Legislators speak to packed house at first forum

By Benjamin Chase of the Plainsman
Posted 2/3/25

District 22 legislators answer questions at Saturday forum

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Legislators speak to packed house at first forum

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HURON –– District 22 legislators answered questions Saturday morning, with the commission room at City Hall needing to add chairs to house all the attendees.

The legislators began with a short time of introduction before the question and answer session, and Rep. Lana Greenfield (R-Doland) led off the group, introducing herself to the crowd and reporting that she has been assigned the chair seat of the House Education committee.

Representative Kevin Van Diepen (R-Huron) went next, garnering laughs from the audience as he described his first few weeks in the legislature as attempting to take a drink from a “wide-open fire hose.” Van Diepen noted that the first bill deadline pushed the total number near 400 between both houses after having around 250 to begin the week.

Senator David Wheeler (R-SD) spent his introduction talking about the historic beginning of the legislative session, as he stated that it was the first time, to his knowledge, that a transition of governor has occurred while the legislature was in active session. He explained the changes that occurred specifically over the last week, as Larry Rhoden was sworn in as Governor, and House Representative Tony Vanhuizen was sworn in as Lieutenant Governor during the week. He also explained the uniqueness of hearing two “state of the state” addresses, as Governor Kristi Noem addressed the legislature to open the session, and once Rhoden assumed the role, he addressed a joint session on Tuesday with a similar speech.

A contingent of the audience sat together and donned “save the library” buttons on Saturday. The first question directed to the legislators was from a member of that group, asking the legislators about House Bill 1041, which would remove significant parts of the existing state library system, clearing the way for proposed budget cuts to the library.

Rep. Greenfield recalled her time as a high school educator and the value of the state library. “I have no appetite whatsoever for cutting library funding,” she stated. “I don’t know why it was brought up in the first place.”

Van Diepen echoed Greenfield’s concern.

“This isn’t something that affects just a few people,” he said, referring to the impact of HB 1041. “It’s everyone statewide - hundreds of thousands of people.”

Wheeler joked that it’s dangerous for him to predict how a bill will “act” in the House, but he told the audience that he hasn’t spoken with a single legislator, regardless of party or which chamber they’re part of, who is supporting HB 1041.

The next question from the audience was about HB 1054, which states that a school district “shall” make a provision for a chaplain in school.

Greenfield was one of the co-sponsors of the bill, and she explained that she would like to see the ability to have on-site chaplains in school systems, but she also agreed that the language within the bill could mean that some schools would add the chaplain task to their education staff.

She stated that she will bring some of the concerns from the audience to the hearing on the bill on Monday and with the bill’s prime sponsor.

Van Diepen stated that his primary concern would be with the word “shall” within the bill. He emphasized that the legislature should encourage the school districts to handle their needs as they see fit without forcing legislation on the schools.

The next question was on school vouchers. Van Diepen reported that he was present for the voucher hearings on school vouchers. He explained that the legislature has been tasked with cutting $40 million from the budget, and the two voucher bills would have added as much as $150 million in estimated costs, meaning there would be that much more cut work that the legislature would need to do. He stated that in a year where the legislature had available money to begin a program like this, it’d at least be something to start the conversation about, but this year is a tough sell because of the financial limitations.

Despite both bills failing in committee this week, all three members stated that there is a chance for the bills to be reintroduced directly on the floor in a procedure called a “hog house” for the bill or to potentially add pieces from the House bill(s) onto the version that has been dropped on the Senate side and has yet to have a hearing in committee.

Wheeler emphasized that he would not be in favor of voucher programs without changes in the accountability that private schools and homeschool families have in order to receive voucher funds.

The next question was about carbon pipelines and the use of eminent domain. Wheeler was the first to answer, explaining that his role as a legislator is not to be a proponent or opponent of any specific pipeline company or proposal. He stated that the goal is to ensure proper procedures are in place not just for current pipeline applicants, but are consistent and are enforced similarly across industries. He further explained that many other types of pipeline and railway have utilized eminent domain to complete their pipeline. Defining eminent domain is important, Wheeler stated, but it has to follow consistent requirements and enforcement across industries, or the state will open itself up to expensive lawsuits.

Greenfield stated plainly that she is personally not in favor of the carbon pipeline. She said that it is hard to see how the promises made by the company can be fulfilled.

Van Diepen recalled the reasons that he voted against the eminent domain bill. He stated that eminent domain is not an issue right now because the South Dakota Supreme Court has already ruled that carbon is not a common carrier. He reiterated a point Wheeler made that eminent domain has been used for many things such as rural water projects, natural gas pipelines, and other projects that need to connect over long distance and that changing eminent domain laws that already exist due to fear on carbon pipelines could have significant effects on future projects.

The final question asked was about the term limits resolution, House Joint Resolution 5002 that would call for a convention of states on the issue of term limits. All three legislators stated that they support Congressional term limits, to a degree. However, none feels that a true constitutional convention will be called on the issue.

In their closing statements, each legislature encouraged tracking bills and emailing and calling legislators regarding bills that you support or oppose to make your voice heard.

The full video of the morning’s discussion is available on the city of Huron’s YouTube page.

Two more coffee with the legislators events are scheduled during the session, on Feb. 22 and March 8, both beginning at 9 a.m., in the commission room at City Hall.