Details from District 2: Determined to fight for landowner rights
Hello Residents of District 2!
Things in Pierre are moving along well. We are at the halfway point of session. Jan 31 was the last day to introduce bills, so now we know what we all have to consider. There were 258 bills introduced into the House and 220 bills into the Senate. That is a good number of bills, yet a few less than we thought we’d have.
Last week was the only five-day week we will have, which made for a long week and a short weekend to catch up on things back home. This is the part of session that gets really busy, and the legislators have a lot on their minds because bills move through committees fast. If they pass the committee, they head to the floor and then eventually cross over into the other Chamber’s committee and possibly floor.
On Tuesday, Jan 30 we heard Senate Commemoration 805, which honored and remembered the life of Brandon Valley Middle School student Spencer Roger Thorsland. It was neat to be a part of approving this special memorial.
On Monday, Feb 5 several property owner’s bills were heard. We were very hopeful that we would pass some meaningful legislation to protect property rights. Scott Odenbach had a very good bill that defined what was public use and who could use eminent domain. Rocky Blare had a bill that required a company had to get a permit before they could exercise eminent domain. Landowners were disappointed to see that both bills got killed and their property rights were not protected. We are going to keep working hard to do what we can to protect South Dakota landowners.
I enjoy hearing from those of you in District 2 so please feel free to reach out to me.
In Freedom,
John Sjaarda