Week one of the 2016 session got underway with the Governor’s State of the State address, in which he outlined his plan for K-12 education, restated his support for expanding Medicaid, as well as outlining a number of additional areas the state will undertake this year.
The Governor outlined his plan for funding education which includes an additional one half cent sales and use tax. Under the Governor’s plan, approximately $62 million will go to education with $40 million going to property tax relief. The Governor’s plan would also move about $20 million from other taxes for funding the educators’ retirement program to education general funds which would in total be $82 million of what the Governor considers new funding. The Governor said that his plan will raise teacher pay to an average of $48,500.
The Democrats outlined our plan for funding education by implementing a one cent sales tax. This plan would generate about $120 million for education while exempting food from all state sales tax. The Democrat plan will result in an average teacher’s pay of $50,000.
I believe this issue will be one of the last issues settled in this session, so you will hear more as the session progresses.
The Governor again outlined the plan for Medicaid expansion. The plan will allow Tribal members to access medical services for certain procedures outside of Indian Health Services (IHS) facilities and the costs would be reimbursed at 100 percent as outlined in treaty obligations. Under the current Medicaid rules, if a Tribal member receives services outside of IHS, the state must pay 48 cents of every dollar. The state should have an answer to the proposal by the end of January.
As the session progresses, we will as always have a number of issues that will be debated, and I will update the legislative activities each week.
If you want to contact me my email is svpar@hotmail.com.
Scott Parsley
District 8 Senator

Week one of the 91st legislative session is in the books. We as legislators, those in attendance, and those watching online and on TV, had the privilege of hearing the Governor’s State of the State Address, the state of the judiciary address, and the state of the Tribes address. All of which were very informing. It became quite clear from the start that the Governor’s top priorities included education funding, Medicaid expansion, the expansion of our state parks and workforce development.
Governor Daugaard’s education funding proposal includes a half cent sales tax increase which would generate over $107 million in annual revenue. Of these dollars, 62 million would be used to raise teacher salaries to a state average of $48,500, five million would be used for teacher mentoring programs and distance learning, and roughly 40 million would assist in property tax relief efforts. It is hard to judge after only one week in Pierre how legislators feel about this proposal. Democrat legislators have proposed a different plan calling for a one cent sales tax increase which would raise the average teacher pay to $50,000. Just like the road funding bill last session, I do not wake up every morning looking to raise taxes, but I do wake up every morning wanting to know that we have excellent roads and an excellent education system.
Medicaid currently covers about 118,000 South Dakotans, and if the expansion occurs it would add at least 55,000 more individuals. This expansion will only occur if we, the legislature, approve of it, and of course, if it does not require the use of state funds. So far 30 other states have taken the expansion option under the Affordable Care Act. This discussion of expansion is mainly due to the complete debacle we call the IHS “Indian Health Service”. If the United States Government were already upholding their agreement by providing proper healthcare to Native Americans, we would most likely not be having this discussion today.
Lastly, I would like to say thank you to those Korean War Veterans we honored across the State of South Dakota last week. Your dedication to service, the United States, and this great state will never be forgotten. You are the men and women that my generation looks up to and models our lives after. God Bless and thank you for your service. Please email me any concerns at Mathew.Wollmann@gmail.com or Rep.Wollmann@state.sd.us and follow updates on my Facebook page or @MathewWollmann on Twitter.

It’s hard to believe we have started a new year already, let alone a new Legislative Session! I feel honored to serve the citizens of District 8 again. The challenges we have before us are numerous, so it’s time to get to work!
This past week we had three days of a joint session of the House and Senate to hear, first, the Governor’s State of the State, then the State of the Judiciary by Justice Gilbertson, and on Thursday, for the first time, State of the Tribes, by Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe Chairman Harold Frazier. It was nice to see individuals from my district listen in on all three. I was able to visit with some of you at the evening receptions as well. I appreciate the opportunity to discuss, first hand, the issues that were raised during the week. Please let me know if you will be out in Pierre in advance so that I can plan to attend your activity and visit with you one on one.
The two main topics the Governor spent considerable time covering in his State of the State address were Medicaid Expansion and Education funding. Both have many moving parts, and it will take the rest of the legislative session to find out the ramifications of those proposed changes, as well as where everyone is in support of those proposals.
Most of you are aware that I am a provider for Medicaid services, and have consistently opposed the expansion. There are a variety of reasons why I am opposed, but a person has to ask  one important question. What changed from last year, when the Governor was opposed to expanding a government welfare program for able-bodied, childless working adults, to proposing  the state expand that same program this year? It is the hope that Indian Health Service [IHS] will change its long standing refusal to pay their 100 percent federal share, on  Medicaid eligible Native Americans seeking medical and dental services  outside of IHS facilities. This “reallocation”, as I would call it, would save the state of South Dakota an estimated $67 million, enough to fund the expansion. This change would require thousands of contracts between IHS and Medicaid providers, since the health care would still be required to be “received through” IHS, a process many of us do not believe would materialize. In order to realize the $67 million savings, every service performed outside of IHS facilities would have to be approved for the 100 percent federal share, and that is unlikely to happen.
The Governor shared his proposal to change school funding as we know it. It would represent a big change from the Per Student Allocation[PSA] formula, and, along with the change, a proposal to add a half cent sales tax to provide new money for districts to address the low teacher pay the Governor’s Blue Ribbon Task Force identified as a critical need. The new tax would generate over $107 million in annual revenue. It will be a heavy lift, as the new tax will require a two thirds majority vote by both chambers. There will be much discussion in the next few weeks on this topic.
There were a variety of other topics in his State of the State address. I particularly liked his proposal to freeze tuition at post secondary schools by paying off some bonds that the Board of Regents holds, to free up some money to accomplish that.
Right after the Governor’s address, we had the ceremony to honor  Korean War Veterans. There were several dignitaries from South Korea present for the ceremony, and it was very evident they wanted to show their appreciation for all the Americans who risked their lives to help defend South Korea during that war.
Please don’t hesitate to contact me at  rep.heinemann@state.sd.us. If you will be out in Pierre, let me know. I will do my best to serve the citizens of District 8 in the coming weeks.