with the Israelis that aid is urgently needed for civilians in Gaza who are suffering during Israel's military operation against Hamas. We're not prepared to respond the way these countries have, but we are prepared to say as we have and I think the Israelis in their statements today acknowledged have engaged with our Israeli partners over the weekend, in the last few days, about the need to resume humanitarian aid, Rubio said. We anticipate that those flows will increase over the next few days and weeks it's important that that be achieved. Also on the Middle East, Rubio said the administration has continued to push ahead with attempts to broker a ceasefire in Gaza and to promote stability in Syria. He stressed the importance of US engagement with Syria, saying that otherwise, he fears the interim government there could be weeks or months away from a potential collapse and a full-scale civil war of epic proportions. Rubio's comments addressed Trump's pledge to lift sanctions burdening Syria's new transitional government, which is led by a former militant chief who led the overthrow of the country's longtime oppressive leader, Bashar Assad, late last year. The US sanctions were imposed under Assad. Rubio and senators clash over white South Africans entering the country In two particularly contentious exchanges, Kaine and Van Hollen demanded answers on the decision to suspend overall refugee admissions but to exempt Afrikaners based on what they called specious claims that they have been subjected to massive discrimination by the South African government. Rubio gave no ground. In one tense exchange, Kaine pressed Rubio to say whether there should be a different refugee policy based on skin color. I'm not the one arguing that, Rubio said. Apparently, you are, because you don't like the fact they're white. The United States has a right to pick and choose who we allow into the United States, he said. If there is a subset of people that are easier to vet, who we have a better understanding of who they are and what they're going to do when they come here, they're going to receive preference." He added: "There are a lot of sad stories around the world, millions and millions of people around the world. It's heartbreaking, but we cannot assume millions and millions of people around the world. No country can. (Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Yahoo
19-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
US bond rating downgrade is telling, Republican congressman says
U.S. Rep. Ryan Zinke, R-Mont., joins 'CUOMO' to talk about the GOP majority's continuing challenge in crafting a balanced federal budget as Moody's downgrades the government's credit rating. 'We have a spending problem in this country that we're going to have to address,' Zinke, an Appropriations Committee member, says. #Budget #Congress #Politics
Yahoo
15-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Nebraska passes $11 billion two-year budget, closes major projected deficit for now
A budget book for Nebraska's fiscal years between 2025 and 2027 sits on a lawmaker's desk. April 29, 2025. (Juan Salinas II/Nebraska Examiner) LINCOLN — Lawmakers approved Nebraska's $11 billion mainline budget for the next two years Thursday, leaving themselves with $1.1 million in wiggle room while controlling spending and moving enough money to cover the first two years of a projected deficit. That figure includes $1.5 million in spending from LB 513, to give all state judges 1.5% salary increases in each of the next two years, which State Sen. Rob Clements of Elmwood, chair of the Legislature's Appropriations Committee, anticipates passing. On Thursday, no senators spoke during debate in favor of or to defend the budget bills — Legislative Bills 260, 261, 262, 263 and 265, as well as LB 534 to fund legal claims against the state — while multiple opponents said the budget was 'supposedly' but not really balanced. State Sen. Machaela Cavanaugh of Omaha, for example, predicted the bills wouldn't stop the deficit and that a special session would be needed. 'This budget is based on a number of sleight of hands,' said State Sen. Wendy DeBoer of Omaha. 'It is not actually balanced. We're just making it look like it's balanced.' Clements said 'there's nothing' to indicate a special session would be needed unless there are 'drastic actions' federally, hinting at possible congressional budget cuts. He said he was pleased with the result of the budget bills that funded salary increases and health insurance benefits for state employees and that state agencies were not 'slashed.' Clements said his committee's work put the state in 'good financial shape' for the next two years in a budget-writing year that required extra work and he described as stressful. He said he was proud to protect funding for the Perkins County Canal and a new state prison. 'It seemed like an insurmountable mountain to climb, but we did it, and we also did not cut essential services,' Clements said. LB 261, passed 37-11, and LB 264, passed 35-13, were the main budget bills. Because legislative rules required the budget to pass by the end-of-day Thursday, lawmakers made no last-minute changes, despite criticizing the bills for more than two hours. The bills now head to Gov. Jim Pillen, who can line-item veto any items. Overrides require at least 30 votes. Clements said he had not been in communication with the Governor's Office on whether to expect vetoes, or how many. General fund estimates for the current fiscal year and the following two are: Fiscal year 2024-25: $4.56 billion in net receipts, $5.48 billion in expenses. Fiscal year 2025-26: $5.36 billion in net receipts, $5.48 billion in expenses. Fiscal year 2026-27: $5.42 billion in net receipts, $5.52 billion in expenses. Net receipts for the 2025-26 and 2026-27 fiscal years include $57.6 million in interest, $216 million in cash fund transfers and $147 million from the state's 'rainy day' cash reserve fund, which were used to help close the projected deficit. DeBoer compared the budget bills to the fairy tale 'The Emperor's New Clothes,' where the ruler is naked but his subjects pretend he has extravagant clothing. 'They talked about how great it is because they don't want to be seen as unworthy,' DeBoer said, noting a young boy in the story called out the facade. DeBoer and Cavanaugh argued the budget bills were littered with mistakes and unconstitutional provisions that were largely strewn together with sweeps of various cash funds in a budget that offered a two-year average spending growth of 0.9%. The two said some of the sweeps included funds from increased fees on Nebraskans. Cavanaugh criticized moves to take about $2 million in interest from the administrative account for the Board of Educational Lands and Funds and $15 million in transfers from the Environmental Trust Fund. She proposed taking the amounts from the state's 'rainy day' cash reserve fund to avoid lawsuits for transfers she called unconstitutional. She said officials overseeing the educational lands have said they might need to sue, and a former state official has suggested a lawsuit to protect the Environmental Trust. At least $24 million of the budget gap is expected to be filled by seizing unspent agency funds after June 30, the end of the fiscal year. State Sen. Ashlei Spivey of Omaha said at least $7 million of that is contractually obligated in the Nebraska Department of Education. Some senators have also said the budget doesn't fully consider federal changes, such as in efforts to take away state-dedicated dollars for broadband expansion, because similar dollars came from the federal government. Some of those federal dollars are now at risk. State Sen. Ben Hansen of Blair, who supported the budget, suggested lawmakers should have been looking at more cuts to prepare for major federal spending cuts, such as to Medicaid. 'It's not about tightening our belt, as it is, we might be having to lop off limbs in order to help pay for our budget,' Hansen said. Spivey, a freshman member of the Appropriations Committee with Cavanaugh, said it would be 'interesting' to see the budget implications, including for the years farther out, when lawmakers are projected to face a hole of at least $110 million under current projections. 'I hope, as we continue to work on our financial status and sustainability, that folks are more open to discourse and challenging ourselves around our decisions and our approach to how we create a responsible and responsive budget to our constituents,' Spivey said. DeBoer said cash funds don't sit around for no reason and expects a number of deficit requests next year that the Legislature might need to grapple with. Of the budget's passing, DeBoer, a senior member of the body, said: 'I guess we need to learn this lesson to do better next time.' SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
