PIERRE, S.D. (KELO) — The South Dakota Legislature’s Executive Board has decided the topics it wants — and doesn’t want — its staff to prepare issue memos on.

The lawmakers on Thursday picked seven. They left off daycare access and the future of schooling off the list.

When the time came for final approval, Democrat Sen. Reynold Nesiba voted no because daycare wasn’t among them.

The board’s vice chair, Republican Sen. Lee Schoenbeck, said he and House Republican leader Will Mortenson didn’t recommend it because “broader, subjective policy issues” such as funding are associated with it.

Nesiba said he hopes the Legislature does “something” with daycare in the 2024 session. Republican Rep. Chris Karr noted that stakeholders worked on funding for Medicaid providers independently in the past year and suggested that might be an approach for daycare, too.

Several lawmakers noted that Republican Sen. Tim Reed already has a small group looking at some daycare issues.

Members of the Legislative Research Council staff will deliver the seven memos no later than the Executive Board’s final regular meeting in November.

They are in addition to the two formal studies that the board plans this interim: County government funding will be led by Republican Rep. Roger Chase and Republican Sen. Randy Deibert, while developing a new funding model for long-term care will be led by Republican Sen. Jean Hunhoff and Republican Rep. Taylor Rehfeldt.

The seven issue-memo topics, as described on the list:

“An update to the 2018 memorandum, Comparison of the Neighboring State Tax Systems. The
update would also include additional research on local tax structures.

“An update to the 2017 issue memorandum, Initiatives and Referenda. The update will include
applicable law changes since 2017, including the 2018 amendments to S.D. Const. Art. XXIII, § 1
(the single-subject requirement for proposed constitutional amendments and related case law).

“An issue memorandum on nuclear energy. This issue memo will provide an overview of nuclear
energy technology; a summary of the laws and regulations of states bordering South Dakota that have nuclear power plants, including small-scale productions; and a summary of federal laws and regulations on nuclear energy. The issue memo will also explore the location, age, size, and generation capacity of certain nuclear facilities in the United States.

“An issue memorandum on irrigation and water systems that rely upon water from the Missouri
River. This memorandum will seek to explain: who decides on the amount of water accessed by
projects from the Missouri River; a summary of the current water projects using water from the
Missouri River; whether out-of-state projects can cross the borders of South Dakota to access
water from the Missouri River; and the impact additional water projects may have on the Missouri River and its reservoirs.

“An issue memorandum on emergency clauses in legislation, describing their variations, uses, and effects.

“An issue memorandum on the taxation of precious metals, oil, coal, and other materials extracted in South Dakota. The memorandum will seek to identify whether there are any extracted materials that are not taxed by law in South Dakota but are taxed in other states. The
memorandum will also discuss the rates at which renewable and nuclear energies are taxed in
South Dakota.

“An issue memorandum on the law pertaining to the publication of legal notices and a survey of
how other states have addressed legal notice requirements.”