Latest news with #Lems
Yahoo
03-06-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Task force members react to consultant's proposal
SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (KELO) — In its latest report, a consultant has new recommendations for the Project Prison Reset Task Force. Arrington Watkins submitted its recommendation Monday morning. After weighing factors such as location, availability to utilities and to emergency vehicle access among other things, the group recommended for the task force to take a closer look at six of the possible 13 sites, with one familiar location leading the way. DOH reports first measles case in South Dakota The six sites at the top of the consultant's list are the existing Lincoln County site, CitiBank and Kappenman, which are both in Sioux Falls, Worthing, Mitchell and Huron. 'It was necessary to somehow get down to a manageable list. Six seems reasonable,' South Dakota Republican Representative and task force member Greg Jamison said. The locations were analyzed based on a point system. At the top was the Lincoln County site, located between Harrisburg and Canton. 'One of the key takeaways is they're trying to find a place for 1500 or 1700 beds all in one place. There's a lot of advantages and efficiencies to having one location with these many beds where you've got one fence, one perimeter to manage, you've got all that food that needs to be prepared,' Jamison said. However, Republican representative and task force member Karla Lems sees it differently. 'I don't think we have to have it all in one spot. I disagree with him on that. I think we have opportunity in Sioux Falls. I go back to the DLR Group study, which made a lot of sense to me. You could build another 300-bed facility between the old hill and the Jameson. You can add up on the Jamison 192 beds,' Lems said. It gives the task force plenty to discuss at its next meeting in Pierre Tuesday. 'I think it's going to be very spirited and, full of ideas, questions and hard answers, probably hard questions. But tomorrow, I think you're going to see some outcomes that finally get this prison issue on the right track,' Jamison said. 'I think we're going to have a lot of input. I think we're going to have testimony from people, probably from these different areas that have been proposed to say, 'These are the things that would be good about it coming to our town or our city.' They're going to have opposition to some of these things,' Lems said. The task force will meet at 10:30 Tuesday morning in Pierre. We will be livestreaming the discussion on on our website. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
22-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Hansen and Lems prepare to run as team for governor
PIERRE, S.D. (KELO) — On Thursday, two South Dakota lawmakers are expected to announce they are seeking the Republican nominations for governor and lieutenant governor that voters will decide in June 2026. Rep. Jon Hansen and Rep. Karla Lems would be the first to officially enter the race. Hansen and Lems have placed an identical post on their Facebook pages, with a 'Stronger Together' slogan, inviting the public to a 6 p.m. event at the Military Heritage Alliance building in Sioux Falls. Hansen is a Dell Rapids lawyer. During his 10 years in the South Dakota House of Representatives, here's what he has focused on: Restricting abortion. Opposing surrogate pregnancies. Blocking carbon dioxide pipelines. Steering state funds to non-public K-12 education. And changing state election laws. Hansen was prime sponsor of a Republican-led effort by the Legislature in 2022 to make it more difficult for voters to amend the South Dakota Constitution, as well as to pass or stop state laws, if the proposal sought to raise taxes or impose a new tax. Republican lawmakers supported his proposal that sought to raise the threshold to 60%. It also would have required 60% of the proposal obligated state government to appropriate $10 million or more in any of the first five fiscal years. Opponents criticized Hansen's effort as an attempt to give the Legislature more power. He wrote the pro-side on the ballot-measure pamphlet. Voters however overwhelmingly rejected the proposed change. Hansen, vice president of South Dakota Right to Life, most recently led the 2024 campaign that defeated a proposed amendment seeking to add abortion rights to the South Dakota Constitution. The vote was 176,809 yes and 250,136 no. He also has been an active voice against CO2 pipelines. In 2023, Hansen sponsored legislation that sought to ban CO2 projects from using eminent domain to force their way across properties. The House passed it, but a Senate committee defeated it. Hansen also debated Elizabeth Burns-Thompson, vice president of government and public