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Yahoo
12-06-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Concerns raised over unintentional coverage losses at final Medicaid work requirements hearing
The Sioux Falls One Stop houses offices for several state departments, including Health, Social Services and Revenue. It hosted a hearing for proposed Medicaid expansion work requirements on June 12, 2025. (Makenzie Huber/South Dakota Searchlight) More than a dozen people raised concerns and questions about unintentionally separating patients from their health care and other aspects of South Dakota's proposed Medicaid expansion work requirements during the plan's final public hearing Thursday in Sioux Falls. Dana Bacon, state government affairs director at The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, told the state Department of Social Services his organization has 'pretty big concerns' due to the technical problems, costs and unintended loss of coverage that people encountered during attempted work requirements in other states. 'That's going to make individuals, families, systems and communities pay a price for the outcomes,' Bacon said. 'We have a good sense of where this waiver is going, but we still see these problems getting in the way of the stated goal of making sure people get the health care they need.' Written comments about South Dakota's Medicaid expansion work requirements proposal may be submitted by June 18 via email to MedicaidSPA@ with the subject line 'SDCareerLink Public Comment,' or mailed to the Division of Medical Services, Department of Social Services, 700 Governors Drive, Pierre, SD 57501-2291. Other people questioned the need to implement work requirements and expressed concern about a potentially disproportionate impact on tribal members, as well as the potential barrier the plan could create to health care for sick, homeless and older people. Medicaid is government-funded health insurance for people with low incomes. South Dakotans voted in 2022 to expand Medicaid to adults with incomes up to 138% of the poverty level, a decision that allowed the state to capitalize on a 90% federal funding match — funding that could be in jeopardy, pending the outcome of congressional action. Last year, voters passed another constitutional amendment to let the state seek approval from the federal government to impose work requirements on expansion enrollees. The state began drafting its proposal immediately following the end of the state legislative session in March, before debates about potential federally imposed work requirements heated up at the congressional level. Those debates are ongoing. The department only heard from one person at its first hearing in May. The state is also accepting written comments through Wednesday, which will be included in the state's application to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services later this summer. South Dakota's plan would require adult Medicaid recipients to work, train, attend school or serve as a caretaker for a child or elderly or disabled person in their home unless they qualify for an exception. Compliance with the state-level work rules would be reviewed on an annual basis, at the time of Medicaid renewal, rather than at the time of application. The state would not require a set number of hours of work or education time. South Dakota would allow exceptions for people who are: Pregnant or up to 12 months postpartum. Disabled, as determined by the Social Security Administration. Diagnosed with cancer or another serious or terminal medical condition by a physician. In an intensive behavioral health treatment program, hospitalized or living in a nursing home. In an area with unemployment 20% or more above the national average and are exempt from Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program requirements for able-bodied adults without dependents. As of last month, 30,542 South Dakotans were covered by the Medicaid expansion. The state estimates 80% of them already work or qualify for an exception. The proposed state-level work requirement would reduce enrollment by an estimated 5-10% in the first year. That would save the Medicaid program between $48.9 million and $71 million in the first year, the department says. Federal action could make SD's Medicaid work requirements 'an exercise in futility,' official says Department officials explained that expansion enrollees would be sent three notices before being removed from Medicaid rolls. People could reapply later if they don't meet work requirements at their renewal time. Heather Petermann, Medicaid director at the department, said people who are seeking treatment for substance use disorder or other mental health disorders outside of intensive treatment programs could obtain an exemption if their physician or health care provider provided documentation that they can't work because of their condition. Department Secretary Matt Althoff said the state's proposal is meant to be administratively simple and to encourage work among Medicaid recipients rather than track hours. 'We are helping them, we believe, not only by providing a safety net, but a lift up. Isn't it true that personal industry is the antidote to poverty?' Althoff said. 'The more that we can do to discover fulfillment through serving others, the more that we can do to garner an income that we earn, the higher likelihood we will be able to escape the clutches of poverty.' Other suggestions made during public comment during the hearing included: Adding volunteer or community service time as an exemption, to benefit older adults who can't find employment because of their age. Exempting Indian Health Service beneficiaries, since they are eligible for Medicaid coverage at the federal level even if they do not meet other Medicaid requirements, such as income limits. Allowing more flexibility to exempt caregivers of older adults who don't share the same residence. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
