The sex-offender registry committee chaired by Sen. Gene Abdallah, R-Sioux Falls, has pre-filed eight separate pieces of legislation for consideration in the 2010 session. These are not be confused with the seven separate pieces of legislation pre-filed by the alcoholic beverage control and licensing study committee chaired by Sen. Tom Nelson, R-Lead.
By contrast, the long-term highway needs and Department of Transportation Agency review committee chaired by Rep. Shantel Krebs, R-Sioux Falls, produced three bills. Two are standard clean-ups of DOT and Aeronautics Commission statutes. The third is the omnibus funding measure that calls for tax and fee increases. The panel also pre-filed a non-binding legislative resolution urging Congress to pass “a balanced, well-funded, multi-year federal highway program which provides connectivity and mobility to both rural and urban areas.”
Any bets on which two sets of topics draws more lobbyist attention and effort this session? Maybe we need a filing fee so sex offenders cover the costs for monitoring their presence in South Dakota.
#1 by Angus on December 22, 2009 - 4:33 pm
The business of running the State, implementing status changes in existing law, making life more liveable, and being productive as a legislator are no different than a cattle rancher continuing to feed his cattle and improve the “Ranch” while he loses money on every cow he or she owns.
#2 by John on December 22, 2009 - 10:10 pm
We certainly hope these are not indicative of Sen Abdallah’s and Nelson’s priorities. This list may be indicative of a continuing legislative failure to put first-things-first. We did learn earlier, however, that Rep Kreb’s priority appears to be to rubber-stamp the DOT budget wish-list to raise our fees and taxes.