Legislative Leaders Reflect On Janklow's Impact

SIOUX FALLS, SD - Lawmakers and other leaders from across the state attended Wednesday's service. They say the decisions former Governor Bill Janklow made years ago will continue to have an impact for years to come.

The funeral for Janklow had its moments of sorrow, but it was filled with stories from the past that put a comical praise on the life he lived; a life current politicians say we can all take a lesson from.

"This polarized nature that has affected our national political climate needs to end and today is a new day and Bill would have wanted us to. Let's get the job done and get to work," Senate Minority Leader Jason Frerichs said.

"The message was always working, always being compassionate, always working in a loving nature and I think that was the underlying message and you could tell by the people that addressed us today," State House Speaker Val Rausch said.

One of the themes of Wednesday's service was that the decisions Janklow made will stand the test of time. It's a theme agreed on by both sides of the aisle.

"We look at the schools that are wired and we look all across the state and we can see his fingerprints are all across no matter if the town is in Bison or perhaps in Salem or maybe there up at Columbia," Frerichs said.

"He built a foundation that's on solid footing and we all have the opportunity to build on that. Regardless of where we go from here. Ten years from now, if you look back at the foundation of all that, it will still be Janklow will be a part of that," Rausch said.

Even though he's gone, the work he did for South Dakota will be here forever.

Both Rausch and Frerichs also said they were glad to see the diverse crowd at the funeral.