Yahoo
09-06-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
We deserve better than costly, wasteful carbon capture schemes
An anti-carbon pipeline sign is set up along the road near Canton. (Makenzie Huber/South Dakota Searchlight) Across the Northern Great Plains, opposition to carbon capture projects is growing — nowhere more so than in South Dakota, where lawmakers recently blocked carbon capture companies from using eminent domain. The backlash to these projects is driven by concerns about the impact on farmers and ranchers, public safety, private property rights, and the billions in taxpayer dollars being funneled into unproven technology. Let's be clear: oil and gas and ethanol companies want to use public subsidies to bury millions of tons of pollution underground — threatening South Dakota's land, water and communities. To protect our communities and prevent waste, fraud and abuse of taxpayer funds, we deserve better than carbon capture schemes. That's why one of us is working to protect taxpayers from wasting billions on subsidies for a technology that has never been proven to deliver net reductions in carbon emissions. In fact, it may actually result in public health and safety liabilities for nearby communities. The other is organizing to defend rural communities from the false promises and harmful impacts of carbon capture and storage. We agree: Carbon capture and storage should not be propped up at the expense of federal taxpayers and South Dakotans. South Dakota regulators deny carbon pipeline permit again, but company vows to reapply In recent years, we've watched Summit Carbon Solutions try to win support for a multi-state carbon dioxide pipeline — and when that failed, attempt to force it through using eminent domain. That's a process meant for public benefit, not private industry. After the Legislature blocked carbon capture companies from using it, the South Dakota Public Utilities Commission required Summit to reapply for a permit — another major setback for the company's risky proposal. At Dakota Rural Action, we organize people, build leadership, and foster partnerships that protect our environmental resources and strengthen our communities. We advocate for resilient agriculture, clean air and water, and energy systems that work for all South Dakotans — now and for generations to come. At Taxpayers for Common Sense, we advocate for a federal government that uses resources wisely and serves the people, not special interests. Our research shows that tens of billions in taxpayer dollars have already gone to grants, loans and tax credits for carbon capture — often with little to show for it. After more than a decade and billions spent, carbon capture has consistently failed to deliver any meaningful emissions reduction. In 2023, U.S. CCS facilities captured just 22 million tons of CO2 annually — only about 0.4% of national emissions. Not only is CCS ineffective at capturing emissions at scale, CCS projects also expand oil and gas infrastructure, prolonging oil and gas dependence — often at the risk of private property rights, as CCS pipeline infrastructure grows. CCS also poses significant threats to local communities, as the transportation and storage of carbon risk poisoning the air and groundwater. What's more, carbon capture technology remains prohibitively expensive and is unlikely to be deployed at scale without breaking the bank for taxpayers. Independent analyses confirm what we've seen time and again: major carbon capture projects routinely fail or fall short — due to cost overruns, delays and inability to secure private investment. Instead, projects must rely on federal handouts at taxpayers' expense, often without producing any benefits. As the federal government continues to pour funding into carbon capture technology, its programs have been subject to mismanagement, waste and fraud. For example, in an analysis of 11 carbon capture projects funded by the Department of Energy — awarded a combined $1.1 billion — the Government Accountability Office found that three were actually completed, partially due to the lack of economic viability of coal CCS projects but also due to DOE's own mismanagement. The carbon capture tax credit, known as 45Q, also has a history of abuse. In 2020, the Treasury Department's inspector general reported that $894 million worth of the credits were claimed without complying with reporting requirements. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX The oil and gas industry supports carbon capture because it protects their profits. And throughout the Midwest, they have partnered with the ethanol industry to tap into a steady and, thanks to taxpayer-backed subsidies, profitable source of carbon emissions. Not only can companies benefit from the lucrative 45Q tax credit for every ton of carbon they produce and then capture, they can use the captured carbon to extract more oil and generate more revenue, by injecting the carbon into depleted reservoirs to stimulate more production. Despite this track record, out-of-state corporations have secured even more federal support. With the help of aggressive lobbying, they won billions in new subsidies and expanded tax breaks, then moved to push projects into South Dakota communities, prioritizing profits over people. Despite a well-documented history of tax fraud and project failures, Congress continued to expand CCS in recent years, providing over $12 billion for research and demonstration projects and expanding the 45Q tax credit, which is now expected to cost taxpayers over $36 billion over the next decade. The reality is simple: Carbon capture has become a conduit for shifting public dollars into corporate bank accounts with no real results to show for it. South Dakotans deserve better. Real clean energy solutions start with protecting what already works — our native prairies — and not schemes that waste public resources.
