PIERRE, S.D. (KELO) — Here’s a first look at some of the action that the South Dakota Legislature has scheduled for Tuesday and Wednesday at the state Capitol. Click on the bold-faced name to find members, the agenda or calendar for the day, and other details.
TUESDAY, January 18 — Day 5 of session.
House Agriculture and Natural Resources Committee, 7:45 a.m. CT, room 414.
Senate Education Committee, 7:45 a.m. CT, room 423.
House Health and Human Services Committee, 8 a.m. CT, room 412.
Senate Judiciary Committee, 8 a.m. CT, room 413.
Joint Committee on Appropriations, 8:30 a.m. CT, room 362.
House Local Government Committee, 10 a.m. CT, room 414.
House Transportation Committee, 10 a.m. CT, room 413.
Senate Agriculture and Natural Resources Committee, 10 a.m. CT, room 423.
Senate Commerce and Energy Committee, 10 a.m. CT, room 412.
House of Representatives, 2 p.m. CT, House chamber.
Senate, 2 p.m. CT, Senate chamber.
House Select Committee on Investigation, 3:30 p.m. CT, room 414.
WEDNESDAY, January 18 — Day 6 of session.
House Education Committee, 7:45 a.m. CT, room 413.
House State Affairs Committee, 7:45 a.m. CT, room 414.
Senate Transportation Committee, 8 a.m. CT, room 423.
Joint Committee on Appropriations, 8:30 a.m. CT, room 362.
House Commerce and Energy Committee, 10 a.m. CT, room 464.
House Judiciary Committee, 10 a.m. CT, room 413.
Senate Health and Human Services Committee, 10 a.m. CT, room 412.
House Select Committee on Investigation, 3:30 p.m. CT, room 414.
LOOKING AHEAD: The Senate Judiciary Committee gets a briefing Tuesday morning on the state Unified Judicial System from courts administrator Greg Sattizahn. Part of the discussion will be state Supreme Court Chief Justice Steven Jensen’s request for $5 million for security upgrades at county courthouses… Republican Governor Kristi Noem wants the Legislature to add Juneteenth as an official holiday for state government employees in South Dakota. Her legislation is scheduled for a hearing Wednesday by the House State Affairs Committee that meets at 7:45 a.m. Senator Reynold Nesiba, D-Sioux Falls, proposed the concept of the June 19 holiday in legislation last year (rejected 8-1 by the Senate State Affairs Committee) and has brought the bill back this year. Noem declared Juneteenth a day of administrative leave last year, after U.S. President Joe Biden signed a congressional act declaring it a federal holiday… The Senate Health and Human Services Committee chaired by Senator Wayne Steinhauer, R-Hartford, has 12 proposals regarding medical cannabis on the agenda for its 10 a.m. Wednesday meeting. All came from the Legislature’s marijuana study committee. One would cap the number of home-grown plants at three… The House Education Committee gives a policy hearing Wednesday to the state Department of Education request for some $11 million of renovations and improvements at the state-owned Cultural Heritage Center in Pierre. The Legislature authorized the center’s construction as South Dakota’s gift to itself for the 1989 centennial of statehood. The bill likely will be forwarded to the Joint Committee on Appropriations for a spending decision at a later date.
NEW BILLS: Senator Helene Duhamel, R-Rapid City, wants $10 million for the state Department of Agriculture and Natural Resources to make grants to study a proposal to pipe Missouri River water to western South Dakota… Rep. Caleb Finck, R-Tripp, wants to expand shooting-safety zones along rights of way to 300 yards (three football fields, or 900 feet) from the current 660 feet… Representative Mary Fitzgerald, R-Spearfish, wants to restore the diploma privilege so that University of South Dakota law school graduates don’t have to take the state bar exam. An accountant, she is married to Lawrence County state’s attorney John Fitzgerald.