affairs for Navigator CO2, one of the companies that was seeking to construct a pipeline to several ethanol producers in southeastern South Dakota. The state Public Utilities Commission ultimately denied Navigator's application. Hansen has been involved in some statehouse leadership intrigue, too. In 2021, House members chose him as the chamber's speaker pro tem, making him the No. 2 presiding officer. Traditionally, the speaker pro tem rises to House speaker during the following two-year term. But in Hansen's case, that process was interrupted. House members instead chose Rep. Hugh Bartels over Hansen as speaker for the 2023-24 term. Hansen didn't allow the setback to stop him. With new members-elect supporting him, he ran for speaker again after the 2024 elections and was chosen as the chamber's top officer for the 2025-26 term. House members also chose Lems as speaker pro tem for the 2025-26 term. She is the first woman in South Dakota history to hold the post. Only one woman, Debra Anderson, has ever served as speaker for the South Dakota House, and that was nearly 40 years ago. Lems, a Canton agri-business and farm owner, has served three years in the House. She was prime sponsor this year of a new law that, starting July 1, bans CO2 projects from using eminent domain to force their way across properties. The ban forced Summit Carbon Solutions to ask the state Public Utilities Commission for an indefinite hold on its CO2 route application. Lems especially was active last year in forcing a statewide referendum on legislation that would have changed how the Public Utilities Commission permitted transmission projects such as pipelines, by saying a PUC permit for a project would override any local regulations. Voters ultimately rejected SB 201 statewide, 165,682 yes and 242,459 no, defeating it in 65 of South Dakota's 66 counties. There was another effect — political — from SB 201. Enough of the legislators who voted yes in the House and in the Senate for the final version suffered defeats in the 2024 primaries (or they didn't seek re-election) that majorities of anti-CO2 pipeline candidates won election to both chambers of the Legislature. That opened the way for Hansen and Lems to be chosen as House speaker and speaker pro tem. As of Monday night, neither Hansen nor Lems had filed paperwork for statewide campaign committees. However, their Facebook announcement post says their Thursday evening event is sponsored by The People First political action committee. A public record shows the PAC was organized in March by former Rep. Randy Gross, a Republican lawmaker who represented the same district as Hansen. The PAC's stated purpose: 'To promote and support conservative candidates who put the people of South Dakota first.' The Legislature this year changed the process for choosing lieutenant governors. In the past, political parties nominated candidates for lieutenant governors at their summer statewide conventions, even though state law has each set of candidates for governor and lieutenant governor on the November ballot as a team. The new law allows candidates for governor to choose their running mates. This team approach isn't a first, however. Former Gov. Bill Janklow, for example, in seeking a third term in 1994, announced that then-Rep. Carole Hillard of Rapid City would be his running mate. It was a way to counter the West River strength of then-Gov. Walter Dale Miller, whose lieutenant governor was Steve Kirby of Sioux Falls. Miller had been lieutenant governor until the death of Gov. George S. Mickelson in a 1993 plane crash. Former Gov. Janklow went on to defeat sitting Gov. Miller in the Republican primary election. While Hansen is presumed to be the first candidate to officially be entering the 2026 race for governor, a potential candidate is the current governor, Republican Larry Rhoden. In January, Rhoden officially changed the designation of his campaign fundraising committee from lieutenant governor to governor. That came after Rhoden ascended from lieutenant governor to governor, following the resignation of former Gov. Kristi Noem earlier in January. Rhoden hasn't yet publicly declared whether he will be a candidate for governor on his own in 2026, saying he's receiving encouragement to run while still gauging potential support. He chose Tony Venhuizen, a Republican lawmaker from Sioux Falls, to serve as his lieutenant governor. Here's a look at the legislation sponsored by Hansen and Lems during their time in the South Dakota House of Representatives.2025 – Prime sponsor of 2 House bills, 1 House resolution. HB 1184 — amend the deadline for filing a petition to initiate a measure or constitutional amendment. Passed both chambers, signed into law by governor. HB 1256 — require the inclusion of certain information