By Sen. Chuck Jones,
District 8
The first week of the legislative session is over and as your Senator for District 8, I look forward to working hard and hearing your concerns.  It has been a positive experience as legislators seem poised to seek bi-partisan approaches to solve challenges and embrace opportunities. I believe leading and legislating isn’t about personal wins. It isn’t about treating other people as objects.  It isn’t about intellectual intimidation and bullying. It’s about what serves the mission, vision and values of the people of South Dakota.  That requires collaboration.
As mentioned in the Governor’s State of the State address, South Dakota has been listed at the best run state in the nation and CNBC rated South Dakota number one for business in 2013. As your Senator, I think it is important we work to balance the budget without raising taxes, promote an agenda of limited government and less regulation, promote economic development and improve our education system.
I will be serving on the Taxation, Education and Commerce and Energy Committees, and as a member of the Education Committee, I take pride in the education of our young people – after all they are our future.  A three percent increase in funding has been proposed and I think this is a good starting point for further discussion.  Common Core will also be an issue this legislative session and I have heard from constituents on both sides as to their feelings on this issue.
Other issues I will be paying close attention to are Medicaid funding, Non-Meandered Lakes Legislation, EB5 Program Oversight and Division of Insurance Regulatory Bills.  I look forward to hearing from you on these issues and others.  I’m not here to give you all the answers.  I’m here to help you find your own and for you to help me find better answers as we navigate through this process together.
You can contact me at sen.chuckjones@state.sd.us or my home phone number is 605-997-3510. Please leave a message and I will get back to you.