Yahoo
27-05-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Two local court advocacy programs for children are revived with legislative funding
An equal justice statue stands outside the doors of the Minnehaha County Courthouse in Sioux Falls. (Makenzie Huber/South Dakota Searchlight) Three years after lawmakers put $1 million toward advocacy efforts for children in the court system statewide, two revived nonprofits are starting to support children again. Volunteers with local Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA) programs advocate for children who've been removed from their families and placed in state care due to suspected abuse and neglect. The volunteers meet with the children and other contacts, such as teachers, therapists and caseworkers. They also write reports to judges about the children's needs, strengths and interests. 'This process is crucial as it gives the child a voice in the legal proceedings concerning their welfare,' said CASA state director Sara Kelly in an emailed statement. Over 330 CASA volunteers worked with 658 children in 37 counties last year, according to the state Unified Judicial System. Most of the state's 1,049 active cases involving CASA last year — with or without a volunteer — were in the Sioux Falls and Rapid City areas. This is the first time in 16 years that the state has operated CASA organizations in all of its circuit courts. The Sixth Circuit, in central South Dakota, and the Fifth Circuit, representing northeastern South Dakota, closed in 2009. Federal cut to children's advocacy funding 'abandons American children,' says SD nonprofit leader Gloria Hutson, in Aberdeen, was hired to lead the reestablished Fifth Circuit CASA in November last year. She told the state CASA Commission at its Wednesday meeting that three counties within her 10-county jurisdiction have a high case volume: Brown, Walworth and Spink counties. 'The focus these last six months has been on building a solid, sustainable structure while building deep community roots,' Hutson said. Walworth County has a 'disproportionate' number of cases for its population, and many involve the Indian Child Welfare Act, Hutson said. The federal Indian Child Welfare Act sets minimum standards for efforts to reunite tribal children in the state's custody with their families. Walworth county is adjacent to the Standing Rock and Cheyenne River reservations. As of the end of April, Walworth County had 25 pending cases involving 52 children. Brown County had 32 cases involving 58 children and Spink County had three cases involving three children. Fifty-seven cases were active in the Fifth Circuit last year, and none of the children had CASA representation, according to UJS. Through April this year, the circuit had 61 pending cases involving 117 children, Hutson said. Most of those children still do not have CASA volunteers advocating for them. Fifth Circuit CASA has eight volunteers so far, two of whom are advocating for three children. All the children are younger than 2 years old. Laurie Gill, a former state Department of Social Services secretary who now works with Maxwell Strategy Group, leads CASA for the Sixth Circuit. Gill's firm was hired to lead the nonprofit, and Gill said the contract was renewed recently by the nonprofit's board of directors. Sixth Circuit CASA, which represents 14 counties in central South Dakota, including Hughes County and the state capital city of Pierre, intends to train 10 volunteers this year. The first will be sworn in and assigned cases by June, Gill said. Thirty-nine cases were active in the Sixth Circuit last year. There were 45 pending cases involving 94 children at the end of April, Gill said. Most are in the Pierre/Fort Pierre area. The 2022 funding from the Legislature was a result of lawmakers learning about the holes in South Dakota's CASA coverage, after loosening a requirement to appoint advocates for abused and neglected children in the court system. Lawmakers on the state budget committee approved funding to help restart the two shuttered programs and help existing CASA programs expand. The Fifth and Sixth Circuit organizations have each received $120,000 so far. Another $143,715was awarded to most other CASA programs. The need for volunteers remains one of the biggest challenges for CASA nonprofits across the state, leaders told the commission. Since last year's report, the number of volunteers has dropped from 330 statewide to 318. National CASA guidelines require one staff member to supervise a maximum of 30 volunteers. Each volunteer is assigned one case at a time, typically staying with a case until it's resolved. The Sioux Falls CASA reports 333 children currently on the waiting list to be represented by a volunteer. The Seventh Circuit CASA in Rapid City reports 455 children on its waiting list. The 2022 Legislature appropriated $1 million to the Unified Judicial System to award South Dakota CASA nonprofits with grants to rebuild or expand. About $384,000 – less than 40% of the funds – have been spent so far: $120,000 to the Fifth Circuit CASA in Aberdeen $120,000 to the Sixth Circuit CASA in Pierre $58,400 to the Southeast CASA in Yankton $40,835 to the First Circuit CASA in Mitchell $25,000 to the East Central CASA in Brookings $15,000 to the Sioux Falls Area CASA $2,000 to the Seventh Circuit CASA in Rapid City $2,480.47 in miscellaneous expenses