on a candidate's nominating petition or on a ballot question petition. Passed both chambers, signed into law by governor. HCR 6003 — To provide for an interim study regarding property tax reduction and preservation of the American dream to own a home. Passed both chambers; because it was a resolution, the governor didn't have a direct role. 2024 – Prime sponsor of 5 House bills; lead House sponsor of 3 Senate bills. HB 1005 — revise the manner of citing the Administrative Rules of South Dakota (at the request of the Interim Committee on Rules Review.) Passed both chambers, signed into law by governor. HB 1006 — increase the amount of time permitted the Interim Rules Review Committee to review final permanent rulemaking materials (at the request of the Interim Committee on Rules Review.) Passed both chambers, signed into law by governor. HB 1158 — limit reliance upon secondary sources as statements of law. Passed House, failed in Senate committee. HB 1219 — prohibit the exercise of eminent domain for the construction of pipelines carrying carbon oxide. Failed in House committee. HB 1244 — provide a process to withdraw a signature from a petition for an initiated measure, constitutional amendment, or a referendum on a law in certain situations and to declare an emergency. Passed both chambers, signed into law by governor. SB 72 — increase the annual limit of tax credits that an insurance company may claim through the partners in education tax credit program. Passed both chambers, signed into law by governor. SB 75 — modify provisions pertaining to the designation of a legal newspaper. Passed both chambers, signed into law by governor. SB 94 — amend provisions pertaining to the partners in education tax credit program. Passed both chambers, signed into law by governor. SJR 509 — Applying to the United States Congress under Article V of the United States Constitution to call for a convention for proposing an amendment to the constitution establishing congressional term limits. Failed in Senate committee; never reached House. 2023 – Prime sponsor of 4 House bills; lead House sponsor of 3 Senate bills. HB 1161 — provide staffing ratios for day care providers. Failed in House committee. HB 1163 — prohibit the dissemination of obscene material to minors in a public school or public library. Failed in House committee. HB 1234 — provide a voucher for students enrolled in certain grade levels at accredited nonpublic schools. Failed in House committee. HB 1235 — provide a conscience exemption from a COVID-19 vaccination. Failed on House floor. SB 60 — make an appropriation for completing improvements of the road leading to the former entrance into Palisades State Park and to declare an emergency. Failed in Senate Committee; never reached House. SB 192 — provide liability for the publishing or distributing of material harmful to minors on the internet and the wrongful retention of individually identifiable information. Failed in Senate committee; never reached House. 2022 – Prime sponsor of 5 House bills; lead House sponsor of 4 Senate bills. HB 1207 — clarify standards for the consideration of open enrollment applications. Failed in House committee. HB 1217 — expand criminal provisions regarding the protection of minors from certain forms of sexual exploitation. Withdrawn by sponsor. HB 1218 — revise the definition of abused or neglected child to include minors subject to human trafficking. Withdrawn by sponsor. HB 1220 — establish a safe harbor for child survivors of certain forms of human trafficking. Withdrawn by sponsor. HB 1221 — require training on human trafficking for law enforcement officers. Withdrawn by sponsor. SB 71 — revise certain provisions related to the partners in education tax credit program. Passed both chambers, signed into law by governor. SB 182 — prohibit discriminatory actions against persons engaged with the firearm industry. Failed in Senate committee; never reached House. SB 195 — establish the burden of proof after a claim of immunity. Passed both chambers, signed into law by governor. SB 210 — provide for the establishment of education savings accounts. Withdrawn by sponsor (Sen. Jessica Castleberry); never reached House. 