As an admitted rabid Packer fan, I mostly stopped paying attention to the football world a few weeks ago. I must admit, I didn’t have a lot of faith in my Packers this year. It’s been pretty obvious since their bye in week six, they didn’t have much hope of finding themselves in SB50.
I have a lot of theories as to what happened that week and why their collective heads seemed to be buried up into someplace sunless ever since, but don’t worry, I’ll spare you the ranting and conspiracy theories.
My husband and I were, unfortunately, in attendance at that, their first debacle of the 2015 season — very unfortunately, for more than one reason.
Yeah, the game obviously sucked, but the nasty taste in our mouths walking away from the stadium was not from the terrible play on the part of the Green Bay players. Instead, it was the loathsome state of the Broncos fan base that made us want to immediately check out of our hotel and high-tail it across the Colorado border.
Broncos fans bring a new meaning to bad sportsmanship.
Bryan and I had sat down last summer and looked at the Packers schedule and chosen that game to attend, not only because it was largely assumed to be a solidly competitive game (boy, were they wrong), but because our “second favorite” team  — which MUST be in the opposite conference of the “first favorite” team — used to be the Broncos.
Let me say that again — USED to be the Broncos.
We left Denver the next day knowing, without a doubt, that Broncos fans were the absolute worst in the NFL.
Now, it’s understandable that, as an opposing fan in “enemy territory,” you may not be completely welcomed with open arms, however, there is something called common decency to the fellow human being. Denver fans have never heard of such a thing.
We have our theories as to why this is — maybe it’s the weed, maybe it’s the widespread, liberal hippy-ism, maybe it’s the influx of West Coasters who’ve bombarded the area. Whatever the reason, these rude fans seem to have lost their basic human decency.
So, next year it’s back to friendly territory for Bryan and I. And as a Packer team owner (yes, I bought into them and no, I won’t be receiving any dividends… ever), I welcome opposing team fans to Lambeau. You are encouraged to visit this mecca of football history — take a tour of the stadium and enjoy a small town tailgating atmosphere. Based on our past experiences in the small metropolis of Green Bay, you will be welcomed no matter what you’re wearing — maybe not with the same open arms as if you’re sporting green and gold — but if you are respectful and decent, you can count on the same treatment in return.
I believe it can be attributed to what I call the “Center Country Effect.” The closer you get to the middle of the country, the better the people are. As a whole, I believe Center Country people to be literally BETTER, in every sense of the word.
I’ve attended games in Minneapolis as an opposing team fan and, though the Vikings are much more a rival to Green Bay than Denver, been treated a million times better than we were in Denver. Every time.
I’m not sure if it was a strange anomaly that we were also treated quite humanely last year in Miami. Maybe it was the idea that the Packers and Dolphins are not rivals of any kind, nor are they in the same conference, so common sense says there was no need to get too terribly worked up, win or lose. (Ahem… Denver…) Maybe Dolphins fans are just happier due to more vitamin D.
Or maybe the Denver fan base is an abomination to sportsmanship.
That said, I’m still torn this Super Bowl Sunday. Up until just this past Nov. 1, I had been a Broncos fan since the days of Elway. (I may or may not have had a schoolgirl crush on him). Even considering our disgusting experience in the mile-high city, it’s hard to hold a grudge against the actual team, when they’ve earned a chance at a few minutes of world domination. It wasn’t the team that wronged us, but that team’s unfortunate fans.
Plus, I have a ton of respect for Peyton Manning, and a big part of me would like to see him go out on top. I believe Manning to be the best quarterback of less-than-superb talent in the game today, and probably ever. He’s got talent, sure, but his level of talent alone would never have propelled him to his current station. I’m sure that statement could be debated to the moon and back, but this is my stance, and I’m not budging.
So come Feb. 7, I’ve elected not to watch the big game at all, since my true football love, the Green and Gold, will not be taking the field… and it’s way easier to just watch the commercials on YouTube.

As the second week of the legislature draws to a close, I would like to give you an idea of the legislative process, since that process swung into full operation this past week.
