Week eight of the 91st legislative session has finished and we are entering the final week. Many of the big ticket items have had their limelight and have either moved onto the Governor’s desk or found their spot in the trash.
The education funding bill received its final passage by the legislature passing the Senate by two votes, receiving the required two-thirds majority. There are two additional bills that have not received final passage yet that are crucial to the success of the Governor’s Education Reform Package. SB 131, which establishes a target teacher salary and a target teacher ratio, passed the Senate 29-6. SB 133, which appropriates funds for districts to use innovative education options, passed the Senate 33-1. Both of these bills will be heard on the House floor this week.
Another big decision that was made last week was the Governor’s veto of the transgender bathroom bill. The Governor’s reason for veto was that he wanted to keep local control with the districts, and also that local school districts have been making necessary restroom and locker room accommodations without statewide legislation. We on the House floor had an opportunity to override the Governor’s veto last week. After hearing from the bills prime sponsor, asking us to uphold the veto, I decided to vote to uphold the veto decision.
I have learned a great deal about the transgender community during this process for which I am very fortunate. A child’s physical gender is determined at six weeks in the womb, while at six months its mental gender is determined. The chemical balances of testosterone and estrogen in the womb determine the child’s gender mentally. I encourage you to research the topic because it will not be going away.
We have also heard more about the possibility of Medicaid expansion during the current session. The Governor has recommended not moving forward with expansion during the 2016 session. The good news is that new federal policy will allow the expansion of Medicaid without a general fund cost to the state. The Governor and many others do not believe that there is time to craft a final proposal and seek legislative support within this last week of session. We could possibly see a special session this summer to handle the expansion of Medicaid.
Thank you very much for your support this session. I look forward to earning your trust and support again for this year’s re-election. It is an honor and I encourage any and all emails to myself at Rep.Wollmann@state.sd.us

Week eight saw the passage of HB 1182, increasing sales tax half a cent, the veto of the transgender bill HB 1008 and an attempt to override the veto, the Governor’s decision to delay Medicaid expansion, and work continued on developing the 2017 general fund budget.
HB 1182 was on the Senate floor on Tuesday. After two attempts to amend the bill, with both failing, the Senate passed in a historic act, a half-cent increase in sales tax to support raising teachers’ salaries. The bill contains language requiring that 85 percent of the funds generated by the new tax must go to teacher salaries. The bill is now on the Governor’s desk awaiting his signature.
A companion bill to HB 1182 is SB 131. The bill sets the new student-teacher ratio formula for funding education, defines the use of other funds, and makes changes to the capital outlay tax. SB 131 will be on the House floor early this week. The bill was amended in the House Appropriations committee after negotiations initiated by the Senate Democrats.
The amendment addresses concerns about the increase in the teacher-student ratio, which was set at 12.5 to 1 for small schools. The Blue Ribbon Task Force had identified 12 to 1 for small schools. This is an important change, as over 100 of our schools are at or below a 12 to 1 ratio. The amendment also allows schools with large “other fund” taxes to opt out of the new formula for a period of time to avoid a negative effect from the new formula.
Once HB 131 passes the House and goes to conference committee and is concurred by both the House and Senate, the education package will be completed, and the Appropriations Committee will be able to complete its work on the education portion of the budget.
On Tuesday, the Governor vetoed HB 1008, the transgender bill, on the grounds that this is not an issue our schools are having difficulty dealing with. The bill’s sponsor had no interest in trying to override the veto; however, there was an attempt to override it by others in the House. The attempt, which required a two-thirds vote, failed 36 to 29. As a result HB 1008 will not become law.
The Governor also decided to ask the Appropriations Committee to revise his budget request to remove the increased revenue related to expanding Medicaid. The Governor requested the budget adjustment because he doesn’t think there is time to get all of the needed agreements before Friday when the main run of the session ends. I was disappointed we aren’t moving forward on expansion now, but I am still hopeful the Governor will call a special session later this summer so we can vote on expansion.
Finally, as funding bills move through the respective houses, the Appropriation Committee continues to develop the budget. Early this week we will set the largest two budget items: education funding and social services. The goal is to have the budget completed by Wednesday or Thursday with a final vote by both houses on Friday, the final day of the main run of the 2016 Legislative Session.
As always, please contact me at svpar@hotmail.com.

This has been an emotional week for me. I finally started answering my emails, as some had become so angry and threatening that I couldn’t focus on the various topics we were discussing and voting on. The tax increase (HB 1182) passed in the Senate after there were several attempts to lower the half cent, as well as address some other issues in the bill. As it was stated on the Senate floor debate, no matter how one votes, we legislators are not against teachers.
The Governor vetoed the transgender bathroom bill 10 minutes after the tax increase passed the Senate. Further adding to the emotional stress, the next morning my wife, daughter-in-law and two grandchildren were in a bad car accident east of the Capitol. No one was hurt, but I had to leave the Capitol and pick them up at the scene of the accident.
The next day, we had an emotional discussion on whether physicians should be allowed to prescribe cannabidiol (CBD) to patients that have intractable (uncontrolled) epilepsy. My brother has epilepsy, so while I sympathize with the proponents of the bill, I took the position of the health care provider, which was to not prescribe a drug that has not completed the research studies to control the amount and strength given to epilepsy patients. The bill passed out of committee 7-6 and goes to the House floor next week.
I was glad to head home Thursday afternoon, all of us packed into my pickup, since we didn’t have my wife’s wrecked vehicle to travel home.
The Governor decided it was too late to include Medicaid expansion in this session. Instead, he mentioned a special session to address it. There were too many unanswered questions. I have studied the issue intensely, and what I have found is many of the “players” promoting expansion don’t even know who is getting health care now, nor do they understand the Healthcare Exchange. As I mentioned  earlier in a column, almost 50 percent of the 50,000 eligibles have access to health insurance at an extremely discounted rate on the Exchange, to the tune of a dollar a day, but many choose either not to sign up, or insist it should be free. Of the other 50 percent, about one third of them have access to free health care, but it may not be convenient, or they don’t like it. This would include Indian Health Service, Veteran’s Health benefits, etc. I’m sure the discussion will continue.
The private school option (SB 159) has gathered a lot of media attention. Similar plans have been implemented  in dozens of other states. Let me know what you think on this topic.
We are still waiting to see if SB 2 will get funded, as it takes about $3.8 million from the state General Fund and gives it to the counties. Currently, 75 percent of the alcoholic beverage fund goes to the state and 25 percent goes to the cities, with nothing going to the counties.
As you may recall, the summer task force recommended giving the counties 25 percent of the alcoholic beverage fund to help with law enforcement and criminal cases, as they are saddled with most of those costs but, prior to now, got nothing from that fund. The cities get 25 percent, yet the counties are required by law to provide law enforcement, etc. Eighty percent of the issues counties deal with involve alcohol, so it seems appropriate the counties should receive a portion of that fund.
I was disappointed to see, after supporting the Dyslexia bill, HB1198, that the Senate killed the bill. It appears the Department of Education worked out a compromise with  parents of dyslexic children to address the need to clarify the law as to the school’s responsibility in determining and treating dyslexic children.  There will be more to come on this issue.
Please contact me at rep.heinemann@state.sd.us if you have any questions or comments.