2021 – Prime sponsor of 6 House bills and 1 House resolution; lead House sponsor of four Senate bills. HB 1114 — provide a definition of abortion. Passed both chambers, signed into law by governor. HB 1120 — establish a website for the posting of notices for certain local governments. Failed in House committee. HB 1161 — update certain provisions regarding pregnancy help center consultations. Withdrawn by sponsor (Hansen.) HB 1247 — provide for the protection of the consciences of medical professionals. Failed in House. HB 1248 — require reports regarding the intentional disposal, destruction, or other disposition of human embryos. Passed by House, failed in Senate committee. HB 1249 — revise fiscal note requirements for initiative and initiated amendments. Failed in House committee. HJR 5003 — Proposing and submitting to the voters at the next primary election a new section to Article XI of the Constitution of the State of South Dakota, relating to a three-fifths vote requirement for certain initiated or Legislature-proposed constitutional amendments and initiated or Legislature-referred measures. Passed both chambers; because it was a resolution, governor had no direct role. Voters rejected it at June 2022 primary: 59,125 voted yes; 122,417 voted no. SB 72 — revise notification requirements for listing and delisting species on the threatened and endangered species list. Passed both chambers, signed into law by governor. SB 124 — provide protections for the exercise of religious freedom. Passed both chambers, signed into law by governor. SB 175 — remove certain eligibility requirements for the partners in education tax credit program. Passed both chambers, signed into law by governor. SB 183 — declare certain contract provisions regarding abortion as unenforceable and to provide a penalty therefor. Passed both chambers, signed into law by governor. 2020 – Prime sponsor of 6 House bills and 1 House resolution; lead House sponsor of four Senate bills. HB 1068 — include out-of-state convictions for the basis of an enhanced penalty for the crime of stalking. Passed both chambers, signed into law by governor. HB 1096 — prohibit commercial surrogacy contracts, provide a penalty for facilitating a commercial surrogacy, and establish an interim committee to evaluate surrogacy in the state. Passed House, failed in Senate committee. HB 1098 — authorize certain off-sale licenses for certain entities and to declare an emergency. Failed in House committee. HB 1173 — prohibit a school board from denying an application for open enrollment from certain students with autism. Failed in House. HB 1179 — authorize series limited liability companies. Passed both chambers, signed into law governor. HCR 6020 — Denouncing the National Education Association's recent policy to support 'the fundamental right to abortion.' Passed both chambers; because it was a resolution, governor had no direct role. SB 109 — provide protections for health care decisions governed by conscience. Failed in Senate committee; never reached House. SB 147 — prohibit collective bargaining by certain employees of the Board of Regents. Passed both chambers, signed into law by governor. SB 176 — provide for the seizure and holding of real property as evidence. Passed both chambers, signed into law by governor. SB 180 — repeal and revise certain provisions regarding the petition circulation process. Passed both chambers, signed into law by governor. 2019 – Prime sponsor of 6 House bills and 1 House resolution; lead House sponsor of 4 Senate bills. HB 1074 — provide a privilege for journalists and newscasters regarding refusal to disclose information. Passed both chambers, signed into law by governor. HB 1093 — establish legal standards applicable to petition challenges. Passed both chambers, signed into law by governor. HB 1094 — revise certain programs regarding transparency of the petition circulation process. Passed both chambers, signed into law by governor. HB 1192 — authorize the consumption of alcohol in certain common areas. Failed in House committee. HB 1193 — provide a criminal penalty for causing an abortion against a pregnant mother's will. Passed both chambers, signed into law by governor. HB 1196 — provide a definition of blockchain technology for certain purposes. Passed both chambers, signed into law by governor. HR 1003 — Denouncing the recent passage of New York's abortion law and requesting that the Governor declare a day of prayer and fasting to atone for the unspeakable crime of abortion. Passed in House; because it was a House-only resolution, the Senate didn't consider it. SB 51 — revise certain provisions regarding trusts. Passed both chambers, signed into law by governor. SB 78 — exempt certain medical providers from licensure. Passed both chambers, signed into law by governor. SB 96 — expand application of the tax credit for contributions to a scholarship granting organization. Passed both chambers, signed into law by governor. SB 166 — revise certain provisions regarding occupational licensing. Failed in Senate committee; never reached House. 2013 – Prime sponsor of 3 House bills. HB 1235 — continue the Regional Watershed Advisory Task Force under the supervision of the Executive Board of the Legislative Research Council in a manner to save public financial resources. Passed in House, failed in Senate committee. HB 1236 — prohibit the recovery of damages in certain wrongful birth and wrongful life civil suits based upon the lost opportunity to terminate the life of an unborn child. Failed in House committee. HB 1237 — revise certain provisions to abortion counseling. Passed both chambers, signed into law by governor. 