Latest news with #Lapka
Yahoo
04-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Task force members respond after 2 days of prison talk
SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (KELO) — Two lawmakers on the prison task force said Thursday some of their key takeaways from two days of meetings in Sioux Falls was a men's prison needs space for inmate education and rehabilitation. 'They don't have the space or the staff' to fully do what they want at men's prison in Sioux Falls, said task force member and lawmaker Republican Sen. Mark Lapka. No prison yet, but $50M has already been spent 'It's very clear there are barriers,' task force member and lawmaker Democrat Rep. Erin Healy said. Lapka is a member of the state legislature's Joint Committee on Appropriations where he's heard presentation from Department of Corrections Secretary Kellie Wasko. Lapak said on Thursday that information presented by Wasko was more detailed about education, rehabilitation and related topics. 'I toured the prison last September before the legislative session,' Lapka said. 'We were shown a whole lot more on our tour (Wednesday).' The tour and Wasko's information reinforced the need for space in a men's prison, Lapka said. Testimony from prior inmates also helped Healy. The task force heard from former inmates who said they had programming help and resources while in prison and others who said they didn't, Healy said. Such testimony highlights the importance of resources in the prison, she said. As it is now, 'The state pen is not the best place best place for offenders and the people that work there,' Healy said. The task force will be exploring a new plan and a possible new location for a men's prison. Gov. Larry Rhoden created the task force called Project Prison Reset after the legislature rejected a proposed $825 million men's prison in Lincoln County. 'I think there is definitely consensus that something needs to be done,' Healy said. 'We all don't know what that is, or some have differing opinions as to what we should do.' Thursday's meeting included public comment including those who are not in favor of the possible Lincoln County site. Sioux Falls police respond to stabbing incident Lt. Gov. Tony Venhuizen, who was a lawmaker for several years before this position, is also the chair of the task force. 'A lot of good work went into that,' Venhuizen said of the rejected original plan. 'I think the plan that was pushed forward was a well-thought plan.' Yet, he didn't want to 're-plow old ground' with the original design. Healy also said the original plan was a good one but the task force needs to consider other possible options. The joint appropriations committee passed the final piece of a prison funding bill 18-0 but without a recommendation. Lapka said Rhoden did a 'good thing' in forming the task force. Now, the task force will work with a new consultant on a new design. Venhuizen said the goal is to have a system that will serve the state for the next several decades. 'This isn't going to be a cheap deal,' Venhuizen said. 'We need to be realistic about the costs are going to be.' Venhuizen said the good news is that the state has set aside just over $600 million for a men's prison project. Healy said one of the difficult decisions could be in choosing a site for a prison or prison project. No matter where a possible prison could be located, there is likely to be those who disagree, she said. The task force will meet April 29 in Springfield. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
03-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Carbon pipeline eminent domain ban advances to SD House; ‘compromise' bill gutted
Supporters of House Bill 1052 dressed in yellow fill the South Dakota Senate State Affairs room before a committee hearing on March 3, 2025. (Makenzie Huber/South Dakota Searchlight) PIERRE — South Dakota Senate Majority Leader Jim Mehlhaff – and a carbon dioxide pipeline proposal – took a political beating Monday morning at the Capitol. The Pierre Republican watched the House State Affairs committee reject his legislation, which he described as a 'compromise' on eminent domain use for pipelines, only to have the same committee revive the bill and amend it into an anti-eminent domain measure. An hour later, more than 150 opponents of a controversial carbon pipeline murmured and laughed in agreement when he told the packed room he'd 'get run over' for opposing a ban on eminent domain for the project. A proposed ban advanced out of another legislative committee Monday. 'I'm going to stand tall all the way because I think it's a terrible piece of legislation,' Mehlhaff said of the ban in an interview with South Dakota Searchlight. Summit Carbon Solutions isn't named in the legislation, but it came in response to the Iowa company's proposed $9 billion, five-state pipeline that would pass through eastern South Dakota. It would collect carbon dioxide emitted by more than 50 ethanol plants and transport it for underground storage in North Dakota, to capitalize on federal tax credits incentivizing the prevention of heat-trapping emissions into the atmosphere. Mehlhaff was one of two votes against House Bill 1052 in the Senate State Affairs Committee on Monday morning. Sen. Arch Beal, R-Sioux Falls, also voted against the legislation, which would prohibit eminent domain use for carbon pipelines. Seven other committee members voted for the bill, which will head to the Senate floor next. It's already passed the House of Representatives. Eminent domain is a legal process for obtaining land access from unwilling landowners with just compensation determined by a court, for a project beneficial to the public — traditionally for projects such as electrical power lines, crude oil pipelines, water pipelines and highways. A swarm of landowners clad in yellow testified in support of HB 1052, the latest in a string of bills targeting the carbon capture pipeline in the last several years. Sen. Mark Lapka, R-Leola, spoke as the prime sponsor for the bill. Lapka is a property owner, farmer and rancher. He said the bill wouldn't kill the project but would simply prohibit it from using eminent domain to pressure landowners. 'Should eminent domain be a tool in my toolbelt used to enrich myself for my own wellbeing?' Lapka said. 'I don't think so.' Lapka and other critics of the Summit pipeline proposal view its potential use of eminent domain as a threat to private property rights. Pipeline opponents also have concerns about potential leaks, which could result in toxic carbon dioxide plumes. Mehlhaff and other opponents of the legislation said it would be a 'kill shot' to the pipeline project and to the positive economic impact it would have on South Dakota, corn farmers and the ethanol industry. Banning eminent domain for pipelines is 'the most important issue of the year,' said House Speaker Jon Hansen, R-Dell Rapids, when he suggested reviving and significantly amending Mehlhaff's Senate Bill 198 after the House State Affairs Committee voted unanimously to defeat the bill. The original legislation would have retained eminent domain as an option, but required entities using it to first attend mediation with the affected landowner and to also have a Public Utilities Commission permit before commencing eminent domain proceedings. The amended version of the bill duplicates the language of HB 1052, the bill banning eminent domain for carbon pipelines. Hansen anticipates 'hostile, unfriendly' amendments to HB 1052 on the Senate floor. One amendment posted on the Legislative Research Council's website would ban eminent domain unless a project obtains a permit from the Public Utilities Commission and over two-thirds of easements needed for the pipeline route. 'I'd like to have an ace in the hole just in case things go off the rails over there,' Hansen said. The amendment passed 9-4. Rep. Tim Reisch, R-Howard, opposed the amendment and called it a 'bait and switch' maneuver, adding that Summit's eligibility to use eminent domain is being litigated in state courts. 'I think this is just underhanded,' Reisch said. 'This is not how we should be doing business in the people's house.' The committee plans to reconsider the amended bill on Wednesday, after the Senate decides the fate of HB 1052. Other bills challenging the pipeline project are still alive in the Legislature, including a proposed moratorium on carbon pipelines until the completion of new federal safety standards, and a bill that would authorize lawsuits by landowners who allege they've suffered from deception, fraud, harassment, intimidation or misrepresentation by a land agent for a carbon pipeline company. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