Anyone, including constituents, can come up with an idea to introduce in the legislature, but you need an individual legislator or legislative committee to “sponsor” the idea, or bill, as we would categorize it. We usually have someone within the legislative research council (LRC) help draw up the wording, and then it is up to the sponsor or sponsors to gather support for the bill. We present our idea to different legislators, and in the process, can gather a sense of how practical and appropriate the idea is.
That is what was going on this last week, as well as the start of committee hearings, for those bills that had already been introduced, and assigned to a committee. A bill can start in the House or Senate, depending on who wants to sponsor the idea. Once you have the sponsors you need (signature on a sponsor sheet), then you turn the bill in and the LRC posts it on their Web site for all to be able to read. I’ll continue with the process in next week’s column.
I was on the County Summer Study Task Force this past summer, and several ideas came up for consideration to help the counties with the ever-increasing costs associated with law enforcement and criminal proceedings. With the changes in the Unified Judicial System (UJS) three years ago, and the Juvenile Justice reform, the counties have had to bear more of the costs associated with implementing the changes. Our District 8 counties have struggled to be able to not only hire and keep personnel, but have more duties to complete (ie. 24/7 program).
I was the prime sponsor for a bill to reallocate money from the alcohol beverage fund. Currently counties do not get a share and municipalities get 25 percent, with the state getting the remainder. This bill would give the counties 25 percent also, so the state, which receives over $11 million annually, would give about $3.8 million of that amount to the counties. It may not seem like a lot, but I believe anything we can do to help out the counties is of value.
There was a sales and use tax bill introduced to allow counties, for the first time, to be able to levy a sales tax. I didn’t support the idea in our summer committee, as I thought we had higher priorities we would be looking at, if we were to raise the sales tax. The bill was referred to the 41st day which, essentially, killed the bill.
This next week we will continue to hold hearings on bills, as well as file our own bills. They must be filed by Feb. 4, so the next week and a half will require lots of discussions and homework to prepare for their hearings. If you have an opportunity to come out and see the process in person, or to testify, please let me know. I’d be glad to meet with you. Reach me at rep.heinemann@state.sd.us. Until next week.

Week two of the 91st legislative session is in the books, and things are starting to pick up. As of now 141 bills have been introduced, 76 from the House and 65 from the Senate. By this time last year we had 156 bills introduced.
One of those bills that has gained a lot of attention is HB1067. Many of you remember Initiated Measure 17, the patient choice act that was passed in 2014 by the voters (62 percent). This piece of legislation is being lobbied hard by Sanford Health and heavily against by the specialty hospitals. I will see it first in the House Commerce Committee. The will of the people spoke in 2014 and I am sure we will have plenty of testimony from both sides. More on that in next week’s column.
Another piece of legislation that has been quite popular on social media and in the news is HB 1076. This legislation would require drug testing for those under 65 that receive assistance from the government via the temporary assistance for needy families or the supplemental nutrition assistance programs. I will also be one of the first legislators to take a vote on this in the House Health & Human Services committee.
I did some research and currently as of July 27, 2015, at least 13 states have passed legislation regarding drug testing or screening, and many others have proposed legislation – that ultimately failed. The estimated costs in these states were from $92,487 for drug testing 20 percent of recipients and treating two percent of those tested in Louisiana, to $20 million for testing all recipients in New York, which costs roughly $52 per recipient. It would cost South Dakota roughly $304,382 to test all of our 5,849 recipients if we followed the same format.
Granted this legislation places the cost on the individual so that number will be lower. I also learned that the amount of individuals that were busted for drugs was very low. Anywhere from .0002 percent to 8.3 percent.
As much as I agree that I would find it fair to have these individuals take a urinalysis like many of you do (including myself), I just don’t think the data supports such legislation.
I am also working closely with a few different groups regarding eminent domain and land owner rights, bicycle legislation, Parole Board reform and of course education funding. These next few weeks will be busy, but it is an honor to represent District 8 in Pierre. As always contact me any time at Mathew.Wollmann@gmail.com, on Facebook, or via Twitter @MathewWollmann. Thank you and God Bless!