2012 – Prime sponsor of 6 House bills and 1 House resolution; lead House sponsor of two Senate bills. HB 1112 — prohibit any person who fails to file certain campaign finance documents to be a candidate for office. Failed in House. HB 1113 — prohibit the use of certain public resources to influence the outcome of elections. Failed in House committee. HB 1114 — amend provision limiting the time used to determine if a violation is a third or subsequent offense. Passed both chambers, signed into law by governor. HB 1158 — allow students attending nonpublic high schools to be eligible for the jump start scholarship program. Passed House, failed in Senate Appropriations Committee. HB 1185 — prohibit all qualified health plans offered through a health care exchange from including abortion coverage. Passed both chambers, signed into law by governor. HB 1274 — revise the distance within which a school district may charge a fee for providing bus transportation to students. Failed in House committee. HCR 1010 — Urging Congress to adopt a proposed constitutional amendment limiting federal legislation to a single subject. Passed both chambers; because it was a resolution, the governor had no direct role. SB 164 — require public school students in grade eleven to take certain assessments. Failed in Senate committee; never reached House. SB 172 — toll any conviction for operation of a boat while under the influence when calculating the number of offenses for enhancement of a driving under the influence charge. Failed in Senate committee; never reached House. 2011 – Prime sponsor of 1 House bill. HB 1104 — revise the deadline for withdrawing from a primary election. Passed both chambers, signed into law by governor. sponsor of 3 House bills and 1 House resolution. HB 1052 — prohibit the exercise of eminent domain for a pipeline that carries carbon oxide. Passed both chambers, signed into law by governor. HB 1190 — require an ownership disclosure for any non-individual entity that exercises eminent domain. Withdrawn by sponsor (Lems.) HB 1191 — subject advertising services to a gross receipts tax, and to allocate proceeds to property tax relief. Failed in House committee. HJR 5006 — Proposing and submitting to the voters at the next general election amendments to the Constitution of the State of South Dakota, requiring an intervening general election before consideration of an initiated constitutional amendment or initiated measure having the same subject as a previously rejected initiated amendment or measure. Passed in House, failed in Senate committee. 2024 – Prime sponsor of 3 House bills. HB 1203 — clarify references to the court in a condemnation proceeding. Passed House, failed in Senate committee. HB 1241 — modify the amount of time allowed to an employee to vote at any election in this state. Failed in House committee. HB 1243 — extend deadlines for action by the Public Utilities Commission upon the request of any party. Failed in House committee. 2023 – Prime sponsor of 5 House bills. HB 1084 — grant a common carrier the right of eminent domain for public use. Withdrawn by sponsor (Lems). HB 1133 — define a commodity for the purpose of qualifying as a common carrier. Passed House, failed in Senate committee. HB 1188 — provide for property owner inclusion in the pipeline siting application and condemnation process. Failed in House committee. HB 1224 — require verification of landowner permission prior to certain pipeline permitting actions. Failed in House committee. HB 1232 — revise provisions related to residency for voter registration. Failed in House committee. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
17-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Former Citibank looked at for the new prison site
SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (KELO) – The clock is ticking for the task force that will decide the future of a new men's prison in South Dakota. Currently the group is gathering a list of properties around Sioux Falls that could be home to the new facility. Project Prison Reset is about three months out from the vote to appropriate funds for the new men's prison. State representative Greg Jamison is a member of the task force and says one priority is that it's close to Sioux Falls.'We need still a workforce that can work at the prison. So that proximity to Sioux Falls on the 20 mile range or so kind of gives us some comfort that individuals would work at the prison and still be able to live in town and drive back and forth and it's not too far,' Jamison now the group is gathering recommendations for potential locations. The former Citibank campus on the north side of Sioux Falls has put itself up for consideration for the new prison site.'When I first heard about the Citibank complex as kind of an option. It was kind of like, wow, okay well so right inside the city in a commercially zoned area is an interesting approach. Because our mindset has always been way out in the country, away from everybody, a no neighbors kind of attempt,' Jamison said. State representative Karla Lems is one of the task force members who visited the former Citibank location. 