There’s already plenty going on in Pierre

Greetings! Hey, Tim, anything going on in Pierre? Naw, not much. Not. Probably more than ever before!
First off, our very popular governor has accepted a position offered by President-elect Trump to be the next Homeland Security secretary. Hooah hooah! What a great honor for her and all of us South Dakota citizens. I’m just getting started.
So, who is going to be governor? Well, it’s automatically, as our state constitution spells out, the lieutenant governor. He automatically takes the governor position if the governor leaves their post. Most recently this happened in April 1993 when Gov. George Mickelson was tragically killed in a plane crash along with seven other South Dakota citizens. Lt. Gov. Walter Dale Miller took over immediately.
How is a new lieutenant governor selected? Well, Gov. Rhoden selects who he wants. However, the person has to be approved by both the state House of Representatives and the Senate with a majority vote. That would be 36 yea votes in the House and 18 in the Senate.
What is the time frame? It looks like the United States Senate is going to approve presidential nominations ASAP. That means the 100th session of the state legislature starts Jan. 14. Noem’s Senate confirmation probably takes place that week of the 14th, and then Larry Rhoden would be sworn in as our 34th governor the start of week two of the state legislative session. I’d imagine he’d have a lieutentant governor selected by then and the legislature would push for a House and Senate vote that week (the second week of the session).
On the federal level, our South Dakota state senator  John Thune was elected by his Republican peers to become Senate Majority Leader! Another hooah hooah! Republicans took back the majority in the Senate 53-47 and Sen. John Thune won over Sen. John Cornyn of Texas with a 29-24 vote. If you remember, South Dakota had a Senate Majority Leader in Sen. Tom Daschle 20 years ago. In fact, John Thune defeated Tom Daschle in his re-election campaign back then.
So Tim, forget about all that historic stuff. What’s going on in Pierre? Well, I’ve been busy pushing property tax reform by attending all four summer study sessions. I even testified before the Property Tax Summer Study Committee, as did Rep. Ladner.
Between now and session, we have to be in Pierre Dec. 3 for the governor’s budget address, given before both chambers. I then stay for newly-elected orientation. I know I’m not new new, but do need an updated laptop and training on how to make it work. Also, I will be working on draft bills with our Legislative Research Council (LRC). That is a group of legal eagles, not all lawyers, but all absolutely fantastic, above and beyond.
So, in closing, any burning legislative ideas please email to me. Also, let’s have a survey: Who do you think will be our next lieutenant governor? Email your pick to me at tgoodwin1955@gmail.com.
To the citizens of District 30 and to the men and women in uniform, in honor of all who served, in respectful memory of all who fell and in great appreciation to those who serve today, thank you for giving me the opportunity to serve you.