Week one is now behind us

By: 
Rep. Tim Goodwin

Greetings! Week one of the 100th legislative session is in the books. The legislature is made up of two bodies. The House of Representatives has 70 members and the Senate has 35 members. This year there are 14 new senators and 28 new House members for a total of 42 newbies of the 105 total legislators. That has to be a record!
Now to clarify a little better, I’m one of the 28 new House members as I had a two-year break after serving six years. I really didn’t realize how much I missed the House until the first day. Former Rep. Tim Rounds, U.S. Senator Mike Rounds’ brother, served with me in the House. He would always say that the House is like a rock concert and the Senate is like a symphony. Well, I’ll take the rock concert hands down.
In the Senate there are 32 republicans and three democrats. The House consists of 65 republicans with one vacancy, (Rep. Herman Otten resigned so his replacement will be chosen by the governor), and four democrats.
The first week started off with Gov. Noem’s last address to a joint session. The Senate comes over to the (rock concert) House because it is a much bigger area and the senators sit in chairs in the aisles. Gov. Noem’s address was another one of her out-of-the-park speeches; I’d say her best one ever!
She used late night TV’s host David Letterman’s “Top Ten” theme to run through her speech. Here it goes.
10. Education: South Dakota’s spending has nearly doubled since 2012, reaching $675 million in the 2024 budget. Gov. Noem discussed again Education Savings Accounts with this program, capped at $4 million. This is earmarked for low income families at $3,000 per family. The money can be used for homeschooling and attendance at parochial schools. Remember, this is her proposal and needs passage from both chambers.
9. Health care, 8. Agriculture, 7. Outdoor opportunities, 6. Babies, 5. Safety, 4. Our economy, 3. Our values, 2. Our freedoms, 1. Our people
She concluded by saying President Trump had selected her to serve as the next secretary of the Department of Homeland Security. The mission is to keep the American people from threats to the homeland.
Her confirmation hearing was this past Friday, Jan. 17. I had the opportunity to see the entire hearing and couldn’t have been more proud of our governor. She truly was on her A game!
What’s next? Probably this next week the U.S. Senate will confirm Gov. Noem’s nomination and she will resign as our 33rd governor. The lieutenant governor, Larry Rhoden, will automatically swear in as our 34th governor. He then will select his lieutenant governor. That person will need confirmation from both state chambers, House and Senate. My opinion is that we should support his selection. The list I’ve seen of possible lieutenant governors is filled with all outstanding citizens.

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