'The key elements that would make this a viable site include proximity to interstates, workforce opportunities, no residential, city infrastructure, and space needed for the footprint required. There is also the added benefit of being close to the Jameson Annex, which will continue to be used. Also, the price could be substantially less than the previous proposal. However, we do not have hard numbers at this time,' Lems said. Lems also agrees the future prison site should be accessible for its workforce. 'Emergency services and healthcare access is essential as well. We have heard a lot about rehabilitation and re-entry programs. There are areas of the state that have these types of services and this should be an integral part of any search,' Lems said. Jamison says a handful of other properties will be looked at during the vetting process, in addition to the existing prison location which could be renovated.'The Jameson Annex has a portion of its building that could be added to an additional level. The Department of Corrections owns some land on the other side of the diversion channel. How could that be implemented? What if we tore down the existing old building here and scraped it away and added it here,' Jamison said. Recommendations to the task force should be submitted by April 24. After that the committee and a consultant will review its options. Some of the qualities listed in a ideal prison site includes at least 100 acres of land, within 20 miles of Sioux Falls and located on or near a paved road. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
02-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
What lawmakers hope to see prison task force accomplish
LENNOX, S.D. (KELO) — A task force will determine the next steps for the proposed men's prison. It consists of people on both sides of the debate who will work through the need, location and size of the building. House Bill 1025 would have allocated funds to build a new men's prison in Lincoln County. But, after the bill took a big hit last Friday, Governor Larry Rhoden announced Project Prison Reset. Representatives Karla Lems and Richard Vasgaard each have ideas on what they'd like to see the task force accomplish. Both represent parts of Lincoln, Turner and Union counties. They shared those thoughts, along with other legislative topics, at a public event in Lennox on Saturday morning. 'I think everybody's really concerned about the ongoing cost of running that 1,500 bed prison, in addition to all of our other incarceration spots that we have across the state,' Rep. Lems said. Lems is one of eight House members on the task force. She's concerned about the ongoing cost that comes with operating a new prison rather than just its initial construction price. Wildfire near Hot Springs prompts evacuation preparations 'For us to get to that, I think the next step is we're going to have to come together and make some changes,' Rep. Lems said. Rep. Vasgaard said he'd like to see more public input through the process. 'We all kind of agree that we need to do something. We need to replace our old prison, and we are overcrowding our prison facilities, and we do need to do something,' Rep. Vasgaard said. But coming to a consensus could be the challenge. 'A lot of issues are going to have to be answered,' Rep. Vasgaard said. 'Can they do that in the short amount of time by July? I don't know. It'll be interesting to see, but that's going to be up to them.' The group's first meeting is scheduled for April 2nd. Governor Rhoden's executive order states the task force will meet no less than four times before July's special session. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
22-02-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
House shoots down prison money, but new vote looms