Yahoo
19-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Anti-pipeline activists cheer expected removal of federal permit preemption from reconciliation bill
Representatives with Summit Carbon Solutions hand out information and answer questions ahead of a Public Utilities Commission hearing in Sioux Falls on Jan. 15, 2025. (Makenzie Huber/South Dakota Searchlight) A provision to let pipeline companies bypass state permitters is expected to be stripped from the 'big, beautiful' federal budget reconciliation bill, but anti-pipeline activists want Congress to kill a carbon tax credit program before they pass the bill along to President Donald Trump. That was the message from a group of South Dakota carbon dioxide pipeline opponents during a virtual press conference Monday. Representatives from Dakota Rural Action, the South Dakota Property Rights and Local Control Alliance, and the South Dakota Stockgrowers Association joined the call. Last week, groups in the anti-carbon pipeline camp raised alarms about the reconciliation bill over a provision tucked within its 1,100 pages. It would have given the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission exclusive authority to issue licenses for pipelines carrying natural gas, carbon dioxide, hydrogen, oil or other energy products and byproducts. Is Congress trampling on state laws protecting property rights against pipelines? The state permitting process has been a political minefield for a proposed carbon pipeline from Summit Carbon Solutions that would traverse parts of Iowa, Nebraska, Minnesota and South Dakota, collecting carbon from ethanol plants on its way to a North Dakota sequestration site. The South Dakota Public Utilities Commission has rejected the project twice. South Dakota Republican Gov. Larry Rhoden signed a bill into law in March banning the use of eminent domain by carbon pipeline companies, stripping Summit of the potential use of state court condemnation actions to build beneath land owned by project opponents. Critics said the federal permitting provision in the reconciliation bill would've allowed Summit to preempt state-level regulations. The bill passed through a House committee Sunday night. President Trump has called it a 'big, beautiful bill' chock full of tax breaks and cuts to wasteful spending; opponents have decried it as a plan to carve large swaths of the citizenry out of entitlement programs such as Medicaid. The complex budget reconciliation process allows the majority party to pass legislation with simple majorities in both chambers, avoiding the U.S. Senate's usual 60-vote requirement. The federal pipeline preemption provision will be removed in the House Rules Committee on Wednesday morning, according to Kristen Blakely, who works for U.S. Rep. Dusty Johnson, R-South Dakota. Opponents of the Summit project celebrated that news on the Monday press call. 'It was good to see that they removed the federal siting authority,' said Republican state Sen. Joy Hohn of Hartford. Pipeline opponents remain concerned about one other provision that remains in the bill. It would let pipeline companies pay the federal government $10 million for an 'expedited environmental review' lasting one year, with a possible extension of up to six months. The current federal review process can take years. Under the provision, an expedited review's results would not be appealable. Summit doesn't need that level of environmental review, though other pipelines – like the controversial Dakota Access crude oil pipeline that Hohn fought to prevent nearly a decade ago – do need them. Blakely told Searchlight that the expedited environmental review no longer applies to any carbon pipelines, as it was tied to the now-scuttled preemption provision for permits. Hohn was elected on a landowner rights platform and helped shepherd the eminent domain ban through the statehouse. Summit's business model hinges on the company's intended collection of billions in 45Q tax credits for companies that sequester carbon, keeping it from contributing to climate change. Hohn and the others on hand for Monday's press conference want to see Rep. Johnson push for the elimination of that program, which has existed for decades and was beefed up through former President Joe Biden's Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act. Race for South Dakota governor could be a race for Trump's favor 'We are calling for Rep. Johnson to die on this hill,' said Chase Jensen of Dakota Rural Action, who called the notion of 45Q credits surviving in a U.S. Capitol transfixed by talk of wasteful spending 'insane.' Ed Fischbach, a board member of Dakota Rural Action, called the 45Q program 'nothing but corporate welfare.' Dennis Fieckert of the South Dakota Property Rights and Local Control Alliance suggested that Johnson's potential entry into the 2026 South Dakota gubernatorial contest would start off on the wrong foot without a push to