By Rep. Leslie Heinemann I am excited to begin the adventure of serving District 8 citizens in Pierre as your representative! I leave this morning to embark on a eight-week legislative session (38 days) from Jan. 8 to March 8, with a final veto day two weeks later. The swearing in ceremony is tomorrow, Tuesday, Jan. 8 at noon, followed by Govenor Daugaard’s State of the State address. I am honored that some of my family will be there with me for this momentous occasion! I have recieved some correspondence and appreciate your thoughts. The gun legislation will be a hot topic as well as Medicaid expansion and school funding. I am anxious to hear the discussion and the bills that will develop around these issues. The state’s fiscal year starting July 1 (not Oct. 1 as was stated in my past column) does not correspond to the federal fiscal year of Oct. 1 to Sept. 30. As Governor Daugaard indicated, it will be difficult to project future revenues especially since Congress delayed the “fiscal cliff” cuts for two months. As the weekly columns progress, I will try and give you updates as to what our state officials believe how the state will be affected by the federal budget. As always you can reach me at my e-mail – rep.heinemann@state.sd.us or House lobby phone 605-773-3851.