Sen. Jack Kolbeck, R-Sioux Falls, on the Senate floor during the 2024 legislative session. Kolbeck, now a state representative, amended a bill Friday in an attempt to keep talks alive on a proposed $125 million men's prison construction project. (Makenzie Huber/South Dakota Searchlight) PIERRE — A legislative maneuver meant to secure funding and continue discussion on an $825 million men's prison failed by two votes Friday in the South Dakota House of Representatives. The vote on House Bill 1025 was 34-35, with one member absent and a majority of 36 votes required for passage. The House could vote on whether to reopen debate when lawmakers return to Pierre next week. The vote throws the future of the massive prison project into question, and could chart a path to easing some of the state's financial strain in a year where lawmakers are pondering cuts and swatting back funding requests. Showdown over $825 million prison looms for state House of Representatives House Speaker Pro Tempore Karla Lems, R-Canton, said after the vote that some of the money could go to a trust fund lawmakers want to establish for revenue from unclaimed property. That money comes from abandoned assets that revert to the state. 'We don't want to just blow that money,' Lems said. 'We'd like to see it possibly go into an unclaimed property trust fund, or at least part of it. Maybe there would still be some dollars this year to do some other things.' Lems voted against HB 1025 on Friday. In its original form, the bill would've sent $182 million toward the proposed 1,500-bed prison in Lincoln County. It also would have cleared the Department of Corrections to tap into a prison fund worth more than $600 million, set aside by legislators in prior years, to begin building it. To build the prison that's been designed, mapped out and bid for, its funding package would need support from two-thirds of lawmakers in both the House and Senate, a chamber where it has yet to appear. On Friday in the House, Sioux Falls Republican Rep. Jack Kolbeck moved an amendment designed to keep the bill alive with a simple majority. It stripped the bill of everything but a provision moving $148.1 million into the prison construction fund. The original proposal also sought to spend $33.9 million from the state's budget reserves. Since the amendment bill would've moved money, rather than spend it, it could've side-stepped the state's constitutional requirement that spending bills need two-thirds support. 'I've heard a lot of people say we need to build a new prison,' Kolbeck said. 'This amendment allows that discussion to continue.' The amendment passed 37-32. Lems was the first to speak against the amended version of the bill. She rattled off questions about the prison's rural location and a pending lawsuit over that location, unknown costs for roads and ongoing operations, and on a price tag she sees as too high. SD House panel lukewarm on bill to finalize new men's prison funding She called the prison 'Plan A' for dealing with overcrowded conditions in the state's correctional system. There could be other, cheaper options or alternative locations, Lems said, and there's a bill circulating that would force correctional officials to consider them. 'Before I vote to put any more money into a savings account, I want to know what the plan is,' Lems said. Rep. Taylor Rehfeldt, R-Sioux Falls, supports the prison project as envisioned by the state's executive branch. She pointed out that the Legislature balked at a $38 million funding bill for a women's prison in 2022. The following year, it passed a bill to spend $60 million on the same project. Now under construction, the maximum price for that Rapid City facility came in at $87 million. With a guaranteed maximum price for the men's prison set to expire if work doesn't commence by March 31, Rehfeldt questioned what could happen to the price tag after that. 'What will that be in the future? Probably more. Almost certainly more,' Rehfeldt said. Rep. Will Mortenson, R-Fort Pierre, said even if the unanswered questions lead the state down a path toward a different kind of prison, that shouldn't prevent the state from adding money to the construction fund in preparation. Paying cash instead of interest – this year or in the future – will save hundreds of millions of dollars. The state needs space, Mortenson said, and 'it is fiscally conservative to set it aside in a fund.' He also said most of the objections relate to location, but those objections are likely to dog the project wherever it lands. 'I'd love to build the prison in Montana or Mars or somewhere else,' Mortenson said. 'Unfortunately, that's not how these things work.' But Rep. Logan Manhart, R-Aberdeen, said it's not about location. It's about size and design, which he said is more than the state needs. 