end 45Q. Hohn was one of several state lawmakers who earned their office last year through opposition to eminent domain for carbon pipelines. In that same election, South Dakota voters shot down a law passed by state lawmakers in 2024 that would have granted landowners additional rights but also cleared a path for permitting by Summit. Rep. Johnson 'knows what's going on here in South Dakota,' Feickert said, adding, 'He needs to step up.' Blakely, Johnson's spokeswoman, pointed out that the reconciliation bill would alter the tax credit program by limiting access to companies that begin construction within two years of the bill's enactment. The bill also restricts access to credits by taxpaying companies that are 'specified foreign entities' like Chinese defense companies, or taxpaying companies influenced by those entities. As far as the notion of eliminating 45Q, a statement from Johnson said he's still working with his colleagues to make the 'big, beautiful bill' a 'more conservative' piece of legislation. 'I've been on the frontlines to help eliminate ridiculous portions of the Inflation Reduction Act, like EV chargers and other Green New Deal policies,' Johnson said. Jensen, of Dakota Rural Action, said the credits in 45Q didn't originate with the Green New Deal, the name attached to a set of policies promoted by some of Congress' more liberal members. The tax credits originated under a bill signed by President George W. Bush in 2008, and were expanded by President Trump during his first term in office before President Biden's infrastructure bill expanded them further. 'Our congressman continues to make it sound like this is about getting rid of the Green New Deal, and that this is Biden's fault, but in reality, this is a bipartisan agenda that we are trying to get rid of,' Jensen said. South Dakota Searchlight is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. South Dakota Searchlight maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Seth Tupper for questions: info@
Yahoo
15-05-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
SD tests for ‘forever chemicals' in rivers to identify, address potential contamination
The Big Sioux River flows under a Highway 34 bridge near Egan in southeastern South Dakota. (Makenzie Huber/South Dakota Searchlight) South Dakota's state government is testing for 'forever chemicals' in rivers across the state. Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) have been used in industry and consumer products since the 1940s, including in modern products such as nonstick cookware and water-resistant clothing, and don't break down easily in the environment or in the human body. Research indicates PFAS exposure may be linked to negative developmental and reproductive effects, and an increased risk of some cancers. Concerns about their prevalence in the environment and their impacts on human health have grown steadily in recent years, as they've been discovered in drinking water, fish and food packaging. State offering free PFAS cleanup to local fire departments, schools The Biden administration set first-ever limits on the chemicals in last year. EPA-mandated testing has found them in nearly half of Americans' drinking water. Publicly available test results found a type of PFAS called perfluorooctane sulfonic acid at Mount Rushmore National Memorial as well as smaller amounts of other PFAS contaminants in Aberdeen, Harrisburg, Rapid Valley Sanitary District, Lincoln County Rural Water System and the Mni Wiconi water system. The Trump administration is planning to weaken drinking water limits on PFAS, according to Politico. The state Department of Agriculture and Natural Resources began testing rivers this spring to 'establish a baseline' for the presence of PFAS in surface waters across the state, according to Ben Koisti, spokesman for the department. The department will use results to determine risks and help 'identify and address potential contaminant sources,' Koisti said in an emailed statement. 'The results can also be beneficial for water systems that use surface water as their water source,' Koisti said. 'If PFAS contamination is identified in an area and at concentrations that pose a potential risk to a drinking water system, DANR will take action to further identify the source and mitigate the contamination to protect the impacted water supply.' Testing is underway with additional sampling planned at the 30 testing sites this fall. Results will be posted on the department's website. The East Dakota Water Development District tested 11 sites along the Big Sioux River in eastern South Dakota last year, finding the contaminants were most concentrated downstream of cities like Watertown and Sioux Falls in its preliminary data. The department's sampling sites were selected based on geographic distribution, population density, and whether the surface water contributes to a drinking water supply. There are 26 water systems in the state that rely on surface water for drinking water. The project costs about $15,000 using federal EPA funds through the Public Water System Supervision grant. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