'When we're going to spend this kind of money on a Ritz-Carlton prison, I have some questions,' Manhart said. Rapid City Democratic Rep. Peri Pourier pleaded with her fellow lawmakers to think about the root causes of crime, like poverty, drug abuse, family violence and a lack of state-supported services to address them. Resistance to final budget request for new prison 'a real possibility' in Pierre 'Yes, we need a new prison, but do we need that big of a prison? And if we do, we need to ask ourselves why we need that big of a prison,' Pourier said. She nearly wept as she recounted her recent struggle to gain traction for state dollars to support Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA) in Rapid City. Children involved in abuse and neglect proceedings can be assigned CASA representatives to look out for their interests in court. 'West River has the highest child abuse and neglect rates in the state, and these kids are going to court with no one looking out for them,' Pourier said. 'Do you know how hard it was to fight for a minuscule $5 million to help them?' Pourier challenged representatives to imagine what their grandchildren would think years from now about their investment in such a large prison. 'This is what we're going to bet on. We're going to bet that they're going to get locked up,' Pourier said. Rehfeldt moved immediately following the vote to reconsider the bill. The House will decide next week whether to take up the bill a second time. Howard Republican Rep. Tim Reisch, a former Department of Corrections secretary, was absent for Friday's vote. Reisch has voted for prison funding each time it's come up during his tenure in Pierre. It will take some work to find support and flip votes, Mortenson said, but flipping votes 'is what we do around here.' 'I think a lot of people came here ginned up to vote no on building the prison in Lincoln County in that spot,' Mortenson said. 'I don't think it really sank in to most of the members that that isn't what this does. This just sets aside money for 'a' prison. It doesn't have to be 'the' prison.' Republican Gov. Larry Rhoden has called the new prison – in the Lincoln County location – his top priority. The prison would largely replace the Sioux Falls penitentiary. After Friday's vote, a spokeswoman for Rhoden told South Dakota Searchlight that 'we look forward to continuing the conversation.' If House Bill 1025 ultimately fails, lawmakers would have $182 million more to work with in a tight budget year. If it passes in its amended form and moves $148.1 million into the prison fund, they'd have $33.9 million. Lawmakers aim to stabilize 'volatile' unclaimed property revenue with trust fund Lems was one of several lawmakers to suggest that some of the money could go into an unclaimed property trust fund. A proposal to set up such a fund, meant to earn interest on unclaimed money handed over to the state after three years of dormancy, is moving through the Legislature this session. A sister proposal aims to ask voters in 2026 to let the South Dakota Investment Council manage the fund. House Speaker Jon Hansen, R-Dell Rapids, said some of the unspent prison money could ultimately be placed into the prison fund, where it earns interest. If voters let the investment council manage an unclaimed property fund, though, starting that off with a chunk of the $182 million earmarked for the Lincoln County site would mean bigger returns in the long run. The interest from the unclaimed property trust fund could, at some point, be used to offset high property taxes, Hansen said. 'I've always been open to that idea,' he said. House Assistant Majority Leader Marty Overweg, R-New Holland, also mentioned a trust fund, but said nothing is final with the prison funding proposal. As a Republican caucus, he said, 'we've had discussions on what we'll do if it gets killed, not where it goes.' 'It's pretty hard to do much with one-time money, except put it into a savings account,' Overweg said. Senate Pro Tempore Chris Karr, R-Sioux Falls, also trumpeted talks of an unclaimed property fund. The budget reserve funds could wind up funding immediate needs if they aren't used for prison funding. 'The budget reserve typically just gets used for one-time dollars,' Karr said. 'So those would be open to go to some of the other projects that are in the one-time bills out there.' Pourier saw other avenues worth exploring with the extra dollars, either immediately or paid for with interest: mental health services and substance abuse services and aftercare programming, particularly in rural areas, and expanding access to trauma-informed care. She pointed to testimony from Corrections Secretary Kellie Wasko, who's repeatedly said that the majority of offenders struggle with mental health and substance abuse, and to Attorney General Marty Jackley, who's spent years talking about how drug abuse can become the fuel for violent crime. 'These guys, girls, everybody, the people who struggle with substance abuse disorders, they have a chemical imbalance in their brain and they're self-medicating,' Pourier said. The location of a proposed men's prison in southeast South Dakota.
